Ok, this may not fall under the category of “Movies that Shouldn’t Have Sequels”, so much as it does “Movies that Should Never Have Had Sequels.”
The Lion King should have ended with the first movie.
Lion King 1/2 was (to me) enjoyable.
It wasn’t as amazing as the initial film, but it was a nice movie (and anything is an improvement over 2).
The Lion King 2 should die. Slowly and painfully. It is my least favorite movie ever. Star Trek V is better than this, if only because in that you get to hear Leonard Nimoy’s voice.
The only good bits were Timon and Pumbaa, probably because they’re Timon and Pumbaa.
And don’t get me started on the songs, I would say that I could rant on them til the end of days, but all my feelings on these horrid abominations of musical garbage can be summed-up in three little words: I. Hate. Them.
Sorry for the long rant, but I’ve never before had the opportunity to properly rip into these movies.
As for “What Probably Shouldn’t Have Sequels”: Big Hero 6 and Frozen.
In general, I think most movies should be standalone, unless they were intended to have sequels.
As for series that shouldn’t have been, The Matrix and Highlander should never have had sequels. The Star Wars trilogy should never have had prequels (though I’ll admit to enjoying Episode III). Lord of the Rings…should have had a prequel, singular. The Christopher Reeve Superman series should have stopped after II.
I think Tron: Legacy should have a sequel; the ideas were there but the script just didn’t match up, and I think given another chance, they could fix that.
I’m somewhat torn. On one hand, I think Pirates Of The Carribean: Curse Of The Black Pearl should have just stuck to the first and left it at that, but a lot of my favorite scenes were in At World’s End; specifically, the first third or so of the movie.
Yeah, but then we couldn’t have the awesomeness that is Transformers 4! Actually, the movies were a lot better when I rewatched them. But 4 was far superior. Soundwave inferior.
Well, one of these I’m not sure if it counts but Fast and the Furious 7 should have been where that series ended. An 8th one just doesn’t seem necessary.
Another stand alone movie that I think should stay a stand alone movie is who framed Roger Rabbit. No sequel will ever be able to live up to the original one.