The endings to movies like Se7en and The Graduate are often considered high points of the film at large, but they also don't share a "bad" scene between them. However, there are some films that Redditors believe are lackluster if not outright poor, but they have one thing in common: a great ending.
The quality of a movie is partially dependent upon the individual watching it, but there's little debate about the third-act strength of the Redditors' suggestions. From a galactic trilogy-concluder to a Pixar prequel, some films' conclusions leave the audience feeling good about the movie as a whole.
Return Of The Jedi (1983)
The third and final chapter of the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi, is far from a "bad" movie, but there is a widespread consensus that it's an inferior film to both A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back.
Tough-Candy-9455 stated they "thought most of Return of the Jedi was fairly mediocre. But the throne room scene with Vader and Luke is among the greatest stuff in blockbuster movies...." The Redditor acknowledged how their opinion may not go over well, but there are 878 upvotes and counting, so it seems that many others view Jedi not only as the weakest of the original trilogy but also as only a so-so film overall.
Sleepaway Camp (1983)
Sleepaway Camp is one of the more high-profile slasher films of the early 1980s, and arguably the most notorious. The film opens with a boating accident, leaving the audience to believe that the film's protagonist, young Angela Baker (Felissa Rose), watched as her father, John, and brother, Paul, were struck and killed.
However, Sleepaway Camp ends by pulling the rug out from under the audience, revealing that Angela was actually killed, and Peter was raised by her aunt as a female. While it's not an ending that would be shot today, the look on Rose's face is memorably frightening, as is the growling sound she emits. SwingJugend summarized the film's appeal by calling it a "Mediocre, weird slasher with a classic ending." A few other Redditors agreed, like penandpaper22, who wrote that their comment "should be at the top!"
Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday isn't viewed in a high light by even most Friday the 13th fans, mostly because it gives Jason a great design only to remove him from all but the first and last five minutes of the movie.
But few detractors would deny that the shark-jumping Friday the 13th movie ends up delivering on the title's promise. Thatoneguy112358 mentioned the film by name on a thread for "bad" movies with a great ending. Rutlemania threw in an accurate fun fact: "That's Kane Hodder wearing that. Meaning he's played Leatherface, Jason, and Freddy." While Hodder himself wouldn't go on to fight Kreuger himself, he still had a record run as Voorhees in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason Goes to Hell, and Jason X and even put in an appearance as the title character in particularly stunt-heavy scenes for Leatherface: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre III.
The One (2001)
After he made his breakthrough into the U.S. film market with Lethal Weapon 4 and shared the screen with Aaliyah in Romeo Must Die, Jet Li fought against himself in The One.
However, while the film is high-concept and features an early Jason Statham performance, The One typically doesn't rank amongst the actor's best in terms of critical response. However, the finale's pinning of the actor against multiple variations of himself is a delight, even if some of the CGI has aged poorly. A Redditor even called the film's third act "one of the most bad a** endings of all time."
A Fantastic Fear Of Everything (2012)
A Fantastic Fear of Everything ranks low on a list of films starring Simon Pegg, never quite finding a tone that gels with the narrative or the central character the audience is supposed to be getting to know. Pegg stars as an author of children's books who adjusts his focus to the murder-filled crime genre.
SquidgyGoat said the Psycho-referencing movie was "almost unwatchable bad for 80-odd minutes, then absolutely nails an inventive, fitting and frankly moving final section." The film does go in an interesting direction in the third act, with Pegg's writer learning to conquer the grip held on him by the trauma of his past.
Seven Psychopaths (2012)
While Seven Psychopaths is a successful Tarantino homage, its critical and commercial response didn't reach the heights of that auteur's best work.
KingIkenna mentioned the film by name and, when someone asked what they didn't enjoy about the first two-thirds, the Redditor replied with: "It's not that I disliked it, more like it as just an 'okay' movie. Then the final 3rd, when Walken and Rockwell take over, is great." There are quite a few Redditors who took issue with Colin Farrell's protagonist, not so much in terms of the actor's performance as how he was written. Similarly, there's a consensus that Sam Rockwell's cold-hearted killer, Billy, and Christopher Walken's dognapper, Hans, are the highlights.
Prometheus (2012)
Prometheus has been controversial since its release in the Summer of 2012, but Ridley Scott's film does have its fans. However, Redditor spiderinside seems to fall more on the detracting side, writing "The first 1.5 hours were beautiful but stupidly written, but I thought the last 1/2 hour had enough action...also loved Shaw and David taking the payload to go and f*** over the remaining Engineer civilization."
Scott's return to the Alien universe ends by showing Noomi Rapace's stranded sole survivor, Elizabeth Shaw, carrying the head of cyborg David (Michael Fassbender) to an Engineer spacecraft with the intention of reaching their homeworld. Even though Shaw has survived the film's events, the audience is left wondering if she'll survive David, who's threatening even as just a head. Scott's sequel, Alien: Covenant, would answer the question resolutely.
Monsters University (2013)
Monsters Inc.'s Mike and Sully have a great friendship, and the Pixar prequel Monsters University goes a long way towards showing why it's so strong. However, most felt that it fell far short of Inc., but there's a consensus that its ending held a level of poignancy. Mike and Sully have been kicked out of school, but they accept that neither of them can be great at everything they try, and they can be happy just being themselves.
LadPrime posited that "Monsters University is a perfectly adequate Pixar movie, up until the surprisingly thoughtful ending, where it becomes a great Pixar movie." Bookstore agreed, writing "Yes! It's a weak if not cute movie and the end caught me completely off guard. With 'Little Wonders' and everything, I cried. Very cathartic."
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II (2015)
Danishroyalty suggested the Hunger Games franchise's closing chapter, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2, writing that it's "Not a fantastic film." The Redditor also added that the movie feels "rushed" and the battle scenes were fairly interchangeable, with set pieces that would be fitting in just about any other blockbuster.
However, the Redditor liked how the movie slowed down a bit for the finale, where Katniss shoots a single arrow into President Snow directly in front of a crowd of people. While the two Mockingjay movies aren't as strong as Catching Fire, the finale's resolution was handled extremely well.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
James Gunn's second Marvel Cinematic Universe adventure, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, wasn't met with as enthusiastic a response as its predecessor, but there's no doubt it's a solid MCU installment that expands the Guardians' personalities in interesting ways. Furthermore, Mantis has swiftly become a fan-favorite character thanks to Pom Klementieff's charming and soft-spoken performance.
TheRedSpeedster wrote that they "loved the movie" but found themselves understanding why people took issue with it. However, they also wrote: "from the minute after the hyperdrive jump scene...good lord does this movie take off and become a whole other monster."