Introduction
Hollywood… From micro-budget to blockbuster films, Hollywood is responsible for critically and financially acclaimed successes and unprecedentedly epic failures simultaneously. For better or for worse, film reviews play a significant role in that, but the films’ marketing also shares responsibility. No other factor is more responsible, though, than the story. If the story is hard to believe, does not make sense, or the plot holes are so obvious, the film is usually doomed to fail. So, when does it not fail, then? When the story is so good, the directing, editing, photography, visuals and sound work like a Swiss watch and manage to overshadow these plot holes. Below are some examples of critical and financial successes with plot holes that the audience – consciously or unconsciously – didn’t take into consideration. At least at first… Please keep in mind that the article gives away important plot points, so read after watching the below-mentioned films.
Pointing Out the Elephant in the Room(?)
Looper (2012)
In a dystopian future, crime mobs send people to the past to be killed and disposed of by loopers, a system that will prove problematic when a looper encounters his future self.
Rian Johnson, the talented writer/director behind Brick (2005), Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017), Knives Out (2019), and more, brought to us a sci-fi full of time travel, time paradox, assassins, telekinetic mutation, an A-list cast, and a hell lot of action. The acting is amazing, Joseph Gordon-Levitt nails it as a young Bruce Willis, Bruce Willis couldn’t be more Bruce Willis, and Emily Blunt, Piper Perabo, Noah Segan, Paul Dano, and Jeff Daniels add to the film’s quality. Then, the visual effects are gripping, the mise-en-scène showcases extraordinary photography, and the continuity in editing will make you rewind now and then to reveal the invisible cuts. So, why is it on the list?
The story is absolutely fascinating and will keep you at the edge of your seats, but…, since time travel has been invented, and there is no mention of geographical or time restrictions, they could have been sent thousands of years back, before civilisation began, where they wouldn’t have been able to communicate with anyone or alter history in any way. Alternatively, they could send them back anywhere in time, over an erupting volcano, for example, and that would be the end of it.
When it comes to time travel, anything can be seen as problematic or faulty as the different scientific schools of thought and the numerous representations of it preceding Looper can give infinite ‘yes but’ moments – especially with the paradoxical ending. The aforementioned, though, is the one standing out the most.
The Matrix Trilogy (1999 – 2003)
A hacker realises that the world he lives in is an illusion and sets out to destroy whatever is controlling it.
I think I speak on behalf of most of us when I say that it took us a while to process all the facts when The Matrix came out. When the second was released, things got more manageable, and once we thought it was a walk in the park with the third one, the Architect’s monologue fried a significant amount of our brain cells. The problem starts with the fact that the studio altered the script in order not to confuse the audience – go figure! Yes, the machines could have picked animals for the power source, not humans, but this is not where the problem lies.
In a nutshell, the initially submitted script detailed how the machines were processing the human brain to advance themselves further, which would create the perfect irony because Neo used the machines to advance himself and started controlling the matrix. Anyhow, the franchise makes the list because, throughout the three films, it fails to explain how the war started and why and how mankind became the machines’ slaves. It took The Animatrix (2003) to provide the necessary explanations, and here’s my argument: If you need a different medium, post-finale, to fill the gaps, it means that it proves that there had been holes to begin with.
Suicide Squad (2016)
A shadowy government organisation secretly forms a squad of supervillains to send them on… suicide missions.
As this article doesn’t focus on indifferent characters or nonsensical storylines, I will just tackle the obvious. The Suicide Squad – in the film – was formed just in case Superman became villainous. The major question comes from Dexter Tolliver: ‘What if Superman had decided to fly down, rip off the roof of the White House and grab the President of the United States right out of the Oval Office? Who would’ve stopped him?’
Answer: None of them! They would have rightfully earned their squad’s name. Superman wouldn’t fight them, he wouldn’t wipe the floor with them; he would have annihilated them before they managed to put up any line of defence (much less offence) faster than I am moving on to the next film.
Independence Day (1996)
Colossal U.F.O.s appear in the skies all over the world, and when they attack, mankind’s unity and will to survive is put to the test against advanced alien technology.
The poster child of the modern Hollywood blockbuster! Roland Emmerich’s suspenseful narrational build-up, the state-of-the-art visual effects, and Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, and Bill Pullman offer a spectacle that leaves no margin for digging into details.
Twenty-four years later, I guess it’s safe to ask how on Earth any scientist could know what kind of virus to develop and how that compatibility – assuming that there is one – would yield the desired results/crash mankind so desperately needed. It is not the time or place to discuss the Pax Americana tone or Emmerich’s unrealistic view of the world. When one goes to the movies to watch his films, one should know that they signed up for a cinema of attractions, not vérité. Creating a virus against hyper-advanced alien technology no one would have thought existed, though, is more far-fetched than Randy Quaid portraying the hero.
Signs (2002)
When mysteriously shaped crop circles appear on a family farm, two brothers realise something more sinister has yet to arrive.
M. Night Shyamalan, one of the hottest and coldest modern Hollywood directors, came back with yet another hit following the successes of The Sixth Sense (1999) and Unbreakable (2000). Signs has one of the most ‘Shyamalan build-ups’ with a suspenseful plot and an equally dramatic subplot. It is unfortunate, though, that both the suspense and the drama ‘disappear’ once the aliens crawl down that chimney, and it fades to black. If you have watched it you probably know what I mean, if not you probably will when you do. However, Signs didn’t make the list because of Shyamalan’s creative choices.
The aliens, the intelligent beings that reached our world with their advanced technology, decided to go to Earth, a 71% water-covered planet. Fact: Water to them is deadly! An equivalent would be for mankind to go to a planet full of active volcanoes. Why? Why not terraform a planet with no ‘sign’ of water? The only explanation I could give was that they were malicious and all they wanted to do was to harm us. Well, if that were the case, then infiltrating one house at a time is probably a worse strategy than choosing Earth to begin with…
Oh! Did I mention that the protagonist’s dying wife was getting premonitions? Were these the actual signs?
War of the Worlds (2005)
A family fights for survival when, without any warning, gigantic alien tripods emerge from the Earth and attack with the intent to annihilate it.
Yes, aliens again. But… sci-fi as only Spielberg’s lens can capture and narrate. It is a horrific depiction of what could potentially happen should aliens attack the Earth. A suspenseful narrative that only Steven Spielberg and his lifelong editor, Michael Kahn, can build up for the whole family – with the youngest member being 12 – only to scar(e) them all. The film’s flaw is similar to the one in Signs, and even though it’s not as obvious, it is equally severe.
The aliens, who arrived on Earth way before civilisation was created and studied us and our planet very thoroughly, failed to spot the deadly-to-them germs. Now, if a planet’s atmosphere is not the first thing they should have meticulously examined while watching us for thousands of years and even before they made any move against us, I don’t know what is. I would like to be a tad lenient on this one, though, as it has an important mitigating factor. And that is none other than the era in which H. G. Wells wrote it. And it is the same factor that I will use for…
Basic Instinct (1992)
A mysterious murder will make a hard-as-nails detective turn his attention to a mesmerising and manipulative established author.
Diverse, controversial, and either ‘love or loathe’ director Paul Verhoeven is responsible for one of the best erotic thrillers made to date. Sharon Stone became the poster child for femme fatale that men, women, and non-binary people have imprinted in their minds, and the editing unfolds the clues exactly when the audience needs to know them. And even though the story is dark, twisted, and nail-biting, it unfortunately has a fundamental flaw in the very beginning.
During the sex scene, while the icepick attack takes place, ALL of her DNA is left in that room. The crime should have been resolved within hours. Of course, Basic Instinct was released in 1992 and having been written a few years before that, it only leaves a few years margin between the script and the first DNA profiling which was used in 1986. It only makes sense that writer Joe Eszterhas didn’t know much (or anything) about it and the audience nothing at all. Therefore, the ‘fundamental flaw’ does not face the ‘Spanish Inquisition’ and gets away with… what was the flaw again…
Blade Runner (1982)
In the distant future, where the technology to build human replicants exists, a blade runner is tasked with locating and terminating those who pose a threat to their creator.
Ridley Scott directs Harrison Ford vs Rutger Hauer in a dystopic, cyberpunk future. What can possibly go wrong, right? Nothing really. Every version/cut released to this day reveals how diachronic and relevant Blade Runner still is. Should you get to choose, though, go for the latest director’s cut. So, how does it make the list, right? Stealthy!
The advanced technology possessed in the future cannot tell a replicant from an actual human being unless they go through a psychological evaluation. Even though it is not very comprehensive how the company making them wouldn’t use a distinctive feature, it can still be acceptable. But the company not possessing the technology and/or ANY other physiological means to tell the difference between the two is highly improbable.
Home Alone (1990)
An extended family decides to go on holiday during the Christmas period, accidentally leaving behind its youngest member, who must then protect the house from… vicious burglars.
I was between writing about Home Alone and Rocky V (1990) – same year – the latter wherein Rocky returns from Russia straight after the fight and his son is ten years older – at least! Then, I figured that lazy writing isn’t a plot hole, it’s just… lazy writing. Therefore, I chose the highly entertaining Home Alone where no parent or kid ever wondered, at the time why Kevin’s parents never called home or asked the police to go by the house and red-flag the incident. Other than the obvious answer that we wouldn’t be having a movie, the story is so ‘Christmassy’ and family-orientated that no one would want that anyway.
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
The U.S. government hires an archaeologist to stop the Nazis from acquiring the Ark of the Covenant and using it as a weapon against the rest of the world.
Turning the tables, I left Raiders of the Lost Ark for the end only to dispute the plot hole raised in The Big Bang Theory‘s (2007 – 2019) episode The Raiders Minimization. Amy ‘ruins’ the film for Sheldon when she mentions that Indy makes no difference to the film whatsoever and everything would have happened anyway whether he was in it or not.
This couldn’t be further from the truth, and even if it were, it would be beside the point anyway. Here are the main counterarguments:
- Unwillingly, Indy led the Germans to the staff of Ra’s headpiece, which they failed to obtain.
- The Well of the Souls may never have been found if Indy had not discovered it, but, unwillingly again, he led them to it. As the audience, we would never know.
- On the island, the Nazis opened the Ark to test it as a weapon, something that led to their demise.
So, if Indy was not there, the Nazis may or may not have:
– Found the headpiece.
– Discovered the Well of Souls.
– Obtained the Ark, which, if it was later in time, would probably be taken straight to Berlin, stuck in a lab, and potentially put under control.
Regardless, The Big Bang Theory either showed a lack of understanding of the film’s narrative or wanted to provoke fans and get higher ratings. Why? Think of Ben-Hur (1959). The Jewish prince who gets enslaved, regains his freedom, and returns with vengeance. What change in history did he make or cause to happen? None! Because that’s not what the story is about. It is about ‘the hero’s journey’ and how an unknown fictional character witnesses, and we do through his eyes as if we were there as well, the well-known historical events.
Conclusion
I don’t think I’ve ever used the word ‘but’ more times in my life. But there is a solid reason behind it. Cinema is escapism. One goes to the movies to escape from their own reality for, averagely, a couple of hours (especially our current, abhorrent one). Mark Twain said, ‘Never let the truth get in the way of a good story’. For anyone interested in factual truth, the closest genre of cinema is documentary. For everything else, even ‘based on a true story’, ‘based on actual events’, biopics, docudramas, etc., spend that time wisely and enjoy the good story. If by any chance the story is not so good, fair enough. Off to the next one. The world of cinema is vast, with hidden gems everywhere you look. Try to figure out the kind of world you want to enter, sit back, relax, and enjoy your journey.
Thanks for reading!
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Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
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