Yeah, the second film was bad but at least it was following the book. First movie covers the first half, second covers the second half. Maybe had they made the second one a few years earlier and signed everyone on for it it might have been a lot better, but now we'll never know.

The third one just used the characters from the book. Which explains why we go from The Nothing, The Emptiness and The Nasty! At least it's fun seeing Jack Black having fun.