End It Well: Good Movies Ruined by Poor Endings
goes down ridiculously easily (Rocky 3); the whole thing is resolved by something completely outside of the story line so far (Raiders of the Lost Ark); the writer doesn’t know how to explain things clearly (Revolver) and leaves the plot so confused that numerous viewings still leave you thinking “what?!!”
I’m not going to look to heavily here at those films which are obvious set-ups for the sequel as I still hold these as a waste of time – films that are franchises rather than installments in a series a-la Godfather.
One of the real irritants in a bad movie is when the character receives absolutely zero pay off for the struggle they’ve been through in the previous two hours of film.
Castaway, with Tom Hanks, is a prime example. We, the audience, spend the majority of the film watching Tom Hanks struggle to live on an
