Worst Ever Prequels!

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With Star Wars storming back into our multiplexes this week in 3D many people have been forced to remember the painful memories that filled cinemas throughout the globe when the Phantom Menace was released back in 1999.

Remember the genuine excitement that permeated through every Star Wars connoisseur's body prior to the films release? How there was simply no way that the film couldn't outdo A New Hope, Empire or Jedi. We were gonna see a youthful Obi-Wan and infant Anakin for christs sake!

How naive and foolish we were. Star Wars aficionados immediately began to protest about the demise of these iconic heroes and the introduction of needlessly annoying,CGI crafted characters and they immediately began to bay for Lucas' blood.

You see film fans can be a vengeful bunch. Peter Jackson you have been warned.

However there has since been a long list of prequels which have attempted to predate some of our favourite movies but end up providing us with needless back story that only diminishes rather than elevates the original film we love. Here is a list of the most disappointing sequels to have ever hit the big screen.

Hannibal Rising, 2007.

Hannibal Lecter has become one of the most terrifying characters in celluloid history. His psychotic demeanour and ability to instantly transform into a serial killer was expertly performed, firstly by Brian Cox in Michael Mann's Manhunter and then more famously by Anthony Hopkins in a number of films. Yet in 2007's Peter Webber flick the movie manages to provide us with too much backstory that completely ruins what made Hannibal so great in the past. Who cares if his sister was killed by the Nazis and he had a traumatic childhood? It could only have been ruined that little bit more with a scene involving Gaspard Ulliel's young Hannibal almost choking to death on a fava bean.

Butch and Sundance: The Early Days, 1979.

Some films are so popular that a prequel, sequel or reboot is inevitable. George Roy Hill's Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid is one of those movies. These films are normally produced by young filmmakers and star terrible actors who never mount to anything after these pieces are released, but this prequel starred Tom Berenger, Peter Weller, Brian Dennehy and Christopher Llyod and was directed by Richard Lester of Superman 2 and A Hard Day's Night fame, each of whom fail miserably in their attempts to add to the original film's coolness.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 2009.

The X-Men franchise is regarded as one of the most beloved comic book adaptations of recent memory. Bryan Singer's version of Stan Lee's much lauded series managed to truly unleash the essential elements of the books from the 60s with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine becoming an instant audience favourite. Gavin Hood's 2009 spin off manages to completely avoid any of these characteristics and it's dull and tepid plot made many viewers wish that someone would grow scratch the screen with their own bone claws.

Article by Gregory Wakeman
www.gregorywakeman.com