Category: Rants

Let’s Talk About Trilogies

Rant ahead…

So, I just picked my son up from the movies. He saw “Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald.” Here’s how the conversation went:

Me: How was the movie?

Him: That stupid movie.

Me: Oh, was it that bad?

Him: No, it was such a good movie! So good, but they got everyone together and said “Let’s do this!” and then the movie ended. Right. There.

This is seriously one of my biggest pet peeves.

I vividly remember watching the first Lord of the Rings movie. My husband had read the books and was so excited to see it. Our boys were young and I remember sitting on the couch to introduce my kids to this world my husband adores. We spent three hours watching this movie. We were introduced to Middle Earth. We followed Frodo as he tried to find people to help with him return the ring from whence it came. He got his whole team together. The end. The movie ended. Nothing else happened. Three hours to get everyone to agree to work together and then nothing.

I was SO mad, when that movie was over. I literally looked at my husband and said, “That’s it?!?!”

I know there are people who love The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but honestly, that one episode tainted my experience with all of other movies. I did watch the other three movies, but I think you could consider it hate-watching.

I have nothing against franchise movies and making lots of movies in the same world. It’s fun to visit a galaxy far, far away, a school for wizards, or a universe full of super heroes. Make as many movies as you want, just give me a full plot in each movie! Don’t get me involved in the first act of your story for two hours only to tell me I have to wait until the next movie comes in 2 or more years for the payoff of a good ending. It just makes me angry.

The Star Wars movies, Marvel movies, and even the original Harry Potter movies (minus the last two) have been pretty good about giving us a full story with a beginning, middle, and end, along with a overarching plot that’s threaded through all of the installments. If I’m going to drop a pile of money to take my family to the movies, give me a full movie experience I can enjoy.

And, if you’re not going to give me a complete story in the first or second movie in your trilogy, then call it what it is: Act 1, Act 2, Act 3. It’s not a movie, it’s a mini-series. At least then I can make an informed decision about how to spend my time and money.

AND, can we all agree to stop splitting books in half? Hunger Games, Twilight, Harry Potter, I’m looking at you. Let me tell you directors, producers, and screenwriters a little secret: The movie that comes from the first half of the last book in a series is always BORING. The first half is the means to the end. Tighten up the writing and get us to the end.

…Rant over. Please return to your regularly scheduled programming.