Although it is true that most sequels are not as good as the original movies on which they are based, it is truly rare to find a sequel that is so bad it actually tries to undermine its original.
Unfortunately, Highlander 2 is one of those movies.
Highlander (the original) is a great movie. It is one of my all time favourites. It may have some laughable details in the depiction of the swords, such as swords being able to hack through steel girders, but I can forgive these silly little details in the original movie, because it is such great fun to watch.
The same can not be said of Highlander 2.
This movie is bad.
It is so bad one can hardly believe it is anything more than some kind of sick parody, as opposed to a true sequel, and, if one is stupid enough to watch it, will leave that person in a shocked stupor wondering just how the makers of this film could have corrupted the themes and characters of the original film to the outrageous extent that they did.
I will not bother giving you any details about this movie. I have seen it, and I can honestly tell you that you are better off not knowing anything about it. I kid you not.
Even Christopher Lambert threatened to quit during the making of the movie, because it was so bad.
Highlander (the original) is an excellent movie. I would highly recommend it.
Highlander 2, on the other hand, is a painful and grotesque abomination of the original movie's concept with no entertainment value what so ever. Avoid it at all costs. Trust me on this.
***ADDENTUM: Looking through the comments, I can see a great disparity between people who give this movie good reviews and those who rate it as downright awful.
This is not the contradiction it seems to be however. Upon closer inspection one will notice that the majority of bad reviews, like my own, are based on the original theatrical release (The Quickening), which is truly awful, while the majority of good reviews are based on another version of the movie (The Renegade Edition), which, I am told, is actually quite good. I have not seen the Renegade Edition, so my review is based on the earlier version.
The Renegade Edition of Highlander 2 is quite different from The Quickening, because the original director went back, and completely re-edited the film, restoring it as closely as possible to the way he had originally intended for it to be, as opposed to The Quickening, which had been heavily meddled with by various people within the studio that produced the film. ***