10 Comedy Movie Legacy Sequels, Ranked Worst to Best, Including Happy Gilmore 2

Over the years, there have been plenty of comedy sequels, most of which were released shortly after the original film to capitalize on its success. And, almost universally, those sequels fell far short of the movie that gave birth to the IP. We’re talking The Hangover sequels, the Back to the Future sequels, Airplane II: The Sequel and the like. It’s very rare that we get one that matches or exceeds the quality of the original, e.g. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (and before that there was the atrocious National Lampoon’s European Vacation). The same goes for legacy sequels, which are becoming increasingly common both in the comedy and horror genres.

So, what qualifies as a legacy sequel? Basically, there needs to be about 10 years between the films, if not even more time. Those are the comedy sequels that follow, including Netflix’s new release Happy Gilmore 2. Is it the gift to ’90s kids that it should be?

10) Dumb and Dumber To

There’s a scene in Dumb and Dumber To when Harry and Lloyd yell at a woman giving a TED Talk, “Show us your tits!” In that lies the core issue with the sequel: the two leads are not the same characters they were in the previous film. They’re not dumb and dumber, they’re a–hole and bigger a–hole.

It’s amazing that the Farrelly brothers directed both this and the original film, because they don’t feel similar. The first film is one of the ’90s’ absolute best comedies, whereas here it’s genuinely difficult to think of a single joke that works. Toss in the boring plot of Harry finding his daughter and it’s a complete dud.

Stream Dumb and Dumber To on Netflix.

9) Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser

Joe Dirt had some appeal in the early aughts for ’90s kids. It was always on Comedy Central, so it was pretty hard to avoid after school.

But let’s face it, it’s not a very good movie. There are a few good jokes and it’s always fun to see Dennis Miller, but David Spade always worked better when paired with Chris Farley. As a leading man, he’s not as effective. Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser repeats the few jokes that worked and brings back the first film’s standouts, Miller, Christopher Walken, and Brittany Daniel, but it’s a case of diminished returns on something that wasn’t all that impressive to begin with.

Rent Joe Dirt 2: Beautiful Loser on Amazon.

8) Zoolander 2

Zoolander 2 might actually be a little worse than Joe Dirt 2 because the drop in quality from the first film to the second is so much more considerable. The original Zoolander is a classic, a 9/11 era film that managed to bring smiles to faces in an incredibly dark time.

Zoolander 2 is a trainwreck. It goes even more out there with its jokes, and they simply never work. It’s also the most reliant on the merits of celebrity cameos that a studio comedy has ever been. You can’t go five minutes without seeing Justin Bieber or Ariana Grande or Benedict Cumberbatch (whose character is extremely problematic) or Kiefer Sutherland or Skrillex or MC Hammer or Willie Nelson … the list goes on. But the film’s biggest crime is taking Will Ferrell’s once-iconic Jacobim “Mugatu” Moogberg and making him unfunny. How does that even happen?

Stream Zoolander 2 on Prime Video.

7) Coming 2 America

Within a four-year period, Eddie Murphy starred in legacy sequels to two of his ’80s classics. And, between the follow-ups to Beverly Hills Cop and Coming to America, Coming 2 America is the less effective one.

On the upside, Coming 2 America brings back just about every star that made the first film so special, including the late James Earl Jones. But it also brings in a bunch of new faces. It can feel a little overstuffed, but that’s not the film’s main problem. It’s more that there’s no reason for it to exist. In the original film, Murphy’s King Akeem Joffer went to New York to find a wife and, in the end, he did. The sequel then reveals he fathered a son with some other woman during that trip, but we already saw a hilarious montage of him and Arsenio Hall’s Semmi struggling to find the right woman amongst a pool of oddballs. It stretches logic a little bit, and isn’t nearly funny enough to be worth watching unless you’re a hardcore fan of John Landis’ 1988 classic.

Stream Coming 2 America on Prime Video.

6) Vacation

1983’s National Lampoon’s Vacation was and remains a really good time, with a perfectly-cast Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo. 1985’s National Lampoon’s European Vacation, however, proves that having those two as the leads still needs a really funny script, and while John Hughes did in fact return to write it, he seemed to have spent all of his good idea coins the first time.

But then Hughes wrote 1989’s National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and it’s in many people’s books the best of the franchise. Then came 1997’s Vegas Vacation (not penned by Hughes), which somehow set a new even lower bar for the franchise. The good news is that 2015’s Vacation is far better than European and Vegas, the bad news is that it lacks the spark that made the original film and Christmas Vacation such endearing classics. About 40% of the jokes work, and those that don’t really don’t. But at least the cast was clearly having fun and, as he’s proved several times, Chris Hemsworth is a scene-stealer in comedic material.

Rent Vacation on Amazon.

5) Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F

One year before Netflix continued the story of Happy Gilmore, it resurrected an even longer-dormant franchise: Beverly Hills Cop. The last installment of the franchise was the much-maligned Beverly Hills Cop III, and the good news is that Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a lot better than Beverly Hills Cop III. The not so good news is that it’s painfully average.

There are elements that work about Axel F. It does a decent enough job of recapturing the spirit of the 1984 classic, Kevin Bacon always makes for a great villain, and the new characters are mostly effective. But, overall, it’s a predictable comedy, both in terms of its narrative beats and the jokes it’s going to tell.

Stream Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F on Netflix.

4) Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

The original Anchorman felt like it was a mixture of improvisation and a well-written script. Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues feels like it’s 90% improv and 10% scripted.

In other words, more often than not, Anchorman 2 feels like too much. There are so many jokes it’s overwhelming. The movie isn’t awful, but frequently, it feels as though it’s actively trying to throw absolutely everything at the wall to see what sticks. Anchorman was essentially capturing lightning in a bottle, and while it has its moments, the sequel largely failures to recapture any of that lightning, even if Kristen Wiig makes for a great addition to the lineup.

Stream Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues on Paramount+.

3) Happy Gilmore 2

As the follow-up to a major ’90s kid favorite, the cameo-laden Happy Gilmore 2 had big shoes to fill. And, for the most part, it succeeds. Without a doubt, it’s the best comedy Happy Madison has put out in quite some time.

Sandler feels a little subdued in the role, but that’s really how he should have played the once-volatile golfer whose life is now experiencing a rough patch in his life. Things are made more chipper by the likes of Bad Bunny, who is an absolute scene-stealer, and an organic development of the iconic character Shooter McGavin.

2) Super Troopers 2

It doesn’t quite capture the lighting in the bottle that the original film did, but Super Troopers 2 still manages to be one of the best movies to come from Broken Lizard. If it has a major problem, it’s that the Canada bashing is far too prominent a part of the movie.

It makes sense why they went that direction, though. Planting the action in Canada allowed the crew to poke fun at the United States just as much as Canada. It’s just that, on one hand, Canada seems like the last chunk of the Earth that’s still safe to rip on in an R-rated film, thus making Super Troopers 2 seem like it’s playing things safe. Two, jokes like how Canadians say the word sorry were played out a long, long time ago. But the sequel wins more often than it loses courtesy of the chemistry between the leads, which hasn’t missed a step in the 17 years between installments, the return of a game Brian Cox, and the hilarious additions of Hayes MacArthur, Will Sasso, and Tyler Labine (the latter of whom has a very well-delivered joke about making love to a moose).

Rent Super Troopers 2 on Amazon.

1) Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

Tim Burton did quite well throughout the ’80s and ’90s, but cracks in his appeal started to show in the 2000s. Planet of the Apes was terrible (and didn’t even feel like his), Big Fish has its fans but is very saccharine, and his consistent collaborations with Johnny Depp started to get more eyerolls than cheers. Things got even worse in the 2010s, with two of his collaborations with Depp, Alice in Wonderland and Dark Shadows, were essentially deemed outright failures.

But he’s rebounded a bit in recent years. Big Eyes felt like a bit of a departure for the director, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children works and, while Dumbo didn’t land, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice very much did, both critically and commercially. It doesn’t have quite as strong a hook (the Maitlands adapting to being dead) at the center, but it’s an energetic film that shows he could revisit a project over 35 years old and more or less recapture its spirit.

Stream Beetlejuice Beetlejuice on Netflix.

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