Movies, who doesn’t love them? They give you close to two hours of entertainment, and you don’t have to do anything but stare at a screen. Watching a movie is usually an enjoyable experience until you watch a bad one. What’s worse than watching a bad film is watching a good one with an awful ending. Others agree, as users from an online community of film fans commented on great movies with awful endings.
1. Wonder Woman (2017)
Despite the poor reception to most of their DC films, Warner Bros scored big with the release of Wonder Woman in 2017. Fans and critics loved it, unlike Justice League, which was released later that year. The major drawback of the film is its ending. As one user says, the film did “Set up a really interesting plot that maybe evil is inherent in humankind but nope! It was actually Aries. Aires all along…”
2. Hancock (2008)
Speaking of superhero films ruined by an ending, how about Hancock? The film was an original superhero film starring Will Smith that had the potential to be an all-time great. Unfortunately, a plot twist in the film’s second half brings it down. One online community user said: “Hancock started out so promising, and then took a wild left turn that felt unearned and unrelated.”
This refers to the reveal that Charlize Theron’s character was actually Hancock’s long-lost lover from a different period of time. This reveal came out of nowhere and clashed with the rest of the film.
3. It Chapter Two (2019)
Everyone seemed to love the first IT film, but people cannot stand the ending when it comes to its sequel. “I like the ending, but I also hate it,” said one user. The film’s ending sees the protagonist’s bully Pennywise defeat him. It’s understandable why many wouldn’t like this ending, but it’s better than the original ending from the book.
4. Now You See Me (2013)
Now You See Me was an interesting film. A heist movie with magicians is a premise that grabs your attention. Unfortunately, that interest disappears once you get to the film’s ending. One commenter says the film “Could have been great until they randomly had the main character basically switch sides at the end.”
The twist where Mark Ruffalo’s cop character joins the thieving magicians at the end made no sense then, and it still doesn’t now.
5. The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
Destiny and fate are the focus of The Adjustment Bureau, but does that mean the film was destined to have a bad ending? As one user describes it, “You have all that chase, a hopeless escape, defying fate itself and God just says “Yeah, whatever, we cool” and that’s it. Roll credits.” This may be why many people forgot the film.
6. Source Code (2011)
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Source Code establishes its rules about how the film’s government program works. The film’s ending then undoes this. One online forum user says, “It sets up some kind of sequel when it didn’t need one. It was a weird ending.” Another says it would have been better if it “Had ended about two minutes earlier instead of going just one step too far and undercutting an otherwise perfect ending.”
7. The Last Exorcism (2010)
Like many endings on this list, The Last Exorcism goes against the rest of the movie by teasing that a supernatural element exists and that the town’s church and preacher are both satan worshippers. I agree with one commenter who says, “The Last Exorcism is such a good movie until the very last bit.”
8. Signs (2002)
M. Night Shyamalan is known for plot twists, but I don’t think anyone was prepared for the twist in Signs. The aliens that invade Earth in the movie are revealed to be weak to water which makes their invasion of the planet a bad idea since it has so much water on it. I agree with one commenter who says, “Great movie until aliens die too….. Checks notes…. Water, a very abundant element that falls from the sky.”
9. Explorers (1985)
Explorers is another film ruined by an ending involving aliens. The film is about teenagers building a spaceship to explore outer space with. However, most seem to hate it once aliens are introduced, with one user referring to it as “That stupid plot twist alien reveal.”
10. Sorry To Bother You (2018)
Even from watching the trailer, I could tell Sorry to Bother You would be a weird movie. However, the plot twist involving people getting turned into horses and becoming enslaved to a corporation was too odd for me and ruined what could’ve been a genuinely great film.
11. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
You were wrong if you thought this list was done with alien movies. 10 Cloverfield Lane is an intense thriller that manages to sneak extraterrestrials into its ending. The film had been teasing an alien invasion, but it should have been left ambiguous. The fight with the aliens at the end doesn’t mesh well with the rest of the film.
12. The Abyss (1989)
We can also add The Abyss to the list of “movies ruined by an alien ending.” One online community user put it best, “Cameron ran long on the human drama and then stuffed a few seconds of environmental preaching from aliens.”
13. Passengers (2016)
Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence in a science-fiction film? How could it go wrong? Well, by having a terrible ending. It ended up resolving the relationship problems between the two characters poorly. Many users agree that the film’s conclusion should have been better, with one user saying it was “A wasted opportunity.”
14. Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
The ending to Law Abiding Citizen is controversial and divisive, depending on how you feel about the film’s antagonist, Clyde. Some think he should have won because they sympathized with him, while others believe his death was a satisfying conclusion to the film. Several community members disagree on the ending, showing that maybe there’s more to the movie than what’s on the surface.
15. The Departed (2006)
The Departed is a critically acclaimed movie with several awards to its name. Despite this, many are not fans of the ending, which sees many of the film’s main characters die in separate scenes. One user says, “Everyone dying is not a good plot twist or ending.” Another user also believes, “The Departed felt like they couldn’t figure out an ending so they just killed off everyone.”
16. Apocalypse Now (1979)
If you’re looking for a great movie about the Vietnam War, You can’t go wrong with Apocalypse Now. While most love the film, some have criticized its ending for hyping up the character of Colonel Kurtz. One user was disappointed that instead of this intimidating soldier, “He was a flabby, philosophically pretentious nut. Not the hardcore paratrooper who went through jump school at 38.”
Another reader said, “I’ve always felt that the moment Marlon enters the movie, all the momentum it built up getting there was lost.”
17. Glass (2019)
Glass is another M. Night Shyamalan film with a lousy ending. One of the film’s protagonists, David Dunn, is an invincible superhero who a police officer drowns. We were also robbed of seeing a real showdown between David and The Beast, but that is the film’s point. It subverts the typical superhero movie ending and gives something more realistic. It makes sense, but it is still disappointing as a fan.
18. The Hateful Eight (2015)
The Hateful Eight was such a long movie that it gave me a headache in the theater. What really bothers me is that it could have had a better ending than “everyone shoots each other and dies.” That’s how it ends. Tarantino’s movies are known for being violent and bloody but also creative. This ending was anything but innovative. It was just violent, and that was disappointing.
19. The Little Things (2021)
The Little Things had so much potential as a film with its great cast and interesting premise, but it all gets squandered by the ending. It’s a murder mystery where nothing gets solved, and nothing is left for you to speculate about. It just ends.
20. Interstellar (2014)
Christopher Nolan is known for his primarily original films with exciting plots, such as Interstellar. In a film about space travel and humanity being doomed, the movie delivers a weak ending. One forum user feels the same way, “The 4th dimension being love and then being found out in the middle of space was just too stupid for me, but up until that part it was amazing.”
21. The Black Hole (1979)
Back in 1979, Disney released The Black Hole. The movie ended up having a disappointing ending due to its director Gary Nelson. He didn’t have an ending planned while shooting. One user commented, “So much world building and excellent art direction, still a fun watch despite the less than satisfactory ending.”
22. Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)
Pokémon Detective Pikachu is considered one of the best video game movies, but many people dislike its ending. It’s revealed that the father of Tim, the protagonist, was Pikachu for the entire film, yet he somehow doesn’t notice his father’s voice. Like one user pointed out, “The entire plot hinges on the idea he doesn’t recognize his own father’s voice.”
23. White Noise (2005)
White Noise might have one of the strangest endings on this list. It’s about a husband trying to talk to his dead wife. The way it ends is odd, as he gets attacked by ghosts. As one user says, “It’s laughably bad when compared to the rest of the film which didn’t show a single ghost or use CGI in any memorable way.”
24. Limitless (2011)
Limitless, starring Bradley Cooper, is an exciting, intense movie. Its ending, however, is not. Instead of sticking with something more interesting or creative, the film fixes the issue with the pill the protagonist takes so he can use it with no negative side effects. One user described it as “a spoiled masterpiece, like someone added a surprise hopeful ending to 1984 or something.”
Source: Reddit