10 Worst Comic Book Movie Climaxes

As bad as this 2015 iteration of the Fantastic Four turned out to be, for the first half it isn’t entirely terrible. It might fall short of the mark, but it’s at least coherent. In fact, there are a few minutes after they get their powers that show some real promise. Then the title card “one year later” shows and everything just falls apart, and by the time the finale comes it crumbles to dust.

What’s especially egregious about this action sequence is that it is basically the only one in this superhero movie. Reed and Ben had a brief scuffle earlier and there were moments of The Four practising with their powers, but that’s it. This superhero movie never actually gets a chance to really become a team until the last possible moment, which leads to the third act feeling devoid of any investment.

The entire setup to the finale feels rushed and improvised. Doctor Doom just shows up and decides to destroy the world by merging two dimensions or something. The Four travel to the other dimension, fail to beat Doom one by one, then Reed gives them a generic and out-of-character pep talk about teamwork, and then they beat him by being slightly more coordinated in their attacks. That’s it.

The entire sequence screams of last-minute changes. Nothing about these final moments synchs up with the movie that came before, and it ultimately bombs out on the moment that could have redeemed the whole experience.