Past mistakes: The most unnecessary movie prequels

Was there a lot of story to be told in the “Star Wars” universe? Perhaps, though, we were pretty good with the original trilogy. That being said, the rise of Anakin Skywalker, seeing him become Darth Vader, could have been good. No, “The Phantom Menace” proved unnecessary because, well, it’s terrible. It has no value in terms of quality, and it actively hurts the franchise as a whole.

One last “Star Wars” movie. “Solo” is a better movie than “The Phantom Menace.” It’s also less “necessary” as a prequel. We didn’t need to know anything about Han Solo’s past. Also, we didn’t need to know how he “got” his name or how Chewbacca became called “Chewy.”

Bad and pointless, a real losing combination. What made “Dumb & Dumber” work? Well, some actually funny jokes, but also the performances of Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as Lloyd and Harry. Now, let’s say you take two characters who, while funny, are fairly two-dimensional, and replace those great actors with a couple of lesser lights. That gives you “Dumb and Dumberer.”

Here is when we lean on the “unnecessary” part of this. “Prometheus” is an interesting movie, and even pretty good. As a prequel to “Alien,” though, it is unnecessary. “Alien” is a taut, streamlined horror classic that did not need any preamble. Frankly, “Prometheus” feels almost tacked on to the “Alien” world and could have been better if it was not trying to be a prequel to a standalone horror classic (even if said classic also had three sequels of diminishing quality).

“The Exorcist” is one of the most successful horror films ever, whether you measure it critically or commercially. It was a huge hit and an Oscar nominee. Since then, though, they have decided to make several sequels and this belated prequel, and none of them have resonated in the same way as the original.

Did you ever wonder how Fred and Wilma got together? Or Barney and Betty? What’s that? No? What if we told you Stephen Baldwin played Barney? Still no? Yeah, us too.

Obviously, there were people in Hollywood who believed in The Rock, now known as Dwayne Johnson, as an actor. Giving him a chance to star in a film made sense, and he’s done it dozens of times since. That being said, why “The Scorpion King,” a spinoff of, and prequel to, “The Mummy?” The special effects haven’t held up, but the story didn’t even work back then.

Anthony Hopkins was on screen for a sliver of “Silence of the Lambs,” but still took home Best Actor. His performance as Hannibal Lecter was disconcerting and indelible, overtaking Clarice Starling in the zeitgeist. We definitely didn’t need to see a younger version of him as the protagonist of a movie, though. It turns out Hopkins was pretty important to the character.

Everything about this “The Wizard of Oz” prequel was a misstep. Sam Raimi is a great director when he gets to do his thing, but he put himself in director jail with this one. James Franco slept through another leaden performance he didn’t seem interested in. Also, why would we want to watch a movie about the man who would become the Wizard of Oz? This was a story that did not need to be told.

What makes Leatherface an iconic horror villain is that he’s a movie monster. He’s a human, sure, but there’s nothing “human” about him. The dude is the primary baddie in a film called “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Leatherface didn’t need to be explained. He should have been elemental. No wonder this movie flopped.

If you were going to make a prequel about one member of the X-Men, Wolverine makes sense. Although, that full-on prequel series with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender is fairly successful. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is a disaster, though. Even with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, it’s a total flop.

This one is sort of weird because it’s a prequel to Michael Bay’s “Transformers” series, but also tied to the prequel/spinoff “Bumblebee.” While “Bumblebee” was sort of its own thing and pretty good, certainly better than any other “Transformers” film, “Rise of the Beasts” involves robot animals and feels like a true prequel, but also one that seems like a needless slog. Also, the giant robot animals are silly.

“Orphan” isn’t much of a horror film, but it does have a bold twist. Of course, “Orphan: First Kill” can’t pull that twist because we already know the circumstances. There is no mystery, just a bunch of legwork building toward…nothing. It’s kind of fine as a horror film, but totally unnecessary as a prequel.

With prequels and also sequels, sometimes the subtitle can really tip you off. “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” feels like a parody of a prequel movie title. They decided they needed to set the table for the war between vampires and werewolves (aka Lycans) in the “Underworld” franchise. Now, we’re happy Michael Sheen got to chew every last ounce of scenery, but otherwise, this is definitely an unnecessary prequel.

We never thought, for a second, about the idea of doing a prequel to “Dirty Dancing.” Why? Also, it’s really just a warmed-over remake set in Cuba to try and make it different. Plus, “Dirty Dancing” had Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. It had a killer soundtrack. “Havana Nights” had none of that. It is a true zero of a prequel, and the definition of totally unneeded. If you want to complain about the oversaturation of IP projects in film, maybe save a little contempt for “Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.”