Examples of Late Franchise Buffoonery

Late Franchise Buffoonery is a phenomena whereby a series of films starts out seriously but gets sillier and sillier as later installments go for the cheap laughs.

Son of Godzilla (1967)

• The gritty, apocalyptic tone of 1954's Godzilla has been abandoned in favour of silliness.
• Writer Shinichi Sekizawa is credited with adding a lightweight, "fun" tone to the Godzilla films of the 1960's.

Live and Let Die (1973)

• Sheriff J.W. Pepper shows up and hilarity ensues.

Superman II (1980)

• Citizens of Metropolis are blown around comically by super-winds.

• Superman trying not to laugh

Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)

• Movie stops to let the Rancor keeper weep and be consoled for his deceased charge.

• Chewie swings on a vine on the Endor moon while making the "Tarzan" yell.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)

• Marcus Brody is now a buffoon, completely un-doing the character we met in "Raiders of the Lost Ark".

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991)

• Uhura, Chekov and Scotty have become bumbling idiots madly leafing through Klingon translation books.

Lethal Weapon sequels (1989 to 1998)

• Adding the Leo Getz character to the sequels drove what started as a gritty action franchise further and further into the buffoonery zone.

Batman & Robin (1997)

• Mr. Freeze's never-ending series of puns.

Terminator 3 (2003)

• Killer cyborg now cracks wise with "Talk to the hand."

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

• Peter Parker Evil's Dance