What are your thoughts on movies that do not have a contained story?

[ArmyOfDarknessAW]

What are your thoughts on movies that do not have a contained story? I am talking about movies that set things up for a next movie and don't tell a story on its own.

The other day i watched the 5th Wave and i have to say the movie is kind of bugging me. The movie doesn't resolve a single issue by the end and fails to be a movie on its own right. It is more like a pilot to a tv show that sets things up. Does is have some enticing stuff in it? Possibly. However it doesn't stand alone well. Not many people would pop in a DVD just to watch a pilot to a show and be pleased with it. If the 5th Wave series doesn't continue which it may not than the first movie has zero purpose.

A similar thing can be said about a movie like the Scorch Trails. This movie is like watching the middle of a long movie. It does not have a start that works without seeing the first movie. It also does not have a satisfying ending whatsoever. The movie is just a boring journey with no resolution.

I do not need a movie tied up in a little bow. I love an opening ending such as

[Show spoiler]Inception where we don't know if he is dreaming or not.

. I just find no fun in watching a movie that sets up these grand ideas especially when they don't even know if the series will continue. I want to watch a movie that is a movie on its own right.

Sure there are great examples of this pulled off correctly. I just wish so many movies didn't jump on doing this.