Near Perfection: 5 Outstanding Movies Ruined by Their Endings
These five end with a good dose of disappointment.
What makes a good movie? There are probably too many factors, but a great ending is arguably the most important, because no matter how great a movie is, it can't be good if the ending is bad.
These five movies prove it.
Pretty Woman (1990, 7.1 on IMDb)
This rom com starring Richard Gere and Julia Roberts became an instant classic when it premiered over three decades ago. Telling the story of an unlikely romance between a wealthy businessman and a call girl, the movie had a very dull and cheesy happy ending in which Gere's Edward proposed to Roberts' Vivian. The bittersweet goodbye scene, in which the characters realized they didn't belong in each other's worlds, would have been a much better ending.
I Am Legend (2007, 7.2 on IMDb)
The third adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel of the same name, the film stars Will Smith as Dr. Robert Neville, a former US Army virologist who is the sole survivor of a deadly virus outbreak in New York that killed most of the world's population and turned some into bloodthirsty mutants. In the theatrical ending, Neville manages to develop a cure and gives it to other survivors before sacrificing himself, which was a total bummer compared to the original alternate ending in which he realizes that mutants are very much like humans in that they have feelings and relationships, and it is he who has been a monster all along.
Wonder Woman (2017, 7.3 on IMDb)
The hit DC movie starring Gal Gadot needs little introduction as it tells the origin story of the titular superhero. While the entire film is compelling both story-wise and visually, Wonder Woman's ending ruins it all, as the character suddenly realizes that she's been played by Ares all along and everything she's done is for nothing.
Law Abiding Citizen (2009, 7.4 on IMDb)
Starring Jamie Foxx, Gerard Butler and Viola Davis, this action movie follows Butler's Clyde Shelton as he seeks revenge on Philadelphia officials after his family is denied justice. In the end, Clyde's plans are revealed and his terrorist attack on the mayor is turned against him, which he accepts indifferently with no signs of fear or remorse, a tedious twist that spares Clyde from comeuppance.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012, 8.4 on IMDb)
The third installment of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy is one of the highest-grossing films of all time, but it still has an unforgivably dull ending. Batman's epic sacrifice, in which he flies away from Gotham with a bomb and the entire city mourns the death of its hero, turns out to be a sham, as it's later revealed that Bruce Wayne survived and has gone into luxurious hiding with Selina, away from his former superhero affairs.