Fantasy movies like the Pinocchio help transport audiences to magical places and allow them to believe in the impossible. But that doesn't mean that such movies can get away with an unsatisfying ending. And a truly bad ending can derail even the most fantastical of adventures.
Redditors have highlighted some of the genre's standout movies that might have seemed promising only for it all to go wrong in the final moments. Lazy conclusions, unearned twists, and confusing choices made these fantasy movies end on a bad note.
10 The Woman In Black (2012)
Stepping away from his more iconic role in the fantasy genre, Daniel Radcliffe stars in the supernatural horror movie The Woman in Black. He plays a young lawyer in the early 1900s who is drawn into a small-town curse with a vengeful spirit targeting young children.
In the end, Radcliffe seems to stop the curse only for the spirit to remain vengeful, leading him and his son being claimed as her latest victim. However, the final moments add a confusing happy ending with Radcliffe and his son seeming to reunite with his deceased wife in the afterlife. Redditor CrashCoplee found that it was "better if the film ended about 90 seconds earlier."
9 Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021)
Shang-Chi became one of the Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The original movie explores Shang-Chi coming to with his past and confronting his villainous father Wenwu.
But while many fans were gripped by the exciting and personal father and son story, the movie delivers the typical third-act MCU battle. With monsters and dragons replacing the exciting martial arts fights, Redditor Naychaboy lamented the "hot mess of ugly CGI in the final showdown."
8 Elf (2003)
The comedy Elf is one Christmas classic that many fans will be revisiting for the holiday season. Will Ferrell plays Buddy a human who was raised by Santa's elves and ventures out into the real world to find his biological father.
Redditor Saricorn acknowledges that the majority of the movie is filled with hilarity and Christmas cheer "but the last 20 minutes suck." With Santa happening to crashland in Central Park and Buddy rallying the public to save the day, they simply didn't buy into the festive spirit.
7 The Shape Of Water (2017)
Guillermo Del Toro combined his love of horror and creepy elements with a touching love story in the Best Picture-winning The Shape of Water. The movie follows a deaf and mute janitor at a research facility who forms a bond with an amphibious creature being held captive.
The movie builds to the woman and fishman making their getaway only for the villain to corner them and shoot her. However, it is revealed in that moment that the fishman has healing powers and saves her. Redditor Underwater_Karma found that "it was just so lazy."
6 The Green Knight (2021)
Though the The Green Knight features a lot of fantasy elements, from giants to the titular knight. Dev Patel stars as a young and inexperienced knight who takes a challenge from a mysterious stranger that sets him on a deadly path.
The movie leads to Patel confronting the Green Knight. While Redditor Thomas_Lannister enjoyed the majority of the movie, he was annoyed by the "elaborate 20ish minute ending that was just a dismissible dream sequence at the end" in which Patel imagines his life had he chose not to face the Green Knight.
5 Bridge To Terabithia (2007)
The coming-of-age story combines fantasy elements in the story of young friendship. Bridge to Terabithia follows two young neighbors who help each other escape the harsh realities of the real world by creating their own magical kingdom filled with fantastical creatures.
However, given the heartwarming story of these young friends, the ending in which one of them suddenly dies is perhaps too heartbreaking for some viewers to take. Redditor RomaAngel didn't enjoy the sudden shift in tone and states that the ending "made sure I would never watch it again."
4 Glass (2019)
Years after M. Night Shyamalan's underrated Unbreakable, the movie got a surprise sequel with Split. Shyamalan then sought to bring the whole story together in a third movie called Glass which teased the faceoff between David Dunn, Elijah Price, and Kevin Wendell Crumb.
The movie builds to a moment of these characters finally clashing only for the climax to be cut short as all three characters are killed in rather anti-climactic ways. Though some consider Glass one of the best legacy sequels, Redditor uberduger feels the movie "was definitely ruined by a bad ending."
3 Sucker Punch (2011)
Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch is a wild fantasy adventure about a group of young women attempting to escape from a corrupt asylum. The main character Babydoll imagines fantasy worlds in which she and the other girls must fight on their path to freedom.
However, with the audience invested in Babydoll's victory, the movie throws them a curve in the final moments as she insists it was never her story and turns herself over to allow another girl to escape. Redditor msigur87 was mad enough with the ending to declare that they "never wanted to throw a television set so badly."
2 The Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (2003)
With best movie trilogy of all time. The third movie delivered some unforgettable moments with battle sequences, character moments, and the heroes' victory.
However, the movie is also infamous for dragging out its conclusion far longer than many of the viewers felt was necessary. Though the story certainly came a long way and had a lot to wrap up, Redditor TT454 claimed that "the multiple endings was such a stupid idea."
1 Wonder Woman (2017)
Though the DCEU had been struggling up until this point, Wonder Woman became a huge and critically acclaimed success. Bringing the iconic Amazonian warrior to the big screen for the first time, it delivered what many fans considered to be a perfect superhero movie – right up until the climax.
Despite giving audiences great character moments and amazing action sequences, the movie turned into a typical superhero finale with a CGI battle. Given what came before, this predictable and lackluster ending disappointed fans including Redditor Ariemnu who described it as "not even a good video game battle."
