The only thing more frustrating than a movie with a terrible ending is a great movie with a terrible ending. They start strong and promising but fall apart in the third act, ultimately leaving a bad taste in the viewers' mouths.
That isn’t to say these movies are terrible. When fans ignore their endings, they're actually quite good. Whether it be a twist that makes no sense, a frustrating character decision, or a reveal that contradicts the rest of the movie and renders it pointless, these terrible movie endings ruined otherwise great films.
10 Man Of Steel Made Superman A Murderer
The DCEU kicked off in 2013 with Man of Steel, a darker and more grounded reboot of Superman’s origin story. While the film is far from perfect, it started strong enough that it had the potential to be a really great superhero flick. However, it had to stick the landing.
During his final fight against General Zod, Superman didn’t just cause some slight unintentional damage to Metropolis. He completely leveled the city and nearly destroyed Smallville. To top it off, he also violently killed Zod by snapping his neck. This is a depressing note to end a movie about a man who's a symbol of hope on.
9 The Grey Was Advertised As A Different Movie
Liam Neeson is an Academy Award-caliber actor who found a resurgence in his career in the 2010s as an action star thanks to the Taken series. Among his string of action films was The Grey, which basically advertised itself as Liam Neeson versus a pack of wolves. The trailer even teased a final showdown between him and the wolves.
However, when this scene finally comes, the movie abruptly cuts to black and ends. This is because The Grey isn’t the action movie it was advertised as but a touching survival story where the wolves are actually a metaphor. This is fine, but it’s neither the movie nor the ending that was advertised, and it ultimately felt disappointing.
8 Wonder Woman's Ending Was A Visual Mess
Wonder Woman started as an excellent, fresh comic book movie that set itself apart from other superhero films, at least until the final act when the movie became a giant, generic, CGI mess. The majority of the movie was bright and vibrant, but in Diana’s final fight against Ares, the screen was so dark it was hard to tell what was even happening.
Wonder Woman's ending looked sloppy and incoherent, which was a huge contrast to the first two acts of the film, which were well executed and felt very original. Wonder Woman is still arguably the best DCEU film, but it would've been even better if its final act were on par with the first two.
7 Identity Ends With A Big Fake Out
One of Hollywood's most annoying clichés has to be the “it was all in their head” twist ending, and no movie does it worse than Identity. Based on Agatha Christie's whodunit “And Then There Were None,” the film follows ten strangers in an isolated hotel as they're mysteriously killed off one by one.
The movie starts strong and builds genuine tension as the mystery plays out. Still, in the end, it’s revealed that the characters are a murderer's alternate personas and none of what the audience just saw actually happened. It completely takes the air out of the movie and makes the whole thing feel like a waste of time.
6 Titanic Includes An Unnecessary And Frustrating Ending
Titanic is one of the greatest historical epics and most iconic films of all time, but it ends on a rather frustrating note, and no, it has nothing to do with the door. Jack couldn’t fit, plain and simple. Plus, it made storytelling sense fort his character to die at the end.
No, Titanic's frustrating moment came just after present-day Rose threw the Heart of the Ocean necklace overboard instead of giving it to Brock and his team. It doesn’t serve any purpose for her character and comes across as quite mean. These people dedicated their lives to searching for that necklace. Why not let them have that?
5 War Of The Worlds Was Underwhelming
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It’s not unusual for movies to have plot holes, but for the most part, they’re so small it doesn’t affect the overall story. However, this isn't the case with Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds, which starts strong but has a lackluster ending.
Most of the movie follows Tom Cruise’s character as he tries to protect his family during an alien invasion which ends abruptly once it’s revealed the aliens are allergic to Earth’s atmosphere. Not only does it come across as an underwhelming, anticlimactic ending, but it doesn’t even make sense. How could aliens capable of traveling to a different planet not know they wouldn’t be able to survive there?
4 Hancock Felt Like A Different Movie At The End
Hancock is a movie about a reckless superhero played by Will Smith and is filled with tons of humor, similar to The Boys. That's true until about halfway through the movie when there is an unexpected tonal shift and the film goes from a comedy to a tragic romance story.
That’s not to say movies have to stick to one genre, but Hancock was so poorly executed that it felt like the ending came from a different script, and the studio merged the two movies. Hancock would have been better as a comedy instead of trying to become a "serious" movie at the end.
3 Superman's Ending Is Super Silly
There’s no denying how incredibly influential and iconic Richard Donner’s original 1978 Superman is. It’s a landmark film and one of the greatest superhero films of all time, but that doesn’t change the fact that its ending is ridiculous.
After Superman discovers Lois Lane has been killed; he gets so upset that in a fit of rage, he flies around the Earth so fast that he turns back time to just before she dies and saves her. Now, there have been many different ways a movie character has time traveled before, but flying around the Earth to spin it “backward” is by far the most ridiculous and far-fetched.
2 Signs' Twist Ending Makes No Sense
Director M. Night Shyamalan is known for his big twist endings. These can be hit or miss and the “twist” in Signs was definitely a miss. Signs centers around a former priest who discovers a series of crop circles in his cornfield when extraterrestrial life invades Earth.
The movie builds tension well in the first two acts but loses all steam once it’s revealed the aliens’ weakness is water. Similar to the issue with War of the Worlds, it’s incredibly hard to accept that these beings are intelligent enough to travel to a different planet but not intelligent enough to know that 70% of the planet would kill them. It’s laughable, narratively convenient, and doesn't make any sense.
1 A.I. Artificial Intelligence Should Have Ended 5 Minutes Sooner
A.I. Artificial Intelligence is a film about a child-like android who embarks on a journey to discover where he truly belongs. The film was initially developed by Stanley Kubrick, who, before his death, personally selected Steven Spielberg to take over creative control.
The movie seems like it’s going to end ambiguously as the android freezes underwater while begging to be turned into a real boy, but then miraculously tacks on a cheesy epilogue where he’s saved, and everyone lives happily ever after. If A.I. proves anything, it’s that sometimes, it’s better to leave certain films unresolved. Imagine if Inception ended with the totem falling over. It wouldn’t have the same impact, and unfortunately, neither does A.I.