10 Most Ridiculously Unearned Movie Twists Of All Time

3. Jake Gittes Gets Played... Again - The Two Jakes

The Dark Knight Rises Ending
Paramount Pictures

It's not often an eagerly-awaited sequel is in the noir genre, but back in the nineties the viewing public was eagerly anticipating The Two Jakes, the follow up to seventies classic Chinatown.

With Jack Nicholson back as Jake Gittes and also on directing duties, as well as original screenwriter Robert Towne crafting a script revolving around adultery and oil drilling, the scene was set for a film that could become a cult hit, one that ducks out of the LA sun and moodily skulk's around in the shadow of its predecessor.

For the most part the film succeeds in doing this, with Nicholson on form as a world weary version of his once cocky character and Towne's script hitting all the right beats. But then they go and spoil it all by trying to beat the original's jaw-dropping twist - "she's my sister AND my daughter!" - by pulling up a character from the past in a tiresome doppelganger surprise, putting the wheels in motion for an overly bright and optimistic ending.

 
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Contributor

Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing. He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.