Sloppy second helpings

ON RARE occasions, there have been sequels in the past, that improved on, or at least compared well with, the original: the second instalment of "The Godfather" that Francis Ford Coppola made in 1974, two years after the first, earned more Oscars (6 to 3) and more critical acclaim. But by and large, sequels have been sloppy second helpings, underlining a trusted Hollywood principle: no matter how bad a movie, it can always be made worse, the second time around. The U.S. Entertainment Weekly recently listed the "scum de la scum" &151; the worst sequels of all time... sequels so bad, they almost make you forget the original. Many entries will be familiar to Indian cinema goers:

"Star Wars Episode 1" ( 1999): Where the first Star Wars film of 1977 was "the epitome of cornball cool", this was absolutely boring.

"Batman and Robin" (1997): Tim Burton in the first 1989 Batman, raised the comic book character to icon status. By 1997, it was totally stale, and altogether too downbeat.

"Speed 2: Cruise Control" (1997). Keanu Reeves was wise enough to stay out of this retread; but Sandra Bullock had less sense. Which is why she seems so helpless in this story of an exploding passenger liner, where she was in the driver's seat ( literally) of the earlier film. Critics dubbed the second film, "Snooze Control."

"Jaws: The Revenge" (1986). Spielberg's 1975 "Jaws" was the archetype summer thriller. "Jaws 2" was tolerable. After that it was downhill all the way till this Michael Caine-starrer.

"Rocky V" (1990): In 1976, "Sly" Stallone's "Rocky" was a surprise Oscar winner &151; which prodded him to make it again and again. But the formula had been battered to a faceless pulp before this sanctimonious 1990 bore.

"Trail of the Pink Panther"( 1982): Peter Sellers made Inspector Clouseau an icon in 1963 &151; and many of the sequels were at least watchable.

But this film had the audacity to lift some rejected clips from the floor and put together a fresh product AFTER Sellers had died. You can't get more artless and crude than that.

- A.P.

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