25 Plot Details That Get In The Way Of A Good Movie
Movies are complicated. It’s not good enough to just have a good script. It’s not good enough to just have good actors. It’s not good enough...
Movies are complicated. It’s not good enough to just have a good script. It’s not good enough to just have good actors. It’s not good enough to just have a good producer. You could have all those things and still make a cringe-worthy movie. In fact, all it takes is one bad quote. One cliche line can mess everything up. It can be a great movie right up until the end, but that cliche just ruins it.
So today we’re going to be looking at what those things are. Cliches of course are one of them, but there are a lot more. How about when the countdown takes forever. It’s a 3 second countdown that takes almost 3 minutes. Okay that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but forever countdowns definitely don’t earn the movie any extra points in the cool department. And then there’s product placement, unnecessary accents, and the dreaded unlimited ammo guns. All that these things do is serve to mess up the movie. As we said, it can be a great film with perfect acting and directing, but all it takes is one of these little plot detail mess ups to just ruin the whole thing. These are 25 Plot Details That Get In The Way Of A Good Movie.
Featured Image: pixabay
Empty cups
Image: publicdomainpictures.net, Source: imgur
Who drinks air? This should be one of the easiest things to make believable.
Meme references
Source: 9gag
The worst part is that memes are here today and gone tomorrow. People won’t even get the reference in 2 years.
Attractive "ugly" characters
Source: reddit
And then everybody makes fun of the “attractive” ugly character for how ugly they are.
Swords being removed from leather sheaths
Image: pixabay, Source: 9gag
How do they still make that zing sound?
Deus Ex Machina
Source: thoughtcatalog
This is when seemingly unsolvable problems are all of a sudden solved by some out-of-the-blue plot twist. Bond gadgets are a perfect example of this. Those things are used once, and then never again.
Terrible accents
Source: 9gag
Why is it that “British” is the default European accent? No, why is “British” the default accent at all? From futuristic space sagas to Roman gladiatorial dramas, it’s “British” accents all around.
Note: “British” has quotation marks because the accent is usually not done very well. So it’s not really British. It’s wannabe British.
35-year-old high school kids
Image: picserver.org, Source: reddit
This counts for both the 10-year-old that quotes Shakespeare as well as the 35-year-old that was cast as a 10-year-old.
Noises in space
Source: 9gag
It’s a vacuum, how on Earth would you hear anything? You wouldn’t because that’s right, you’re not on Earth.
Plot armor
Source: thoughtcatalog
Also known as character shields, this is when the main character just won’t die because they’re too important to the story.
Retired specialists
Source: reddit
Why are these guys always the hero?
Not saying bye on the phone
Image: wikipedia, Source: imgur
Thanks to Hollywood, about 90% of the world thinks that Americans just hang up on each other.
Unlimited ammo
Source: 9gag
Well, they do reload, but only when it’s convenient to the plot.
Unnecessary accents
Source: 9gag
Related to the terrible accents we have already discussed is the unnecessary accent. Why on Earth would a movie set in Germany have native German speakers talking in English with German accents?
Heroes not finishing the bad guy
Source: thoughtcatalog
And then the bad guy rolls over and shoots the hero so the hero runs around and finishes him. Really? Why not just do it right away? This is probably the main reason that the ending of Taken was so good.
Bad guys who don't just kill the good guys
Source: thoughtcatalog
So we’ve cornered our nemesis and now it’s time for….a speech? As soon as this happens, you know that the good guy is going to make it.
Banging on computers
Image: wikipedia, Source: reddit
No, hacking is not just typing really fast.
555 telephone numbers
Image: wikipedia, Source: thoughtcatalog
Especially when the character says it out loud.
The Wilhelm scream
Source: 9gag
Used since 1951, it’s time to retire this soundbite.
Product placement
Image: wikipedia, Source: thoughtcatalog
Even the best scenes can become cringe-worthy.
Not eating
Image: pixabay, Source: reddit
So the characters sit down, order food, and right when it shows up, they leave. Every time.
Flawless post-apocalyptic wastelands
Image: pixabay, Source: 9gag
And the main characters hair…does he use gel?
Rearview mirror conversations
Image: wikipedia, Source: reddit
Hollywood drivers seem to be able to stare at their backseat passengers for several minutes in the rearview mirror without crashing.
"I didn't sign up for this."
Source: imgur
Or “I’m getting too old for this,” “I have a bad feeling about this,” or “We’ve got company.” Cliches are just not a good look in any movie that wants to take itself seriously.
Poorly executed sports scenes
Image: pixabay, Source: reddit
When it looks like the actor has never swung a bat in his or her life or the director relies on camera angles to obscure the lack of talent, it can get painful pretty quickly. In fact, possibly the worse seen in movie history went down this route (Catwoman basketball scene).
Forever countdowns
Image: youtube, Source: 9gag
Although the clock only has 3 seconds left on it, you can expect those three seconds to be an action packed minute.
Source: TheList25