Any good franchise finales?

[Snarky-Guru 7]

Film franchises seem to take a life of their own and draw an intense fan base like a moth to a flame. It feels like there's so much riding on the big finale that it's almost impossible to wrap things up successfully. Have any of the big franchises managed it? The last installment in the Star Wars franchise is sure taking a beating by most critics and fans. Do you think it was destined to fail from the start or did the director just make some big mistakes?

[ShadowEdge 48]

People seem to have really strong opinions about The Rise of Skywalker, which is a little humorous. I like the movie, but it left a lot of things unanswered which was frustrating. I'm not that intense about it though. I think it's tough to please all/most fans and move the plot forward without creating more holes in the story. As far as a good finale goes, El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie was excellent. It answered many questions that the TV series had left hanging in the air. I really enjoyed that one.[/i][/i] Edited December 22, 2019 by ShadowEdge

[Gareth The Great 20]

I know that Black Widow's death didn't sit well with some fans, but overall I thought The Avengers Endgame was a phenomenal finish to a beloved franchise. Not only did it boast of spectacular action scenes, but the characters and their relationships were well-developed. Usually one is sacrificed for the other, so that was a nice change.

 

I thought The Rise of Skywalker was okay. I don't want to spoil the film as it just came out, but I will say that the finale actually created more questions than it answered in my opinion.

[scatman 9]

Skywalker was as good as it was meant to be I think. It was comfort food to me. All the usual suspects were there and nothing radical happened or was implied. It ran steady and I was entertained. I liked it.

[etz 78]

The Rise of Skywalker was a disappointment after The Last Jedi. Neither is perfect, by any means, but at least TLJ tried something different (albeit to mixed reception) while TRoS was a misguided attempt to retcon all of the so called controversy out.

 

Even with that said, nothing TRoS did was especially bad, per se, but it was trying to fit too much into its' runtime. Giving it another half hour (at least), or splitting the movie in two and expanding on, well, everything, in two parts would have served the story much better.

 

A franchise that managed it? Well, Marvel, obviously, though it feels like a cheat since it's obviously not over, just the end of an era. Furious 7 also did a spectacular job closing out the Paul Walker era in terrible circumstances (though WAY better than TRoS, it has to be said).

[Evelyn 26]

I thought the Harry Potter franchise ended well. Breaking Bad had an excellent ending, whether you count the last episode in the telly series or the Netflix movie "El Camino" as the finale.

Furious 7 also did a spectacular job closing out the Paul Walker era in terrible circumstances (though WAY better than TRoS, it has to be said).

I recently binged the Fast and Furious franchise and the films were surprisingly good. I expected fast cars, but got much more than that. My favourite was "Tokyo Drift." The "Fate of the Furious" was fine, but had some gaping plotholes too. Dom buddying up with Deckard, even though he killed Han, was just weird and never explained.

[Ogmore 28]

I would say that the 2018 film in the Halloween franchise was one of the best endings, but lo and behold, there are more to come. Seems like a bad decision, but I suppose money is an excellent motivator.