The great Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Roger Ebert once said, “You can’t fix a bad ending… It’s the last thing you see, and it colors everything that came before.” The Chicago Sun-Times columnist was specifically talking about the final few minutes of a film, but his words also apply to franchises. A franchise is only as good as its final installment. Ruin that, and you will forever have fans lamenting instead of them appreciating what a great cinematic ride they’ve had so far.
Mission Impossible and Harry Potter showed us how best to end things, and it would be great if the overseers of other multi-film projects took note. But does anyone ever pay attention? At the moment, several franchises are at risk of having a bad final movie. Given the way things have been going, we don’t see Jurassic World or Fast & Furious sagas ending spectacularly. The latter has especially run out of fuel, and there are no signs of a gas station nearby. Fingers crossed anyway.
Here are 7 iconic franchises that were almost ruined by awful final entries.
7
The ‘Lethal Weapon’ Franchise
Final Movie: ‘Lethal Weapon IV’ (1998)
After falling out with the producers of Superman, Richard Donner found happiness in Lethal Weapon. Consisting of four buddy cop tales, the franchise centers on the camaraderie between the elderly risk-averse homicide detective Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) and the younger daredevil narcotics officer Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson), who is ever keen on coaxing his partner to let loose and indulge himself a lot more. All films have fresh scores on Rotten Tomatoes and high box office figures, except the fourth one, which underperformed despite having the biggest budget.
Should Have Kept the Dark Themes
While the first three films juggled darker topics like suicide, PTSD, racism (the Apartheid storyline), and drug use with the usual buddy-cop banter, the fourth one implanted itself firmly in comedy. ‘90s fast-rising comedian, Chris Rock, was even included in the cast, but even though he and Joe Pesci made audiences laugh, the general proceedings weren’t interesting enough. There was an attempt to save the franchise later on via a TV show, only for behind-the-scenes factors to ruin things.
6
‘The Matrix’ Franchise
Final Film: ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ (2021)
The Matrix presents a universe where the creation of artificial intelligence resulted in a race of powerful sentient machines that imprisoned humans in a neural interactive simulation known as “The Matrix.” Predictably, a resistance group emerges. The franchise consists of four installments, all starring Keanu Reeves as the protagonist, Neo. Each of the films was well-received except the last one, which tanked both critically and financially.
Less Wachowskis, Less Fun
The signs of a stinker were there from the start after the Wachowskis refused to be involved in a fourth film despite Warner Bros. constantly expressing interest. Ultimately, Lana Wachowski returned as director without Lilly, and, at some point, she even considered abandoning the project, but was begged to stay. Consequently, we got a film that was full of annoying meta references and no cutting-edge action. Let’s not even talk about the choice to recast Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith. Most importantly, we are in an era where the AI template has been overused in films. It no longer feels as special as it did in the ‘90s and early 2000s. For that reason, The Matrix should have been left as a trilogy.
5
The ‘Meet the Parents’ Franchise
Final Film: ‘Little Fockers’ (2010)
The Meet the Parents franchise covers all the boomerang that plays out after nurse Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) seeks permission from his girlfriend’s father to propose. Consisting of three films and starring Hollywood heavyweights such as Robert De Niro, Owen Wilson, and Dustin Hoffman, the film series is both funny and relatable. It earned over $1.15 billion at the box office, but critics heavily panned the final installment (Little Fockers).
The Feud Becomes Stale
Little Fockers suffers from the same problem as many other swansongs: overcrowding. Jessica Alba, Kevin Hart, and Harvey Keitel joined the cast, but this only resulted in limited room to shine for the usual cast members. After five years of being married, fans had been made to believe that Greg was now within his father-in-law’s circle of trust. Unfortunately, the new film creates a fresh conflict between the two… a conflict that never feels necessary. The words “cash grab” are written all over this, but we understand why Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro chose to do it. They were each paid $20 million.
4
‘The Godfather’ Franchise
Final Film: ‘The Godfather: Part III’ (1990)
Forced to take over from his father as the boss of the Corleone crime family, Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) surprises himself and everyone else when he demonstrates a natural aptitude for criminal dealings. And, over the objections of a few parties, he follows his passion by attempting to steer the family to legitimate business ventures. No better crime story has been told, and the first two Godfather movies are regarded as the best the gangster genre has to offer. The third film? Not so much.
It Came Too Late
No one ever really says it, but The Godfather: Part III failed to impress because it was released when director Francis Ford Coppola was way past his prime. The filmmaker was never the same after the ‘70s, and a part of him understands this, hence the reason he refused to come back for a third installment. The film’s flaws are glaring enough for everyone to see. Sofia Coppola’s acting is poor (the only poor performance in the entire trilogy), and the plot comically leans more towards conspiracy thriller territory (because of the Vatican corruption arc) than gangster drama. A slightly better director’s cut exists, but it still doesn’t match up to the first two chapters.
3
‘The Transporter’ Franchise
Final Film: ‘The Transporter Refueled’ (2015)
Events in The Transporter franchise are driven by Frank Martin, a former Special Forces operative who grew disillusioned with military life and now works as a private chauffeur for hire. Martin has a strict code of conduct that he abides by and expects his clients to do the same. The first three films starring Jason Statham are still adored to this day, but the final film and the short-lived television series left little to be desired.
Jason Statham Is Frank Martin
The Transporter was never going to work without Jason Statham, but the studio gave the green light anyway, replacing the action star with Ed Skrein after negotiations fell through. Here, there aren’t enough interesting subplots to sustain the viewer’s interest throughout this dawdling 90-minute time frame. The vibe is something you’d expect more from a B-movie: poorly choreographed action sequences and up-and-coming names struggling to make their one-dimensional, all-too-common characters remotely convincing as the clock slowly ticks down to an inexorable disaster denouement.
2
The ‘Die Hard’ Franchise
Final Film: ‘A Good Day to Die Hard’ (2013)
When Roderick Thorp wrote Nothing Lasts Forever in the ‘70s, he never expected that his story would expand to the depths that it did. All five Die Hard films revolve around John McClane (Bruce Willis), a lawman who continually finds himself in the middle of a major crisis that only he can handle. We’d have preferred a worthy swan-song for one of the greatest action stars of all time, something that was profound, piercing, and altogether brilliant. Instead, we got A Good Day to Die Hard.
A Missed Opportunity
Shootouts, chases, and CGI explosions are the only fun here. Not surprisingly, Die Hard 5 only comes to life in its last 15 minutes when all hell breaks loose before McClane reconciles with his estranged son Jack, a CIA agent. But how much reconciling does he have to do in his life? Perhaps things would have been better if producers had stuck with the original daring plan. According to First Showing, the film was meant to be a crossover between Die Hard and Fox’s 24 series, with Kiefer Sutherland reprising his role as CTU agent Jack Bauer alongside John McClane. How cool would that have been?
1
The ‘Bourne’ Franchise
Final Film: ‘Jason Bourne’ (2016)
The Bourne franchise is only based on the character of the same name created by Robert Ludlum, not the entire book plots. Although the first three movies have the same titles as the source novels, the plots are original, starting with Jason Bourne being rescued by fishermen and having no idea who he is. He then pieces together his CIA past while dodging assassins. Except for Jason Bourne, all the films are worth rewatching.
An Overplayed Saga
In the final chapter, Matt Damon is magnetic as always in the title role, and Tommy Lee Jones is equally effective as the CIA director, whose moral compass might be a bit bent. The film was a huge box office success, grossing over $400 million, but it’s a generally weak spy movie stained by tropes. Count seconds until you hear the cliché phrase, ‘We have eyes on the target.” Major problem? Same as many of the other films. Matt Damon didn’t want to be here. “We have ridden that horse as far as we can,” he told Variety in 2007. He only came back after director Paul Greengrass agreed to return, but the duo couldn’t replicate their previous magic. You’d be better off watching another spy movie.
