Top 20 Movie Endings That Made Fans Rage Quit

The rebooted “Halloween” trilogy started strong before declining with “Halloween Kills” and coming to an unsatisfying finish with “Halloween Ends.” While marketing material teased a final showdown between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode, the movie is mostly about Corey Cunningham, an entirely new character. We do get the Michael/Laurie match, and he’s defeated, and his body is destroyed. But the leadup is so clumsily executed, that it’s nowhere near as satisfying as it should be. If and when a new “Halloween” series comes along, we can only hope it has a better ending than this.

The original “X-Men” film series came to a dispiriting conclusion with “Dark Phoenix.” An origin story about mutant Jean Grey’s chaotic “Phoenix” persona, “Dark Phoenix” is so poorly conceived, even completists should consider skipping it. The very end suggests that the filmmakers didn’t have much faith in the main concept. Professor Xavier has retired and his school has been renamed in honor of Jean Gray. While at a Parisian café, Erik, AKA Magneto, catches him off-guard and challenges him to a chess game. The relationship between these two is crucial to this series. But “Dark Phoenix” spends so little time on it that this ending has no substance.

Director Michael Bay has admitted that his second “Transformers” film wasn’t up to par, later referring to it as “crap.” He attributes much of the blame to the rushed script, due to a looming writers’ strike. That might explain why the ending is such a dud. Earlier in the film, Optimus Prime is killed by Megatron. Given what an iconic character he is, we didn’t expect him to stay gone. But the way he’s revived with a single convenient item feels rather contrived. The term “deus ex machina” translates to “god from the machine.” And it’s especially apt here. There’s less to this finale than meets the eye.

At the end of the first “Saw” movie, Cary Elwes’ Dr. Lawrence Gordon amputates his own foot to free himself, and then goes off to find help for himself and fellow captive, Adam. But his ultimate fate remained a mystery. That is, until the seventh installment, promoted as “The Final Chapter.” After Jigsaw apprentice Mark Hoffman goes on a rampage and tries to flee town, he’s apprehended by people wearing pig masks. Their leader just so happens to be Dr. Gordon, who has also been working as a Jigsaw apprentice. While we were glad to get some closure on Gordon’s story, this is an unsatisfying ending that raises more questions than it answers.

The second “Thor” film is generally considered to be one of the worst MCU installments. It arguably has the worst ending. Villainous brother Loki is apparently killed in combat. Later, the Thor turns down an offer from his father, Odin, to ascend to the throne. This would’ve been a fine way to end things, except that’s not Odin. It’s Loki in disguise. Any pathos from his now-pseudo death scene is gone with this aggravating twist. Loki is best-known for being a trickster. But that doesn’t mean we should excuse this kind of sloppy writing.

By now, “It was all a dream” is understood as a surefire way to annoy an audience. And that also applies to any and all variations of that infamous trope. Towards the end of this vampire saga is a chaotic battle that’s honestly pretty invigorating and surprising. For once, it seems like “Twilight” is introducing some real tension. Then, we find out it was all a vision, and there’s no battle. Any time invested in the action and carnage is instantly dissipated. And we as viewers are left fuming that we were manipulated like that.

It feels like the makers of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” didn’t learn the lessons of “Spider-Man 3.” Like that movie, the second and final installment in the Andrew Garfield-starring series has way more plotlines than it needs. And it comes to an especially frustrating finish. Russian gangster Aleksei Sytsevich completes his transformation into the Rhino and unleashes terror on New York. But he’s confronted by everyone’s favorite webslinger. They fight for less than a minute. And then the credits roll. A proper match between Spider-Man and the Rhino would’ve been great to see. But it was sadly not to be in this overstuffed outing.

The second and final part of this Stephen King adaptation sees the now-adult members of the Losers Club defeating the evil Pennywise the Dancing Clown once and for all. On paper, that’s a totally acceptable way to end a movie like this. But it’s how it reaches this conclusion that doesn’t gel. The Losers devise a plan to overcome this fearsome entity. It involves mocking and taunting him. And…it works? Pennywise is literally diminished and destroyed by them. Who knew some name-calling was all you needed to stop a diabolical killer clown? We certainly didn’t.

Most movies look bad when compared to the original “Jaws.” “Jaws: The Revenge” looks downright unwatchable. The fourth and currently final film in the franchise is easily the worst, with a preposterous plot, involving a shark stalking Ellen Brody’s family, being just the start. We get a human vs. shark finale. But where the first “Jaws” had us at the edge of our seats in tension, “Revenge” has us staring at the ceiling in disbelief. Perhaps most ridiculous is Ellen flashing back to her late husband killing the original shark, when she wasn’t there to witness it. We also get the character of Jake making a miraculous recovery despite being total shark food before. It was clear this franchise was dead in the water.

Don’t let the memes fool you. “Morbius” isn’t “so bad it’s good.” It’s just…bad. While the ending to the film itself is nothing remarkable, it’s what comes immediately after that leaves such a sour taste. In the first mid-credits scene, Adrian Toomes, AKA the Vulture - last seen in the MCU's "Spider-Man: Homecoming” - is magically transported from his universe to this one. Then, in another scene, he meets Dr. Michael Morbius out in the desert, and tries to recruit him for a team up, name-dropping Spider-Man. This might’ve worked if Spider-Man was brought up at all in the movie. Instead, this comes across as a desperate attempt to connect this film to much better ones.

There’s nothing quite like watching a bad movie try to set up for a sequel. Fans and critics alike had many problems with Fox’s second stab at creating the famous Marvel team, most of which had to do with dialogue, characterization, and the film’s villain. But a worthwhile ending could’ve given audiences a glimmer of hope and something to look forward to. However, that’s . . . . not what happened. After an underwhelming CGI battle, complete with a giant light beam in the sky, the team returned to their dimension to soak in the glory. Their forced and cheesy comradery is bad enough . . . and the lack of chemistry between the leads just makes it worse.

This action sci-fi film was eagerly anticipated by fans of H. G. Wells’ classic novel, first adapted for the screen in 1953. And the relentless onslaught of the big bad aliens starts out promisingly enough. However, when they’re suddenly killed off by germs, it brings the climax to a screeching halt. To top it off, the movie inexplicably has the hero’s teenage son show up after seemingly dying earlier on. Even Spielberg himself doesn’t like how the film wraps up, stating, “I never could figure out how to end that darn thing.” While the ending IS similar to the book, there are some things that just work better on paper.

Some fans had problems with the entirety of the third act in Christopher Nolan’s Batman finale. And while those are valid concerns, it’s the last shot that brings up the most issues. After Bruce sacrifices himself to save Gotham City, Alfred takes a well-earned vacation to Florence. It’s there that he spots the very much alive Bruce having lunch, and gives him a knowing smile. It’s a nice callback to an earlier scene, but it completely falls apart once you think about it. How did Bruce survive? And isn’t it entirely improbable that they would be at that restaurant on that specific day and that specific time? We know it feels more cinematic, but it still doesn’t make any sense.

Yeah, the aliens. Indiana Jones was never a stranger to supernatural forces, having encountered face-melting arks and chalice-guarding ghosts. But when it came to introducing aliens to the franchise, it was a bit too much for some to handle. After finally reaching the hidden chamber, the adventurers return the crystal skull to its skeleton and bring the aliens to life. This event conveniently leads to the death of the villains and the heroes are able to escape. While Indy had dealt with the strange and bizarre in the past, they were all steeped in the history of this world. And for many fans, the aliens just didn’t fit with this universe.

Fans of Stephen King’s chilling novella probably went into this expecting the same ending. But they were sadly mistaken. After being trapped in a grocery store by horrifying creatures shrouded in mist, David is able to escape with his son and three others. But with no gas and only four bullets, he decides to shoot them to save them from a monstrous fate. He does so only to have the military show up moments later to rescue them. While the novella is still bleak, it at least ends with a silver lining, having David and the group travelling into an unknown future in search of safety. But this? This is just mean! And many moviegoers felt cheated.

Based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel, this film featuring Will Smith was actually the third time the book has been adapted. Dr. Robert Neville spends his time capturing and experimenting on the vampiric Darkseekers in search of a cure. The theatrical ending has Neville sacrifice himself with a grenade to save Anna, Ethan, and the cure. But in the alternate ending, which is more in line with the spirit of the book, he learns that the Darkseekers are only attacking Neville because he’s killing them off, and want to protect their own. To them, HE’S the monster. Many fans felt that the theatrical ending was formulatic - added just so the movie could end on a bang.

The very first Superman movie was a hit in 1978 and showed for the first time that comic books could be made into successful films. But while the movie was well-received overall, the ending was truly baffling, as has been pointed out ad nauseam since. With Lois dead from an earthquake, Superman flies around the planet in order to reverse time and save her. Regardless of the fact that that just wouldn’t work, and would instead just cause MORE destruction, this was never an ability Superman possessed in the comics. It made no sense, and made Superman so powerful he could just rewrite history. It wouldn’t be the last time a Superman movie ended on a unsatisfactory note.

Rebooting a classic is always going to be tough. Especially one with such an iconic ending. In the 1968 film, Charlton Heston’s character discovers that the titular planet is really Earth far in the future. Tim Burton’s adaptation tried to rival this with a new shocking twist . . . that makes no sense whatsoever. After defeating General Thade, Mark Wahlberg’s Leo escapes Ashlar to return to Earth . . . only to find that the Lincoln Memorial is now for General Thade. He travelled back to his own time from the year 5021 . . . so why is there a monument to Thade? Why have apes replaced humans? This ridiculous ending is now infamous, giving 20th Century Fox good reason to re-reboot the franchise a decade later.

One surefire way to disappoint fans is to completely confuse them, which is exactly what the Wachowski siblings did with this final installment. There are heroic moments like Neo defeating Agent Smith, and the citizens of Zion celebrating the end of the war. But the film closes on more questions than answers. With Neo’s sacrifice, the machines take his body. But what will they do with it? Why does the Oracle feel that they’ll see him again? And what about the rest of humanity, still plugged into The Matrix? Sadly, none of these would be answered. And a franchise that started with one of the most renowned sci-fi films of all time would end in a muddled mess.

The “Star Wars” sequel trilogy came to an immensely lackluster finish with “The Rise of Skywalker.” While many fans were let down by “The Last Jedi,” its follow-up was even more disappointing. We learn that Rey, previously thought to be unrelated to any famous families in the galaxy, is actually the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine, who’s inexplicably been resurrected. At the end of the movie, Rey is asked for her full name. She replies with [“Rey Skywalker.”] What could’ve been a resonant moment where our protagonist establishes her independence is instead squandered in two words. The Skywalker name is obviously an essential part of “Star Wars.” But that doesn’t mean it has to be the only focus.