It's probably not just me who already figured this out. Maybe it's some kind of a curse. Or a weird coincidence. Whenever there's a great movie and they make an even greater sequel... they'll usually screw up the third part so bad, that you wanna cry.

Here are some examples. Please tell me if I'm not right.

Terminator

Terminator: The idea of a robot going back in time to kill the human rebel's mother before he was even born - now that was something new. The acting was awesome. A classic from Arnold Shwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton.

Terminator 2: The sequel was even better than the original. It was one of the best action movies in history. Guns'N'Roses, Edward Furlong and, of course, the T1000 - it was a revolution.

Terminator 3: Pathetic attempt to recreate the movie, resulting in a complete lack of story, old Arnold Shwarzenegger, terrible acting and a disappointing ending.

Terminator 4: It was a huge surprise for me but the movie was actually excellent. The SFX and dynamic scenes have made it a delight to watch. No story whatsoever and a bunch of pointless bull shit didn't matter that much. The fourth part was new and didn't try to copy it's predecessors - maybe that's why it was fun.

Robocop

Robocop: An officer Alex Murphy got mutilated by a bunch of bad guys and his organs are used to create a cyborg policeman. Murphy's brain works too well and the scientists didn't predict that he will remember anything from his life. They were wrong and the robotised cop went vigilante. Classic.

Robocop 2: The usual deal - more action, some quirks, you got to know the character better and there's a lot of things that make the sequel a worthy continuation.

Robocop 3: What about this shit? He had a... jet pack. Yeah. Fucking pointless.

Ringu

Ringu: Woman has a baby with sea demons, they say. Whether that's true or not, after her step father throws the girl into a well, she begins to project herself onto a video tape. People get a call from her after watching it and after 7 days, Sadako comes for them from their own tv station and kills them.

Ringu 2: The original movie had an American remake (it had it's own sequel, too), so it's pretty obvious that it was awesome. The second part has been made and it was continuing the movies' story in a bit different convention. It was still a very good movie.

Ringu 0: Boring and stupid. These two words say everything you need to know about this movie. If you want to watch how Sadako goes to college (she's not a little girl in the Japanese version) and torture yourself for over an hour until you see the scene where her step father tries to kill her, go ahead. I warned you.

Home Alone

Home Alone: Kevin stays alone in a house which is soon going to get robbed and he knows it. He prepares himself to defend it. It's a hilarious film and I've watched it multiple times.

Home Alone 2: New York this time. Even more jokes, the smart kid kicks the bad guys' asses and a the movie ends with a happy ending.

Home Alone 3: Annoying Alex and terrible acting have made this crappy copy of Kevin's adventures a torture to watch. Nothing new, same cliche.

Alien

Alien: There's an ant-like alien on the space ship. Sigourney Weaver tries to save her life. Action movie masterpiece.

Aliens: Even more aliens, even more fun. Another sequel that was even better than the original.

Alien 3: Bald Ripley tries to fight the alien again. Not many interesting scenes, a lot of boring ones in turn.

Chakushin Ari

Chakushin Ari: The movie is known as "One Missed Call" in Australia but since I'm talking about the Japanese original, not the remake (which has the same name), I'll use the original naming. A sociopathic girl hurts her sister so that she can "take care of her." Her mother comes back home earlier and sees her cutting her sister with a knife and goes to the hospital leaving the older girl home. She gets an asthma attack, dies. Her ghost starts killing people. The people get calls from the future where they can hear what their last words are. The movie is awesome.

Chakushin Ari 2: The action place moves to Taiwan and there's a different girl's ghost killing in a very similar manner as the one from the first part. Another well-made movie with a lot of mystery and action.

Chakushin Ari Final: Again, the action takes place in another country. Korea this time. A band of teenage bullies get death calls from the girl they pushed to suicide. The girl wakes up from coma and tries to stop the ghost after changing her mind (the ghost from the first movie was helping her get vengence). It's rather irritating. The movie was quite good but not as good as the first 2 parts. It was rather plain.

Die Hard

Die Hard: John McClane kicks terrorist ass at Nakatomi Plaza. Everybody's seen this movie and loved it. What? Not you? That means you're a fucking loser.

Die Hard 2: An airport filled with bad guys and John McClane has got to save the day, so that his wife's plane can land. Another awesome movie with Bruce Willis.

Die Hard 3: Samuel L Jackson didn't help the movie, which was another production filled with the same bullshit you already known and should like. Yeah, but it's already been used much better in the first 2 parts.

Die Hard 4: Now this is a comeback to the roots. A whole new (old) John McClane and a whole new story in a whole new world (the age of the internet). Filled with action, action and even more action, the fourth part was as good as the first. A proof that you can do it - you can make another sequel and it won't suck.

There is at least one exception to this - Lethal Weapon. Every part of that movie is a masterpiece. But what are your thoughts on that? Share them in the comment section.