Movies are visual narratives that tell the story of a character's journey through scenes, which are further broken down into shots that, when edited together, take the viewer along for the ride.
Every journey must begin and end, and the narrative structure of a film makes the beginning and end of the journey extremely important, which thereby makes the opening and closing two of the most important shots in the entire film.
This comparative video by Jacob T. Swinney shows the opening and closing shots from 125 different films, showcasing how important these shots are to setting the tone of each film.
-Via /Film