1. Anticlimactic Ending
If you left the cinema thinking that the last half hour didn't fit so comfortably with the rest of the film, there's a very good explanation for that. Screenwriter Damon Lindelof was tasked with rewriting the third act yet claimed that, as shooting had begun before the script was finalised, he would not be able to finish it in time. And so the dubious honour fell to Drew Goddard, who, alongside Joss Whedon, had conjured up one of the most mindblowing finales in recent times with last year's Cabin in the Woods. As a result of the film being stitched together thus, some critics have described the film's denouement as disjointed. Those looking for the seam would perhaps pinpoint the plane crash as the spot where Goddard first put pen to paper. But it's the ending that'll leave you tearing your hair out. The pathogen with which Gerry injected himself has been made into a vaccine and consequently distributed worldwide to great success. And so, having given humanity (and himself) the shot in the arm it so sorely needed, Gerry is en route to meet his family at a safe zone in Nova Scotia. But his voiceover informs us that, while the world looks to be on a path to recovery, "his isnt the end; not even close." You'd be forgiven for raising a sceptical eyebrow at this message. Because if there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that the film looks pretty wrapped up by now. When you've destroyed half the world, where else do you go? And although we may be able to look past such a dubious deus ex machina (Gerry picking the one safe pathogen over the dozens that would've surely killed him), having our Hollywood happy ending enforced by a montage of news reports is something of a final insult. As the music swells, the camera pans out and Gerry and Karin embrace, we end the film on an oddly antiquated device: a freeze-frame. Husband and wife are reunited and, to top it off, they even have a 'son'; having adopted Tommy in all but name. But, like a grey, ghostly hand forcing its way up from the soil, it turns out that the War isn't over yet. When you've destroyed half the world, where else do you go? The other half. Both Forster and Paramount had expressed an interest in using this film as the starting point for a trilogy, but for now, the studio has just signed up for a sequel. Perhaps they'll think twice about the budget this time?