When it comes to movies, much focus typically goes on the ending because this is what everything is built towards beforehand. Audiences are excited for that final moment to wrap up a storyline, conclude things for the characters, and ultimately satisfy them with what they’ve watched. Unfortunately, there have been times when movies have ended up being ruined by the ending, despite some brilliant work leading up to them.
Don’t Worry Darling
Don’t Worry Darling is a gripping movie that keeps people guessing throughout with several exciting twists. But the big change at the end falls flat, as it’s more frustrating than anything else after how much people have invested.
Gone Girl
Gone Girl is a gripping movie and remains one of David Fincher’s best pieces of work. There are tons of twists and turns along the way as Nick Dunne has to deal with his wife and has manipulative behavior. Everyone expects that to be exploited, but Nick sticks with her despite knowing what he does. It opens up the potential for more if a sequel is ever made, but it does feel flat regarding this particular story.
Baby Driver
Throughout Baby Driver, the focus is on music being the core point of the scenes, with clever characters who come out with excellent lines to build the story. While everything is ramping up to the big final mission, the tone takes a twist to be full of action and violence, which isn’t what the film was about beforehand. While it might seem like a frantic, big finish on paper, it’s too much of a change in reality.
War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds is a thrilling movie in which Tom Cruise attempts to look after his family during the alien invasion from Mars. It brings some fantastic sci-fi action, with the Martians looking menacing. But it stays a little too close to the source material, as the idea of all his family being entirely fine at the end is unrealistic, considering the widespread damage that’s caused.
Law Abiding Citizen
Law Abiding Citizen follows Shelton, who is on a quest to avenge the loss of his family. While the methods he chooses to do indeed make him a villain, he’s positioned as someone people can root for throughout the movie. But rather than accepting that and embracing it to the end, a change is made at the final point, which leads to him being outsmarted by a character who had been several steps behind him until the very end.
Signs
M. Night Shyamalan has never been afraid to push boundaries and try different things with his movies; that was clear with Signs. There’s a lot to like about this particular film, but the fact that the alien’s main weakness is water frustrates people. Considering Earth is primarily made up of that, this felt like a plot hole that wasn’t thought through.
Grease
Musical movies often push the boundaries of reality, which is widely accepted amongst fans. But randomly bringing in a flying car at the movie’s end was a wild change for Grease. The film is grounded in reality, for the most part, so this felt like a big shift. While it provides a big final scene that suits the musical world, it leaves many viewers confused.
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
This isn’t the most popular of the Indiana Jones movies, but throughout the story, it does try to stay on the theme of what the franchise is best known for. Blending history with elements of adventure and lore, it’s easy to get swept up in the world. But then the ending provides a major swerve with an alien twist that felt too far removed from the franchise’s tone.
The Wolverine
The Wolverine originally appeared to be doing something completely different from the norm regarding superhero movies. In Japan, Wolverine’s character is altered to focus on himself and his life. But rather than fully committing to something groundbreaking like Logan went on to do, the final third of the movie saw this one go back to the usual superhero big boss fight rather anticlimactic scenes.
Sunshine
Sunshine focuses on astronauts who are having to re-start the sun in a bid to save Earth. It’s detailed, clever, and full of moral questions until it randomly becomes a slasher movie in the finale. The left turn is meant to have a dramatic finish but ultimately feels out of place.
Man of Steel
Making superhero movies darker in tone is perfectly fine, and DC has opted to do that a lot in recent years. But changing up a character’s moral code isn’t. That’s what happened in Man Of Steel when Superman ends up doing incredible damage to Metropolis and decides to brutally kill Zod, which isn’t the behavior most expect from the character.
I Am Legend
The original ending of I Am Legend has been criticized heavily since its release, mainly because it differs so much from the book. An alternative was created, showcasing the fact that the theatrical release ending wasn’t a huge hit. Seeing Will Smith’s character ultimately sacrifice himself wasn’t how people wanted it to go, leaving audiences disappointed after rooting for him throughout the story.
500 Days of Summer
500 Days of Summer’s ending will frustrate people simply because the two lead characters don’t end up together. But that’s something that people should see coming because Summer makes it clear she’s not interested in a relationship happening. The annoying situation is when Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character meets a new woman called Autumn. It’s far too corny and leaves people rolling their eyes at the end, which isn’t ideal.
Now You See Me
Considering that Now You See Me is based on magicians, it was inevitable that the climax would have a big twist. The problem was that it ended up being too far-fetched and felt like a major reach for Mark Ruffalo’s FBI agent character to become the magician mastermind behind the plot.
The Grey
The Grey builds and teases Liam Neeson’s character, colliding with a pack of wolves. While watching the movie, audiences would expect that collision to be the final scene, but that’s not true. It’s heavily teased as the wolves surround him, but the moment he charges to engage in a fight, it immediately goes to the credits.
Remember Me
Remember Me focuses on some important themes that audiences can relate to emotionally. It’s about two people dealing with difficulties in their lives coming together to help each other. But the ending comes out of nowhere and uses the 9/11 tragedy in a tasteless manner.
The Matrix Revolutions
The Matrix Revolutions was supposed to end many of the questions people had about the characters, but that’s not what it did. Instead, the film ended up confusing audiences and didn’t provide the answer to what happened to Neo, which left people frustrated.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Stretching books into trilogies can be difficult, but turning one into three feature films proved to be too much of a task for Peter Jackson regarding The Hobbit. These movies have their strengths and weaknesses, but the second movie’s ending was one of the big low moments. Featuring a big final scene that finally allowed Smaug to break free, it didn’t provide the iconic fight that most presumed the movie was building to, as that was served for the start of the third movie.
Hancock
Hancock had an interesting premise, giving someone superhero powers who didn’t especially want them and who wasn’t the clean and polished act that most were. But the movie’s final section completely changes the tone with the villains and how it falls into the genre’s classic tropes, which ends up disappointing.
The Devil Inside
The Devil Inside tried to be unique with its ending, but it backfired massively. Just as the chaos begins to ramp up to what most would presume is leading to the ending, the screen goes black, and audiences are prompted to head to a website to learn more information. It’s a disastrous final scene that doesn’t wrap up anything and requires audiences to research outside the film to understand more details.
10 Cloverfield Lane
10 Cloverfield Lane is a movie wrapped in mystery throughout. Neither the audience nor Michelle knows whether Howard is telling the truth about the alien attack above them. Ultimately, he’s right the entire time, and ending it with that realization would’ve been perfect. Instead, Michelle ventures out and begins fighting aliens, which is an addition that the film never needs.
