The first and final shots of film franchises are often very different as the story progresses at a rate in which change is inevitable and the beginning is rarely like the end. But if you watch a movie carefully you can usually see just how it will end by noting the different shots that are given a great deal of prominence. When it comes to franchises however it usually is up in the air since you have no idea just how long the franchise is going to run and where it’s eventually going to end up. In the modern age that’s not as true since directors and producers now outline just how many films they want to put out. But back in the day it was anyone’s guess.
Indiana Jones
From the first iconic film which was in fact chronologically out of order since Temple of Doom was supposed to come first, to the final (so far) shot of Indy getting married and retrieving his hat from Mutt, this franchise has been epic. It’s taken viewers on a worldwide tour of many different interesting and sometimes fictional areas that have stretched the imagination. It was also a big part of what some people decided that history was truly interesting and decided to pursue a hobby or a career in the various fields that had to do with the subject.
X-Men
There are more to come but at this moment the X-Men franchise seems to thrive on discontinuity and confusion among its viewers as timelines are given and then ripped apart in order to conform to the comics, or abandon them entirely. So far we’ve seen a great deal of disturbing things as the X-Men have fought in different timelines with enemies that are so far beyond most of their capabilities that it’s astounding that any of them have been left standing.
Sony’s Spider-Man
It’s kind of sad to have to differentiate like this since Spider-Man should have been a part of the MCU since day one. But like it or not Sony kept the rights and decided to run the webcrawler into the ground simply because they believed that they were doing it right. The villains in some cases were awful however and despite the fact that Spidey was portrayed okay in some ways the films were still way less than inspired.
Marvel Cinematic Universe
They’ve had a few hits and misses but what they’ve lacked in consistency they’ve made up for in vigor when it comes to putting out one movie after another in order to keep the attention of the audience. This trend is going to continue obviously as the next phase is already on its way and won’t be stopping for breath any time soon.
DC Universe
The truly sad thing is that in this universe there is only one bright spot at the moment and it’s Wonder Woman. She’s the only one whose film has done anything to lift up the DCEU and at this point the only film that is worthy of a sequel. The others have been digging a hole that even WW can’t possibly fill on her own, so it’s about time that someone thought of turning the ship around and finding another direction.
The Dark Knight Trilogy
Finally Batman got a director that knew just how to bring the dark knight of Gotham back into the spotlight and keep him there just long enough to sew up his story and perhaps offer the role to another worthy successor. Instead of going for the tired old routine that was the Bat-family, someone had the guts to just up and take Batman in a more humanistic direction for once.
Batman
The first one was good, but from that moment on it was just a slippery slope downward as the hits and jagged points of plots that were half-baked and never fully formed were unloaded on a public that became increasingly less excited with each movie. By the end of the second film a lot of people had given up, while by the end of the fourth people were thinking that the legend of Batman was all but dead.
Star Wars
So much has changed within the Star Wars universe that it’s caused a lot of fans to shift gears without knowing just how to do it. But at this point the fan base is split between those that are adamant about not seeing episode nine and the loyal fans that will never say anything worse about Star Wars than “it was okay”.
Star Trek
This is another franchise that started off with a bang and somehow tripped and started to slip its way into semi-obscurity. So far it’s managed to create a few TV series that no one wants to see and a plot that included the Beastie Boys song Sabotage as a means to fight an alien horde.
Transformers
When the first one came out everyone thought it was great and it was something new we hadn’t seen yet. And they were right, but after the first one things started falling apart and quite honestly there wasn’t an Autobot medic that could have even bothered to piece it back together.
Jurassic Park/World
The one immutable fact of this entire franchise has been that the T-Rex, no matter how much they’ve been beat on or stomped over, is the one true and lasting king of the Jurassic film franchise that will always be able to trounce on any pretenders.
Oh how the mighty fall to rise again, and again, and, well….you get it.
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