A movie ledger, not a leaderboard

Graded against what it's supposed to be,
not The Godfather.

Every review site scores a film on one absolute scale — a breezy comedy sequel judged next to a three-hour crime epic. We score sequels against the film they're actually supposed to live up to: their own predecessor.

What IMDb shows you

5.8/10
Pitch Perfect 3 — reads "fine, forgettable"
→

What we show you

-13.5
vs. Pitch Perfect (74 composite) — "a notable drop from the previous film"
Critics agreed: Rotten Tomatoes gave the original 81% and the third film 29% — a collapse IMDb's mean (7.1 → 5.8) barely registers. The delta is the number that actually tells you what happened.

The ledger

Every sequel in the dataset, ranked by how far it moved from the film before it — not from zero.

Biggest letdowns

  • Zoolander 2 vs Zoolander -23.4
  • Shrek the Third vs Shrek 2 -21.6
  • The Lost World: Jurassic Park vs Jurassic Park -20.2
  • The Hangover Part II vs The Hangover -19.6
  • Cars 2 vs Cars -16.8

Most improved

  • Cars 3 vs Cars 2 +12.1
  • Jurassic World vs Jurassic Park III +11.8
  • Zoolander: Super Model vs Zoolander 2 +7.3
  • Jurassic World Rebirth vs Jurassic World Dominion +5.9
  • Shrek Forever After vs Shrek the Third +5.8

Browse franchises

Each line is one franchise's composite score across its films — green when a film beat its predecessor, red when it didn't.

Pitch Perfect

3 films
74201266-8.6201552-13.52017
  • Pitch Perfect 2 -8.6 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one
  • Pitch Perfect 3 -13.5 a notable drop from the previous film

The Hangover

3 films
77200957-19.6201150-7.32013
  • The Hangover Part II -19.6 a notable drop from the previous film
  • The Hangover Part III -7.3 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

2 films
63199453-9.71995
  • Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls -9.7 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one

Zoolander

3 films
64200141-23.4201648+7.32016
  • Zoolander 2 -23.4 a big letdown relative to the previous film
  • Zoolander: Super Model +7.3 a bit better than the previous film

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

2 films
69200465-3.22013
  • Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues -3.2 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one

Kung Fu Panda

4 films
78200875-3.4201175+0.0201667-7.82024
  • Kung Fu Panda 2 -3.4 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one
  • Kung Fu Panda 3 +0.0 held up about as well as the previous film
  • Kung Fu Panda 4 -7.8 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one

Shrek

5 films
81200178-3.5200456-21.6200762+5.82010TBD2027
  • Shrek 2 -3.5 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one
  • Shrek the Third -21.6 a big letdown relative to the previous film
  • Shrek Forever After +5.8 a bit better than the previous film

Toy Story

5 films
87199584-2.9199986+1.9201081-4.6201982+0.42026
  • Toy Story 2 -2.9 held up about as well as the previous film
  • Toy Story 3 +1.9 held up about as well as the previous film
  • Toy Story 4 -4.6 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one
  • Toy Story 5 +0.4 held up about as well as the previous film

Despicable Me

4 films
76201072-3.8201362-10.3201762+0.32024
  • Despicable Me 2 -3.8 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one
  • Despicable Me 3 -10.3 a notable drop from the previous film
  • Despicable Me 4 +0.3 held up about as well as the previous film

Cars

3 films
73200656-16.8201168+12.12017
  • Cars 2 -16.8 a notable drop from the previous film
  • Cars 3 +12.1 a clear improvement on the previous film

How to Train Your Dragon

3 films
85201082-3.8201479-2.32019
  • How to Train Your Dragon 2 -3.8 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one
  • How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World -2.3 held up about as well as the previous film

The Matrix

3 films
85199972-12.6200358-14.22003
  • The Matrix Reloaded -12.6 a notable drop from the previous film
  • The Matrix Revolutions -14.2 a notable drop from the previous film

Jurassic Park

7 films
84199364-20.2199758-6.1200169+11.8201559-10.4201851-7.7202257+5.92025
  • The Lost World: Jurassic Park -20.2 a big letdown relative to the previous film
  • Jurassic Park III -6.1 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one
  • Jurassic World +11.8 a clear improvement on the previous film
  • Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom -10.4 a notable drop from the previous film
  • Jurassic World Dominion -7.7 a step down, but likely still worth it if you liked the previous one
  • Jurassic World Rebirth +5.9 a bit better than the previous film

Home Alone

4 films
74199060-14.3199245-14.5199733-12.32002
  • Home Alone 2: Lost in New York -14.3 a notable drop from the previous film
  • Home Alone 3 -14.5 a notable drop from the previous film
  • Home Alone 4 -12.3 a notable drop from the previous film

Meet the Parents

4 films
73200057-16.5200443-13.52010TBD2026
  • Meet the Fockers -16.5 a notable drop from the previous film
  • Little Fockers -13.5 a notable drop from the previous film

No franchise matches that search.

How the composite works

A blend of general-audience signals — deliberately NOT demographic-corrected, because the mainstream audience is the right jury for "does the sequel hold up." (Family-audience correction is a separate, later pillar.)

IMDb mean · 35%

Fetched live via the OMDb API, keyed by IMDb ID.

RT Tomatometer · 27%

Critics' aggregate, also via OMDb. Weighted highest alongside IMDb since critic consensus tracks quality shifts fastest.

TMDb vote average · 27%

A second, independent audience pool from the same lookup that finds each film's franchise siblings.