Top 10 Worst Asian Movie Sequels Of All Time

No one ever sets out to make a bad movie. But it happens. Generally speaking, Asian films don’t usually tread into Sequel territory, and when they do they are generally solid. But some are so ill-conceived, so cynically calculated, and so aggressively inept that they need to be called out and held accountable in the public square. We count down the worst Asian sequels guaranteed to wishing only the first movie existed.

Why it fails as a sequel:
Tony Jaa could never be accused of not trying hard enough. I’ll give him that, but there were more problems during filming then any film I can recall. It turned into a Francis Ford Coppola-style debacle: out of control cost overruns, power struggles with the studios, and Tony Jaa apparently disappearing in the middle of shooting for two months. This chaos is clearly reflected in the resulting movie: Ong Bak 2 desperately needed its sequel in order to make sense, provide a resolution, or any viewing satisfaction. Sadly, we didn’t get that. Just another fight fest which we all fast forwarded over the mindless plot. Also, to add to the problems, the movie was done in Thai and then overdubbed in English. The voice actors don’t even have Thai accents…

Why it fails as a sequel:
The second “My Wife is a Gangster” picks up, where the first ended. So you have the end scene from the first part here again, with her (the main character) then husband/man. How a good original movie can transition to such a decline is shocking. The story filled with clichés mostly revolves around Shin Eun-Gyeong’s character having lost her memory after falling from a building during a fight (Don’t ask!) and trying to remember who she was. No, it wasn’t as fresh or funny as the original. The film’s approach to comedy is perhaps more silly than clever, and it hosts a wasted Zhang Ziyi brief cameo.

Why it fails as a sequel:
Because the first season was so good? It’s sad I have to use that reason, yet, since Afro Samurai is so good at his craft(?) and can best anyone, the only solution is robots. Or cyborgs? Hmmm. When it’s over you might wonder what the cyborg clone ninja robots were after, but I couldn’t really figure it out. The main villain never really gave in to what they were after. I mean, yeah- you wanted to kill Afro but why? Gorgeous animation wasn’t enough to save this as a sequel that just wasn’t worthy to the original. The first Afro took 10 years to create and its awesomeness shows it. This one seems more like a hurried wannabe trying to rake in some more cash off of the name.

Why it fails as a sequel:
After the recap of the first Gantz, we quickly get jolted into a plethora of new characters, information, and plot points. It boils down to being a huge pacing issue. Acting as a two-part, Gantz: Perfect Answer plays by complex rules whose logic is not always clear to outsiders. The tension level deflates once it becomes clear that death is about as permanent in the Gantz world as in a computer game. Just hit reset and you’re good to go again — and again and again. I think Twitch said it best when they state that the most criminal of all is that a film with such an excessive running time all but completely wastes the talents of its cast, most notably Yamada Takayuki, whose detective has criminally little to do, other than occasionally emerge from the shadows and point a gun at someone. This film delivers precious little action and far too much meaningless talk about balls.

Why a it fails as a sequel:
The movie switches between an action vehicle and a police thriller more than once, with wire-planting and surveillance scenes taking precedence more than once. Frankly, I don’t watch a Jackie Chan movie for stuff like that, and when it starts going on for half-hours at a time, I started losing interest. To me, this movie is throwaway and forgettable. Even the special features of the original film are better than the sequel’s. This general uneven comparison shows that even Hong Kong has its problems with having sequels live up to their predecessors, and not even director Chan could shatter that stereotype.

Why it fails as a sequel:
Only after watching this failed dud of a sequel do we realize this has much more in common with Hong Kong styled wacky romantic comedies than it does with the original. Given that the original Korean romantic comedy My Sassy Girl was such a phenomenal and influential hit back in 2001, the idea of a sequel probably shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. This is your typical rom com fodder that reenacts a dozen or so scenes from the superior original in unimaginative, idiotic ways. This is evident in the dialogue, which is way too cringe-worthy for its own good. Every single line is opaque, thoughtless, and overly simplified to the point of sheer stupidity.

Why it fails as as sequel:
The J-Horror staple of scares is to let the audience’s imagination do much of the work. I’ve been watching Asian films enough to know that, but what good is your imagination if you are bored to tears? White Ghost then flip-flops back and forth between several characters and decides to let the audience try and figure things out for their own. To say I was lost a few times watching this is an understatement. The original wasn’t that great of a movie, and the sequel is even worse.

Why it fails as a sequel:
Wet Dreams 2 focuses on the sexual curiosities of three girls. The ruse? Are these girls even 18? I was a bit uncomfortable with some scenes involving Se-mi and the physical education teacher who took a number of liberties with the girl such as slapping her on the butt a few times. The film tries be offensive and gross you out; and then at the end the producers try add some morality into the film. If your going to make a film about bad-taste – have the balls to go all the way. A waste of time, and a film that only perverts would enjoy.

Why it fails as a sequel:
Talk about a film with internal problems. No wonder this film stunk up the joint. While writing the script, it was suggested that the characters should solve their problems in a quiz show format like they did in the first film. Director Yoo Sun-dong was against this ideas as he felt it was too much of an imitation of the first film. Garnering nothing but poor reviews (including us), it should have taken more chances and offered audiences more than blood…the film won’t do much for viewers who are die-hard slasher film fans. Even the main actress, they again have chosen a singer/actress to take the leading role. I never understand why they do that. I kept waiting for something relevant to happen, but nothing ever did. Nothing made any sense.

Why it fails as a sequel:
The Storm Warriors is another by the book wuxia film that caters more to the eye candy than actual plot. Assuming that the gist of the story hasn’t been lost in translation, the movie feels as if half of its scenes have been accidentally deleted. Adding to that is the inappropriate sound track, it actually distracts from the mood set by the scene, making the whole scene awkward. All in all, action junkies should be pleased, but its a forgettable affair that is barely worth your time. I hope the Pang Brothers can return to form as I am usually big fans of them. There is also a character named Piggy King. Yup.