10 Good Films Utterly Ruined By Their Awful Final Act

9. Harry Potter And The Prisoner of Azkaban

009 There€™s a reason you never involve time-travel in stories not ostensibly about that particular subject €“ it can absolutely ruin audience participation in your film, because they€™ll be left wondering why they couldn€™t just break out their cure-all plot device when things get hard. In a standalone film it€™s bad enough, but when your film evokes time-travel midway through the canon, you€™re asking for trouble. It€™s a shame, because taken by itself the finale to Prisoner of Azkaban is very clever, explaining all the unseen, seemingly Deus Ex Machina moments that happened to the Potter trio at crucial points. However, if taken as part of a complete whole, you have to acknowledge that it€™s ill-advised at best. There€™s a reason why J.K. Rowling wrote out the time-turner technology in Order of the Phoenix €“ it was just too much of a headache. After all, the time-turners could€™ve nullified Voldemort in Book 4 €“ if Hermione were to grab Dumbledore and turned back time after Harry came back with a dead Cedric Diggory, the omnipotent headmaster could€™ve pulverised Pettigrew and put the stunted Voldemort in a box somewhere where he couldn€™t bother anyone. It€™s all pretty simple, really, and it's a Pandora's Box unleashed by Azkaban's final act.
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Contributor

Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League. You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.