10 Movie Franchises That Actually Ended On A High
7. Sam Raimi's Spider-Man
Hold up, hear me out.
No, Spider-Man 3 is not the best Spider-Man movie, not by a damn long shot. It's not even the best of its original trilogy, and definitely not what Sam Raimi wanted to be the last of his Spider-Man films (he reportedly had at least one more in him, but production fell through early on).
But just because it isn't the best movie in its franchise (exactly one of the films on this list end on their best entry) doesn't mean it isn't a great end to the franchise. And for what Sam Raimi wanted to do with the character and world of Spider-Man, this was a pretty damn great way to go out.
Besides it not leaving any egregious plot threads open for the 4th movie that would never happen, so that this being the last one doesn't feel infuriating, it's also a great coming home to roost for Peter Parker's character arc. After getting his ass kicked over and over until he stopped being such a full of himself loner type in 2, Peter's arc in this story is about his wish to actually improve his lot in life, held back by his own inner demons, embodied in both the black suit and by easily the best version of Sandman in decades.
It took everything 1 and 2 built and - while not as great as it could've been if Sony hadn't interfered with Raimi so much - was still a great ending to the first great superhero trilogy.