2. Pirates of the Caribbean Franchise
Never has there been a film franchise with such a promising start that has dive bombed as spectacularly as the Pirates of the Caribbean films. The first film has it's moments of classy humour, exciting sword fights and a pretty solid three act narrative. It ends with a sly wink to the camera indicating that Jack's adventures will continue... And how we wished they hadn't. Dead Man's Chest is a mess of story, characters and set pieces, that tries everything to reunite all the old characters when they were best left alone. Did we really need Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom to return, seeing as their story had been mostly entirely wrapped up? Why do we have Mackenzie Crook and that other guy, who are somehow still involved in the plot? I could spend time try to pick apart World's End but let's just say that it opens with children being hung in the gallows and goes downhill from there. The film is a convoluted dirge of over plotted set pieces and storylines that make no sense. The quote, "I have the nine pieces of eight." will forever be the bench mark of diabolical writing, that was so very nearly rivaled with the iconic Gerry Butler zinger, "I'm gonna stick my knife in your brain". The fourth film doesn't even try and repair any of the damage of the previous films and casts Jack Sparrow on another pitiful adventure that you feel should be over long before it even properly begins. The news that a fifth one is on the way fills me not with dread, but with a world weary, "Isn't this enough?"