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Knowing (2009)
The Ending: The numbers are revealed to have been sent by a race of future-seeing aliens who want to save Earth’s innocent children from the coming apocalypse.
Why It’s So Bad: The third-act introduction of aliens is almost always a danger sign, especially when their arrival is as nonsensical as it is here.
Prometheus (2012)
The Ending: Noomi Rapace packs up Michael Fassbender’s severed head and flys off in search of more Engineers to piss off.
Maybe call it a day, eh Doctor?
Why It’s So Bad: There’s something unmistakeably comical about the way Fassbender’s head is bundled into a bag, while the whole thing seems to reek of a sequel set-up.
Even the Xenomorph reveal seems tacked on.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
The Ending: Having been stripped of his powers, Magneto demonstrates a twinge of his old power, while a post-credits sequence shows that Professor Xavier’s essence has been telepathically transported to another body.
Why It’s So Bad: Brett Ratner’s controversial storytelling decisions might not have been popular, but he could at least have followed through with them.
While Magneto’s chessboard is inoffensive enough, the post-credits scene feels like a definite cop-out.
The Lady In The Water (2006)
The Ending: Story bids farewell to the denizens of the apartment group, before being carried away by a giant eagle.
Why It’s So Bad: We know the film is supposed to adopt the format of a bedtime story, but this finale still elicits and unwelcome snigger…
Monty Python & The Holy Grail (1975)
The Ending: King Arthur and his knights are taken into custody by a group of modern-day policemen.
Why It’s So Bad: As great as the movie undoubtedly is, this one reeks of not knowing how to wrap things up, as the boys run out of money and ideas.
Australia (2008)
The Ending: Everything turns out perfectly for practically everyone involved, with even the little Aborigine boy riding off into the sunset.
Literally.
Why It’s So Bad: It’s a slow build of schmaltz as the famously inhospitable terrain of early 20th Century Australia proves an unlikely backdrop to a whole heap of goo…
Sunshine (2007)
The Ending: The deranged captain of the failed Icarus mission is revealed to be at large, and proceeds to stalk the crew members in a third act that feels like something from a slasher movie.
Why It’s Bad: In a drastic tonal shift, Sunshine lurches away from the sphere of 2001 and into the remit of Jason X .
American Gangster (2007)
The Ending: Career criminal Richie Roberts decides to cooperate with the police, giving up all of his associates and coming off as a kind of rough diamond character in the process.
Why It’s Bad: When even the real-life Roberts questions his own portrayal as excessively noble, you know something has gone slightly amiss.
Contact (1997)
The Ending: The alien contact manifests itself through the form of Jodie Foster’s long-dead dad. Hmm.
Why It’s Bad: We wanted the alien envoy to be creepy, awe-inspiring or both.
Instead, it was cutesy and sentimental.
Poor show.
Identity (2003)
The Ending: The various protagonists are all revealed to be various personas of the killer i.e. figments of his imagination.
Why It’s Bad: Revealing that your primary characters are the fantasies of a madman kind of makes them difficult to care about.
