8 Huge Movie Deaths That Totally Fell Flat

Giving a notable character a big screen demise worthy of their station isn't easy, and these

films all promptly drop the ball for one reason or another. So let's dive in

I'm Adam, this is WhatCulture, and here are huge movie deaths that totally fell flat. 1

Javert Les Miserables Inspector Javert's suicide in the stage version of Les Miserables is one of its most

dramatic high points, a tragic and devastating moment in which a man at the end of his rope

hurls himself into the River Seine. But as operatic as Tom Hooper's big budget screen

adaptation of the hit musical was, this moment landed with only unintentionally comical impact

in the most literal sense. Even ignoring the mixed reviews for Russell Crowe's vocal performance

in the very least he's clearly pouring his heart into the dramatic meat of the scene

of conveying Javert's inner turmoil and desperation. But what sinks the moment in record time

the completely ridiculous bone crunch sound effect that's deployed after Javert sails through the air and makes contact with the fountain below

It's all scored by intensely dramatic music and only makes this feel that much more jarring in an otherwise classy and meticulously crafted movie

Despite being widely mocked online though, the scene didn't stop the film from receiving a Best Sound Mixing Oscar nomination

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I'd make that deal. Damn good deal. James T. Kirk, Star Trek Generations

Captain James T. Kirk is one of the most iconic characters in all of pop culture

and while the idea of killing him off in a Star Trek movie certainly wasn't sacrilegious

the filmmakers absolutely needed to make it count. And, oh boy, Star Trek Generations was marketed as a Trekkies dream movie, a crossover event

which through dimensional hooey not worth worrying about, teamed Captain Kirk up with

the next generation's Captain Jean-Luc Picard. This ends up being just a small sliver of the movie though and culminates with Kirk demise while fighting to stop the villainous Soren A sacrificial death to prevent a terrorist from wiping out an entire planetary system sounds

like a fitting end for Kirk on paper, but as the saying goes, it's all about the execution

Kirk dies during the final battle when the bridge he's climbing up collapses, causing him to fall and be fatally crushed by it. Even with Shatner's memorable, ambiguous

final utterance of, oh my, it was such an unceremonious anticlimactic end to a legendary

character. It's all the most startling when you appreciate that this was actually a reshoot

as test audiences questioned Kirk's original death where Soren simply shot him in the back

President Whitmore, Independence Day Resurgence US President Whitmore's iconic rallying speech in the original Independence Day is well known to

those who have never even seen the movie. So if he was to receive a sacrificial death in the

belated sequel, it sure as hell needed to mean something. Uh, about that. Near the end of the

movie, Whitmore decides to lay down his life, performing a kamikaze attack on the alien harvester

queen by flying a ship towards her and detonating a bomb. Even with Bill Pullman's mildly kick-ass

one-liner send-off, on behalf of the people of Earth, Happy Fourth of July, this was a hugely

underwhelming death for such an awesome character, all the more so given that it didn't actually

kill the Queen but simply force her out into the open. Wittmore dying a hero's death wasn't a terrible idea in isolation, but it ended up feeling

like a totally unnecessary afterthought devoid of all emotion and excitement. Hell, even Wittmore's pre-death speech couldn't hold a candle to his monologue from the original

Padme Amidala, Star Wars Revenge of the Sith It wasn't exactly a secret that Padme Amidala was going to die at the end of the Star Wars

prequel trilogies capping entry Revenge of the Sith, but the manner in which she croaked

well... A heavily pregnant Padme is critically injured while trying to persuade Anakin back to the

light side, when he force chokes her unconscious. Padme stays alive long enough to deliver her twins, Luke and Leia, before dying, and a medical

droid literally tells Obi that she was medically healthy and simply lost the will to live Basically Padme died of a broken heart an explanation which nevertheless settles as pretty flimsy for many Star Wars fans

Given that Padme's death is one of the most important events in the history of Star Wars

for it to feel so vague and wishy-washy was a huge disappointment

which fans continue to complain about to this very day. Superman, Batman v Superman, Dawn of Justice

Batman v Superman, Dawn of Justice isn't a very good movie, and even its bolder storytelling choices ultimately feel so obviously misguided and ill-advised

Namely, Zack Snyder's decision to kill Superman at the end of the film during the climactic clash against Doomsday

The death of Superman is an iconic and pivotal comic book arc in the history of DC

and there was certainly an audience appetite to see it brought to glossy live-action life

This soon, though? Not a chance. After all, Batman v Superman was only Henry Cavill's second time playing Superman

and Superman dying could have been a supremely emotional and impactful moment if it felt earned

no matter that audiences knew his resurrection was inevitable. But by speedrunning through this whole arc, it landed with a thud of indifference

It didn't help at all that the final scene heavily teased Superman's resurrection before his body had even been buried, whereas leaving his fate up in the air

between movies would have likely stoked more intrigue for the Justice League follow-up

Mufasa, The Lion King Mufasa's death in the original animated version of The Lion King is one of the most devastating and traumatic death scenes of all cinema

And so 2019's live-action remake certainly had its work cut out, replicating the same level of emotion

But even with Jon Favreau at the helm, this CGI iteration of the legendary scene just felt so soulless and lacking

A big part of the problem is that the ultra-photorealistic renditions of Mufasa, Scar and Simba

rob these characters of the expressiveness they had in the original animation

By striving so hard to be realistic, it feels less real, emotionally speaking

On top of this, basically everything about the scene is worse this time around

Scar's utterance of long live the king, the swipe which sends Mufasa falling to his death

Mufasa comical falling scream and even Simba terrified NOOOOOO Even with the audience inbuilt affection for this story Mufasa death roused a fraction of the heartbreak that it did in the 1994 animation which really highlights the problem with the whole movie It feels

like an obligatory product rather than a story someone genuinely wanted to tell

Dark Phoenix Even ignoring the fact that audience enthusiasm for Fox's X-Men franchise had all but evaporated leading up to Dark Phoenix's belated release

The film made desperately little effort to make viewers feel even a flicker of emotion for Mystique's mid-film death

As Jean Grey's Phoenix powers grow ever more unstable, the other X-Men attempt to bring her under control

leading to Jean having an outburst which catapults Mystique into a piece of exposed debris, mortally wounding her

It's a total damp squib of a death scene for many reasons, the clumsy staging, utter lack of a dynamic between Jean and Mystique

and being blatantly spoiled in trailers months before the movie's release. Yet perhaps the biggest issue of all is Jennifer Lawrence herself, who was so clearly over the franchise by this point

The reactions of the other X-Men to her demise also seem strangely clipped

further robbing the scene of the expected emotion. It is, in its own way, an apt metaphor for the movie itself

a climactic event which few could convince themselves to care about. Merlin, Kingsman, The Golden Circle

As sequels to great movies go, Kingsman, The Golden Circle is just a carnival of poor creative decisions

and Merlin's climactic sacrificial death surely didn't help. When Eggsy and Merlin arrive at villain Poppy's lush hideout

Eggsy accidentally steps on a landmine, at which point Merlin decides to switch places with him

and then detonates the mine, obliterating himself and Poppy's surrounding goons. Even Mark Strong's spirited rendition of Take Me Home Country Roads

in Merlin's final moments couldn't save this one from being a total flop

In a movie that already pointlessly killed off another likable hero, Roxy

Merlin's death was a massive letdown. It was too good a character to waste on this nonsense

And more to the point, given that this film established that death means nothing in the

Kingsman franchise, what with Harry Hart being resurrected in highly convoluted fashion

why should we even take Merlin's apparent demise seriously