15 Great Movies That Didn’t Need Sequels

The Hangover

The Hangover was something of a game changer in Hollywood. Without it, we may not have gotten Joker, Bradley Cooper might never have established himself as a leading man, and Zach Galifianakis would not be a household name. Not only did it inspire a new generation of men to go off in search of adventure in Vegas, but it reminded Hollywood that there was still an appetite for adult-orientated comedy movies. 

In depicting the ultimate night of debauchery, the film ended up becoming the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever in the U.S. But, like any legendary night on the town, trying to replicate that magic was an impossible task. While The Hangover Part II was a blatant retread of the original movie, save changing the location from Vegas to Bangkok, the third film wasn’t really about hangovers at all, and instead became a heist movie that gave too much screen time to Ken Jeong’s Leslie Chow.

Dumb and Dumber

Dumb and Dumber was not a film that lent itself towards a sequel. Arriving at the apex of Jim Carrey’s comedy movie career, with rising stars the Farrelly Brothers delivering the first of what would prove to be a string of toilet humor-led, slapstick comedy classics, and Jeff Daniels playing against type to hilarious effect, it felt like a one-and-done operation, with the ending offering little scope for a sequel.

Yet, to quote Jurassic Park, life finds a way. In the first instance, it came courtesy of Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd, an early 2000s effort that sought to cash-in on our strange obsession with prequels at the time. Lacking the jokes, charm, or stars of the original, it’s only significant for featuring Shia Leboeuf in a supporting role he would probably rather forget. Then came 2014’s Dumb and Dumber To. Suddenly the Farrellys’ jokes felt out-of-date and overly crude while the sight of Carrey and Daniels attempting to recapture former glories was just sad. 

Rambo

Anyone who skipped the original Rambo movie, First Blood, would have been utterly baffled to return to it having seen the violent, muscle-bound shoot-a-thons that followed. Yet First Blood remains far and away the best. As action movies go, it’s pretty complex, with Sylvester Stallone’s John Rambo playing the role of antihero as the Vietnam vet who goes on a rampage after Brian Dennehy’s small town sheriff triggers his violent side. First Blood is first and foremost a drama showcasing how the torture of Vietnam continues for those who fought, and Rambo actually dies at the end of the book the first film is based on by David Morrell. 

Yet Stallone could not countenance that. So, instead, the sequel moved away from the anti-war message. Rambo II became an exercise in wish fulfillment with Rambo re-fighting and winning the war in Vietnam single-handedly, while the less said about Rambo III’s take on the conflict in Afghanistan the better. Twenty-first century efforts Rambo and Rambo: Last Blood thankfully moved away from real-life conflicts but that’s probably the only positive gleaned from either of these grossly violent entries. Maybe Rambo would have been better off dead.