The Threeway Curse?

How many great film trilogies have been ruined by an inferior third installment, what is it about these films that managed somehow to tarnish the memory of the films that came before them:

the final...disappointing...Installment

• The Matrix Trilogy; well this one cannot be ignored, Revolutions has to be one of the most anticlimactic 'threequels' in cinematic history, long pondering, lacking any innovative fight sequences, and not containing any of the philosophical questions of its predecessors, and not being able to answer any of the questions raised in its predecessors, the film slowly becomes a depressing and flaccid story which lacks the complexity of the stellar original Rating: D-
   
  
  
  
  

•  The Pirates of the Caribbean Trilogy; not including the fourth disastrous outing, the third installment failed to be as original or as imaginative as its two predecessors which manage to illustrate various pirate myths, such as the legend of Davy Jones, and the Kraken. Unfortunately 'At Worlds End' is simply unimaginative and attempts to simply 'follow on' from its predecessor  without any original material, and without attempting to delve further in to pirate myths Rating: C-
  

• Shrek; Shrek the third was undoubtedly a disaster, its plot was unrealistic and uninspired, and whereas its two prequels attempted to parody fairy tale culture, with an imaginative treatment of its characters, and was essentially a spoof of the 'Disney' style fairy tale story.  This film doesn't even try to develop its characters, and presents them as two dimensional litteral representations of these characters, ie: Fiona's group of cohorts and Charming's group of villain friends. Rating: C+
  

•  X Men; Here the series suffers from a change of director, and new director Ratner attempts to create a sequel which is exciting by adding a whole bunch of villains, and in the ends the film suffers the same affliction as Shrek the Third, in that the many cameos leave us feeling unfulfilled and wanting, the film is only partially redeemed by Famke Janssen and Halle Berrys performances as Phoenix and Storm, as well as of course Stewart and McKellen as the films main protagonist and antagonist respectivley. Rating: B-

• Spider-man: Here the third installment of Rami's trilogy falls to the fame fate as X3, in that it attempts to do too much story wise, and contains too much story and not enough length. This episode contains three villains, two love interests, two huge set pieces, and a dance scene. While all this should add up to a thrilling conclusion, it ends up feeling crammed, and as if the filmmakers knew that this was their final chance, and that they should try to cram as much as possible into this film, without really developing the characters. the film descends into mushy self searching; with the end of the film, much like spider-man 2 being  a cop-out, with the villain simply deciding to be a good guy...seriously? Rating B-
  

And now for the ones that got it right, to prove there is at least a little hope for the film industry:

• The Dark Knight; her, hris Nolan manages to wrap all of the ends up nicely, with Batman handing the mantle over to Robin, and deciding to live out the rest of his life in peace. The film manages not to descend into the too many villains scenario, and doesn't attempt to replicate its predecessors frenetic qualities or psychotic villain, with the story taking place over an extended period of time, and the villain instead being controlled and mechanical, the film is entertaining and action packed, with a focus on performance and special effects rather than an over reliance of over-the-top CGI or 3D gimmicks. Top Marks! Rating: A
  

• Toy Story: There is relatively little to say here, except that with metascore ratings of 100 for its predecessors, and a decade long wait,anticipation for this film was high, an it didn't disappoint, with the film being heartfelt and tying up the ends of the story neatly for all its characters, leaving us satisfied yet not longing. Rating: A
   
  
  
  
  

•  The Bourne Trilogy: Here the story reaches its zenith with the third film being arguably the most successful, and with the film being action packed, thrilling, and providing us with some real answers about the real identity of Jason Bourne, providing us with some great strategic sequences along the way, whilst maintaining a cliffhanger at the end and providing us with the hint of a sequel (lets put 'The Bourne Legacy' out of our minds, just for now) Rating A-
  

I will conclude in saying that the final conclusion of a film trilogy is not simply an excuse to cram in all the crap that you couldn't fit into the previous installments, yet must tie up all the unanswered questions and plot lines from the previous installments.