A Format of Conclusions That’s Getting Old? *SPOILERS*

A look at similarities between some recent franchise conclusions.

Editorial Opinion
By andrew991116 - Jul 25, 2012 03:07 AM EST
Filed Under: Fan Fic

So I watched TDKR. Loved it. But I did notice one flaw. Let’s go over some of the recent franchise conclusions: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1&2, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and The Dark Knight Rises.


1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 1&2 (Conclusion to the Harry Potter franchise.)


Simple Plot:
The trio flees from Voldemort into the wilderness. Ron gets separated with the other 2 because of an argument. Ron returns to rescue Harry, destroying a Hocrux. Death Eaters take control of Hog Warts. Voldemort obtains the elder wand. Trio returns to Hog Warts. The trio & other good guys fight bad guys. Elder Wand kills Voldemort. Happily ever after.
2. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Conclusion to the Transformers franchise. I hope.)

Simple Plot:
Autobots tries to locate pillars on the moon. Sentinel Prime betrays the Autobots and joins the Decepticons. Decepticons army summoned to earth w/pillars. Humans blame the Autobots. Autobots are sent out to space and supposedly killed. More Decepticons come. They take control of Chicago. Sam arrives to Chicago, finding the Autobots alive. Autobots & humans fight the Decepticons. Megatron killed. Happily ever after.
3. The Dark Knight Rises (conclusion to The Dark Knight Trilogy)

Simple Plot (I’ll try to reveal as little spoilers as I can): Bruce returns as Batman. He fights Bane in the sewer. Batman put into prison. Bane obtains a nuclear bomb. Bane takes control of Gotham. Cops are trapped underground w/ the mayor dead and the “Banearchists” rising. Batman returns to Gotham to fight Bane with Catwoman & rescued cops. Bane dies from the batpod. Batman supposedly dies from the explosion. Alfred sees Bruce & Selina in a café. Happily ever after.

You see what’s wrong here? All of the plots are similar!
1. The despair.
HPatDH: Ron leaves the trio.
TDotM: Autobots die.
TDKR: Cops trapped underground w/ the mayor dead and the “Banearchists” rising
2. Heroes return after leaving.
HPatDH: Ron
TDotM: Autobots
TDKR: Batman
3. Villains taking control of good guy’s home.
HPatDH: Hog Warts
TDotM: Chicago
TDKR: Gotham
4. Large Group VS. Large Group.
HPatDH: Students and teachers VS Death Eaters & Voldemort.
TDotM: Autobots & humans VS Decepticons
TDKR: Batman, Catwoman &cops VS Bane, League of Shadows, & “Banearchists”
5. Bad guys die.
HpatDH: Voldemort
TDotM: Megatron
TDKR: Bane and the surprise villain (yeah, it’s very surprising)
6. Happy ending.
HpatDH: trio married
TDotM: Decepticons defeated
TDKR: Bruce lives

I enjoyed the three movies, but this problem will have to be fixed in the future with other conclusions.
Sorry if there are mistakes.
Thank you for reading!
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Kalel219
Kalel219 - 7/25/2012, 4:03 AM
Ehhh, there are worse things. And really, it's the end of all the stories, The stakes have to be highed eg Heros died, huge fights between good and evil
jessepostal
jessepostal - 7/25/2012, 5:05 AM
There are tons of movies with this formula, they fall and rise, and it's always the same formula. When Bruce was trying to escape the pit u knew he wasn't gonna make it the first two times because e didn't learn the "plot point" yet. It seems like a lot of sequels follow this outline. Spiderman 2, iron man 2, all the ones you mentioned,etc
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 7/25/2012, 5:16 AM
You're graspong aT straws here, buddy... The same pattern could be said for lord of the rings. And what u have described is the pattern for the last 2 transformers films... You do have one good point, though. They all involve the hero being presumed dead... In harry potter, harry is the one who is apparently killed in the woods... The autobots are apparently dead... And in TDKR bane looks to have killed batman...

Like kale said above, its just the stakes being raised. Escalation. And these were the grand finales. Kind of like a fireworks show...
AgentZero
AgentZero - 7/25/2012, 5:21 AM
Pointless article ! So now you're gonna tell me that it's a flaw that the bad guy is always defeated in these types of movies ?
Nitpicker!!!
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 7/25/2012, 5:27 AM
...and did you really just fault these movies for having happy endings??? Lol. I get what you're saying about patters and simularities but it has to happen. Western culture has a handful of stories has a handfull of stories that have been passed down in one form or the other for eons. Some from the bible, some folktales, etc, etc, and these kind of become the core of modern storytelling. For example, the story of the soldier sent to kill turning around and helping the people he was sent to destroy. That is the basis for Last of the Mohicans, The Last Samurai, Avatar, Equalibrium and in some ways Iron Man 1. The hero presumed dead and then riding in to save the day is another one of these stories...
Advocate
Advocate - 7/25/2012, 6:12 AM
While the above comments are a strong defense of this necessary "evil" in plots unfolding, I do see where you're coming from. There is an urgency to alter the "formula" in a way that doesn't show predictability as much.

Now, of course not everything in a film will be at the same level on Inception in regards to how to piece together everything. It could be as ordinary as the pages of a comic book. But I think the formula is the actual existence of a trilogy.

Nolan said this would be the last Batman film he directs so naturally it had to have this wrapping up of sorts, in spite of Batman's mythology lasting far longer than 3 films. Harry Potter is an iffy supposition because I believe the sole purpose for splitting the two movies (aside from being able to tell a more detailed story) was to devote the last film to this "basic" idea. However, Harry Potter has the most bittersweet ending of all. Plus it doesn't follow the trilogy formula. A great amount of the good guys die in Harry Potter. Sure, the main protagonists may live on to have children as the epilogue presents, but who's to say those children don't have their own adventures? Yes, JK Rowling said she won't write anymore, but the story is suspended in some possible future. So based on those HP observations, I'd say it doesn't follow the same path as tDKR and TDotM.
95
95 - 7/25/2012, 7:01 AM
It's Hollywood's winning formula. You know about the three-act structure, don't you? And like everyone else said: these endings aren't bad.
BarnaclePete
BarnaclePete - 7/25/2012, 7:17 AM
I just like that you are trying to say that Transformers and The Dark Knight Rises are similar.
mawilli4
mawilli4 - 7/25/2012, 7:19 AM
I can't believe anyone who likes HP and uses "Hog Warts", it's "Hogwarts." Did you not read the books first? 10 million times better than the movies, though they were good!
BarnaclePete
BarnaclePete - 7/25/2012, 7:26 AM
I can't believe someone is complaining about how to spell a fictional magic school.
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 7/25/2012, 7:38 AM
^^HAHA! Well played, sir!^^
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 7/25/2012, 3:48 PM
@andrew991116 - No way, dude. It would have been way more cliche'd... lol...
DarkGrifter
DarkGrifter - 7/25/2012, 4:25 PM
I did feel as though TDKR's ending was very predictable, however it carried so much more weight and emotion compared to other films with similar plot structure's and endings. Probably because this was the last of Nolan's trilogy, the stakes just felt a lot higher and this was a character that we had become a lot more emotionally engaged with.
mawilli4
mawilli4 - 7/25/2012, 5:04 PM
why is someone complaining about grammar? oh, well because it helps get jobs, etc. and I couldn't comment on the entire article being bullshit unless I started a new one.
mawilli4
mawilli4 - 7/25/2012, 5:07 PM
@MoonDoggy how would it be cliched? what successful franchise has ever killed the main character? none come to mind. yes, it happens in books and video games, but I was hoping Nolan would have the balls to do it.
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 7/25/2012, 10:28 PM
The matrix... Gladiator... Troy... Star trek: nemesis... Man on fire... V for vendetta... Armageddon... Titanic... Terminator 2... Saving private ryan... Phenomenon... Romeo and juliet... Everysince tdkr was announced, people suspected nolan of killing batman because that was the only ending that a lot of people could imagine having enough emotional punch to it. I for one am glad that nolan had the balls NOT to kill bruce. Nolan stayed true to the theme of his movies. In the first movie he overcame his fear and found bravery. In the last movie he overcame his pain and found hope. Full circle. To me, bruce literally and emotionally rising out of the dark had more impact than him dying ever could.
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 7/26/2012, 5:49 AM
Excalibur... I am legend... Jeepers creepers... Lol... That's the beauty of the ending of tdkr, my friend. Batman DID die, in more ways than one. Not only does the public think that the man is dead, but the dark part of bruce that needs to be batman is gone, also.

It started at the beginning of the film when alfred said that he wishes that bruce had left all of his pain behind and started a new life. Then there was batman and bane's fight in the sewer... In the dark...where bane says that bruce only adopted the dark and it is not his. Bane was born in the dark, ben in the dark all of his life and the darkness is his. Bane was not only talking about literal darkness here, but emotional. Later, after being beaten broken by bane, bruce finds the strength to climb out of the "pit"(darkness) only by discovering hope and the will to live. The prison doctor really drove this part of the movie home. Prettymuch suming up that bruce could only make that jumt if his life depended on it and he wanted to live. Bruce could not make the jump as long as he was willing to accept his death. Bats and bame rounnd 2 took place on the steps of city hall in the middle of the day... In the light... Again, this had double meaning. Batman was able to defeat bane this time because of his will to survive and he had embraced the light...

How wouldb bruce wayne dying after all of ths make any sense...?
jjk2814
jjk2814 - 7/26/2012, 6:17 PM
I thought this was going to be an article about how every movie ends with a giant blue light being shot up in the air for some reason.
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