The Movies: Transformers: Age Of Extinction, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1, Divergent, The Maze Runner, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 A conventional narrative has a beginning, middle and end. All that changed in 2014, where it became beginning, middle and a semi-resolution of a minor sub-plot, leaving the major story open for the next movie. This episodic manner of filmmaking has been on the rise for a while, but this year it reached epidemic levels, with franchises that had previously been happy telling a stand-alone story each time (Transformers, Planet Of The Apes) suddenly spending the final act teasing more exciting adventures. Laying some groundwork for a sequel is fine, but that should really be a Batman Begins-style tease, not the entire point of the movie (that's you, The Amazing Spider-Man 2). Mega-franchises are Hollywood's bread-and-butter right now, yet this new development sees them misunderstand their appeal. Yes, Marvel have won audience's hearts and wallets with their cinematic universe, but at no point have they let the build-up towards Thanos get in the way of the story at hand (well, aside from Iron Man 2, but they don't talk about that). All of this seems to be done to ensure an audience will come back for the next/final installment, which ignores that most people would rather go see the sequel to a good movie, regardless of whether it's set up or not, than a muddled stinker. What other oddly specific trends did you spot in 2014 movies? Share your observations in the comments below.
