Yet Another Top 10 Worst Movie Endings

At almost three hours, it’s hard not to keep checking your watch throughout this overblown 2008 epic. Every time you think “Australia” is going to finally end, the story keeps dragging. It’s not enough for our lovers to reunite and go home. On top of that, we need to sit through a disgustingly sentimental finale where the Aboriginal brat goes off with his deadbeat shaman grandpa. For a movie set during the Bombing of Darwin, things couldn’t have wrapped up better for our heroes if they went over the rainbow.

“Open Windows” centers on Elijah Wood’s Nick, who gets roped into a kidnapping by a stalker named Chord. Once Nick’s served his purpose, Chord seemingly disposes of him. Upon receiving a call from the mysterious hacker Nevada, however, Chord learns that the real Nick spent most of night unconscious. Chord’s actually been playing cat and mouse with Nevada, who disguised himself as Nick with a high-tech mask. Piling on one too many twists for its own good, this doppelganger revelation is so inexplicable that even “Mission Impossible” would be howling.

A lot of people seem split on whether “The Dark Knight Rises” was a successful ending to Christopher Nolan’s “Batman” trilogy. But even diehard fans seem to agree that the film’s conclusion makes about as much sense as the final act of “Interstellar.” So somehow Batman survived getting blown up by a bomb, makes it to Florence, meets up with Selina, and somehow Alfred shows up at the same café as them? Did planets line-up or is Alfred just hallucinating from grief? Oh also, and it turns out Blake is Robin.

Except for revealing that the whole movie was a dream, a split personality twist is easily the cheapest cop-out imaginable. The ending to “Secret Window” slaps the audience across the face as Johnny Depp’s Mort comes face to face with…himself? That’s right, John Shooter, the man who has supposedly been giving people the axe, was just a character Mort created to do his dirty work. Then in a finale that’s more laughable than it is frightening, the two-faced Mort takes revenge on his cheating wife and partakes in some bountiful corn.

You know how sometimes a parent will tack on a happy ending to a melancholy story for their child’s benefit? That’s the best way to describe the final twenty minutes of “A.I.” The problem is that the movie was intended for adults! Rather than ending with David at the bottom of the ocean like it should have, evolved Mechas arrive 2000 years in the future, the Blue Fairy resurrects David’s mother for one day, and they have cake. In its pursuit to be heartwarming, “A.I.” instead left most moviegoers enraged.

It’s hard to say whether “Lucy” is a smart story stuck in a dumb movie or a dumb story stuck in a smart movie. One thing’s for certain, though: Its ending is 100% idiotic. As her brain reaches maximum capacity, Lucy transcends all humankind, becomes one with the space-time continuum, and leaves behind a flash drive for Dr. Morgan Freeman. It almost feels like director Luc Besson is trying to channel “2001.” But instead of going out on a profound note, “Lucy” leaves the audience slapping their foreheads in frustration.

“Saw 3D” keeps in the tradition of its two predecessors, jumping the shark with an inconceivable last minute twist. Remember Dr. Lawrence Gordon, the guy who cut off his foot? Well, get this. Jigsaw spared his life and Lawrence has been his partner in crime ever since. In retaliation for killing Jill, the doctor kidnaps Detective Hoffman, takes him to a familiar room, and declares the game officially over. It’s totally ludicrous, but now that John Kramer’s dead at least this is guaranteed to be the “Saw” franchise’s final chapter…right?

“Safe Haven” is a typical Nicholas Sparks adaptation about a girl named Katie and a guy named Alex who share a small town romance. It’s nothing great, but nothing awful either…until we get to the final couple minutes. Through a letter, Katie realizes that her friend, Jo, was actually Alex’s late wife. In other words, Katie was talking to a ghost the whole movie. But…that’s not…you can’t…what?! Pardon the mindless stammering, but that’s the only way to describe just how random, illogical, and flat out stupid this ending truly is.

“Into Darkness” was such an awesome follow-up to J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek” reboot that it’s easy to forgive the film’s absurd ending. With that said, it was a pretty absurd ending. Rather than paying homage to “Wrath of Khan,” “Into Darkness” literally recreates its spiritual successor’s iconic climax. The only difference is that Kirk and Spock reverse roles, leading to Kirk’s demise and Spock making William Shatner’s infamously silly cursing sound even sillier. Don’t worry, though, because Bones basically cures death and brings Kirk back to life. Well, that’s convenient.

Before we discuss how our top pick should have ended, here are a few honorable, or in this case dishonorable, mentions:
- What Do You Want?
“Edge of Tomorrow” (2014)
- The Proto-Xenomorph
“Prometheus” (2012)
- Sarah’s Hallucination
“The Descent” (2005)
- Shelton Blows Up
“Law Abiding Citizen” (2009)

Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” comes close to ending on a high note as the extraterrestrials are exterminated by the smallest of God’s creatures while Ray and Rachel make it to Boston. Ray’s headstrong son, Robbie, is nowhere to be seen, however, allegedly dying after stupidly running into battle. Just when it looks like the story is going to challenge us with an ambiguously powerful ending, the prodigal son emerges without a scratch on him and the narrator wraps up everything in a nice, tidy bow. Son of a…

Do you agree with our list? What other endings made you hurl tomatoes at the silver screen? For more entertaining Top 10s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.