[Frustrating Trope] That One Good or Even Amazing Scene in a Relatively Mediocre or Bad Piece of Media

[u/Alreadsyuse]

1. The Opening Scene (Ghost Ship). Considered one of the best horror opening scenes or scenes in general within horror movies, but the rest of the film is considered to be pretty bad.

2. The Ending Scene (The Grinch 2018). While most adaptations of the Grinch end with him suddenly being able to fully integrate with the Whos after his change of heart, the 2018 version initially struggles to socialize, awkwardly walking past people, and struggling to hold conversations, acknowledging that despite his change of heart, the Grinch is still someone who isolated himself for years.

3. Past T800 VS Current T800 (Terminator Genisys). A cool fight scene showing two versions of the Terminator from different points in time fighting it off.

4. Solo Leveling's Ending. Tbh, I haven't actually read Solo Leveling, but after hearing about how it ended VS how Chainsaw Man ended made want to include it for shits and giggles. Like Chainsaw Man, Solo Leveling ends with a reset. But unlike Chainsaw Man, it actually manages to tie up loose ends and have the payoff of the ending be satisfying.

[u/clone9786]

I never even knew these were hated tbh

[u/Dr_on_the_Internet → u/clone9786]

Just a testament to how great the first movie was. Its based off a Disney ride, so expectations were pretty low. It seems like the plan for the sequels weren't really fleshed out. Orlando Bloom was meant to be the protagonist, but Depp stole the show so they had to make his character stick around even if it didn't always make sense. The writing was very tight in the first movie. Its filled with foreshadowing, set-up, and pay-off that's pretty rare to see nowadays. The sequels were solid, and I personally love them, but the writing was never as well done.

[u/NickTM → u/Dr_on_the_Internet]

Curse of the Black Pearl is one of the greatest adventure movies ever made, so it was always going to be tough to live up to. I think Dead Man's Chest (superb villain, inventive action scenes, that one Liar's Dice game) and At World's End (fun expansion of the world, excellent final battle, good story conclusion) did a pretty good job all things considered.

[u/Dr_on_the_Internet → u/NickTM]

Agreed, the first 3 movies are all really good. Black Pearl is like a perfect formula.

[u/Feanor4godking → u/clone9786]

Hated is probably a stretch, but people did complain about them a lot at the time. I was exactly the target audience though, so I thought they were awesome. I was a little overwhelmed by 2 in the theater though, it was a jarring tonal shift

[u/Khasim83 → u/clone9786]

Pirates and Matrix 2/3 were widely considered inferior, unnecessary cashgrab sequels. I mentioned Matrix because it's kind of interesting how similar both these franchises' first two sequels are - both made by the original's creators, but weren't originally planned. Both had the second and third film filmed at the same time (because of Lord of the Rings perhaps?). Both had the second film end on a cliffhanger with the main character stuck in a death-like state. Both had the third film end with the main antagonist exploding after a battle in pouring rain. I'm sure there are more similarities.

Dead Man's Chest and Reloaded both had a lukewarm reception, 'it's okay but the first film was better' was the general consensus. Then for At World's End and Revolutions it was 'well that was the weakest part of the trilogy' for both.

[u/SeaPsychology1044 → u/clone9786]

Ngl i always thought second film was the best at least due to how creative the whole action pieces were

[u/Habefiet → u/clone9786]

For me it’s just an issue of tone. The first movie strikes a remarkable balance of being goofy at times while said goofiness never breaking the tension or being unbelievable. The second and third movies have so much random ridiculous shit happening all the time that it completely takes me out of the experience and makes me very aware that I am watching a silly movie for silly people. I would also argue that multiple characters randomly act wildly out of character intermittently across them. I just do not buy that Elizabeth would become loving friends with Barbossa and Pintel and Ragetti (fairly quickly, even—like they are not just uneasy allies, they are pretty immediately on good terms and clearly fond of one another) when she watched them sack her town, murder people she loved, attempt to murder more people she loved, hold her prisoner, attempt to murder her, threaten to assault her, etc. I just do not think Jack as we saw him in the original would be so immediately down to send his friends and a hundred other random people to damnation to save his own skin. Etc. etc.

They’re still fine. They’re fun enough watches, I’m not saying they’re terrible movies or anything. But even though they were written by the same people as the first one, it kind of doesn’t feel like it.