The most memorable and unusual sequel titles

Did they know? Did they have any idea? “Breakin’” was one of those capturing-on-a-fad movies, trying to capitalize on the rise of breaking, aka breakdancing. Made with basically no actors of note, the film was made super cheap so it was a huge success. That led to a sequel, and they decided to subtitle it “Electric Boogaloo.” Now, 40 years later, “Electric Boogaloo” remains the number-one joke reference for sequel titles. Legendary stuff.

The “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movies aren’t any good, but they have really worked at the sweaty sequel subtitle thing. There is also “Chipwrecked” and “The Road Trip,” both of which are utterly terrible. “The Squeakuel” is the right kind of stupid, though. The memorable kind. The fun kind. Plus, it’s literally riffing on the word “sequel.”

If you don’t want to reference “Electric Boogaloo,” the next sequel subtitle on your lips is probably “The Quickening.” If you haven’t seen the movie, you have no clue what “The Quickening” is. It’s a phrase with no actual meaning, but it sounds faux-profound. “Highlander” also sounds a little silly, so throw “The Quickening” on top of things and you have something compellingly goofy.

It’s the most “Who is this for?” title imaginable. Kitty Galore is an actual feline villain with a name based on the Bond character whose name is Pussÿ Galore. Kids interested in seeing the “Cats & Dogs” sequel had no idea what the joke was. Adults who got the joke had no interest in seeing the movie. For those with no clue about the “franchise,” you’re simply seeing the words “The Revenge of Kitty Galore,” and you are likely baffled.

The “Rambo” franchise wasn’t originally the “Rambo” franchise. The first movie was called “First Blood” and based on a novel of the same name. It’s a straightforward, contemplative dark action movie about a damaged Vietnam veteran named John Rambo. Since it was a hit, and since Sylvester Stallone was a movie star, they made a sequel. This time, they wanted to include the character’s name in the title. Instead of just calling it “Rambo,” they went for the hard-to-parse subtitle “First Blood Part II.” Having the word “first” and also having “part II” in a title can’t help but be confusing.

Sometimes, all it takes is a clunky colon. This is the sequel to the movie “Step Up,” hence the number. “Step Up 2: The Streets” would be an odd title in and of itself, because why is “The Streets” the subtitle? However, this title is supposed to be read as “Step up to the street.” Using the number two in place of the word “to” is silly enough as is, but the pause the colon places in this title makes it simply not track.

Jack Palance won an Oscar for playing Curly in “City Slickers.” He also died in that movie. What do you do to try and make a sequel work? Um, introduce the idea that Curly had some gold? So much gold that there is a legend around it? Also, Palance returned to play Curly’s brother, which is as wonderfully goofy as the subtitle is.

The “Police Academy” series ran for a while, and it loved a subtitle. Most of them totally tracked for the comedic franchise. “Their First Assignment?” Absolutely. “Back in Training?” That felt inevitable. Then, there is the sixth film. Just seeing the “6” is kind of remarkable, but “City Under Siege” has a level of gravitas and seriousness to it that does not track with the movies with the cop who makes sound effects.

Some would argue for “2 Fast 2 Furious,” and that title does stand out. It’s not that bad, or that silly, though. The phrase “Tokyo Drift” didn’t mean anything to anybody, though. It was an attempt to grab people with some sort of nonsense phrase. Instead, it just sits there feeling sweaty. “Tokyo Drift?” What is Tokyo Drift?

A long-delayed sequel to a movie that didn’t need a sequel was tricky enough as is. Oh, now Sharon Stone’s killer novelist is on the run in London? Sounds stupid! Then, they went ahead and added a ridiculous subtitle. “Risk Addiction” sounds like the name of a joke movie title they would have used in “Seinfeld.” There’s a reason why they have since tried to shunt “Risk Addiction” to the side and assert the movie is simply called “Basic Instinct 2.”

“The Whole Nine Yards” was a reasonable title. It didn’t tell you anything about the movie, but it’s a known phrase and the movie poster had Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry, so all was well. The movie was successful enough to merit a sequel, and that’s where things got tricky. We will grant you “The Whole Ten Yards” is better than “The Whole Nine Yards 2.” However, that is not an idiom. This was also not the 10th movie in a series. That title makes you question whether or not doing a sequel was actually a good idea. The movie itself confirmed that, yeah, it was not a good idea.

Finally, we got to see Taj rise. Umm…who was Taj, by the way? Of course, we know (because we looked it up) Taj is Kal Penn’s character from “Van Wilder.” It’s a big swing to presume fans of the first movie were going to come out to theaters to see Taj take center stage. Making this title even sillier is the fact Van Wilder is literally not in this movie.

“Meet the Parents” is a straightforward title that works, and it’s a pretty funny movie. Certainly the best movie wherein Robert De Niro asks Ben Stiller if Stiller is capable of milking him. Stiller’s character’s name is Gaylord Focker, which is a dumb joke, but they didn’t gild the lily. Then, the sequel was “Meet the Fockers,” and things started to feel a bit excessive. Then, we got the third movie, “Little Fockers.” By this point any shred of integrity had been lost. Also, any film quality whatsoever.

“Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo” was already an entertainingly-stupid movie title. To be fair, though, the movie did deliver what it promised. That is to say, a man named Deuce Bigalow (sort of) being a male gigolo. The fact they mined this character for a sequel is odd enough as is, but we do appreciate (and sneer at) the “Screw it, we’re going to Europe!” first-thought/best-thought of this plot, and of this title.

Were the “Prom Night” sequel titled “Prom Night II: Hello Mary Lou” it might make the cut. It has the rhyme, and it has the distinct name Mary Lou, which also means nothing to anybody with no knowledge of “Prom Night.” However, it’s the strange decision to essentially make the subtitle the title that makes this one stand out.

“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” spawned jokes itself. It’s a very “Salmon Fishing in Yemen” type title in that it’s overly specific and sounds fake. Then, they made a sequel, and the sequel literally downgraded exotic Marigold Hotels. Rare is the sequel that actively undershoots the original.

To be fair, this title is intentionally silly. “Hot Shots!” is a pair of spoof movies. The “Part Deux” is supposed to seem overly sweaty and overly fancy. That doesn’t mean it isn’t a goofy, bananas title, though. In this case that’s just the mission being accomplished.

When a franchise tries to deliver a “That’s right, it’s getting serious” subtitle and it doesn’t land, derision is the result. “Rise of the Lycans” is such a title. Had they called it “Rise of the Werewolves,” that would have still seemed silly. The fact that “Underworld” referenced their internal name for werewolves, though, made it worth rolling one’s eyes.

Like with “Hot Shots,” the “Leprechaun” folks knew what they were doing. However, they shouldn’t have done it. “Leprechaun in the Hood” seems like a parody of a silly sequel title. It’s real, though. They literally made a movie called “Leprechaun in the Hood.” Also, the way-too-sweaty sequel “Leprechaun Back 2 tha Hood.”

“The Haunting in Connecticut” is a totally reasonable title for a horror movie. Trying to do a sequel would be tricky enough as is. Maybe they could have called it “Another Haunting in Connecticut” or “Hauntings in Connecticut?” Instead, they gave the sequel a title that didn’t make any sense. Not only is it “The Haunting in Connecticut 2” but this haunting in Connecticut is about ghosts from another state?

We end on a high note, because the “M3GAN” franchise knows its lane and it delivers what the people want. That perfectly-goofy 3 instead of an “E” was sufficient for the first movie. However, when the time came for a sequel, the tech-based horror franchise had an easy path to success. This is the upgraded version of “M3GAN.” It’s “M3GAN 2.0.” That’s how you sell your sequel.