A good screenplay should have an airtight plot, with no holes or mistakes to ruin the
audience’s appreciation of it.
But even the best screenplays go through studio notes, re-writes, re-shoots and serious editing
before they get put in theatres, and it’s sometimes a wonder movies make any sense at
all.
Even in some great movies, not every little detail makes sense, and the movies on this
list are no exception.
This is Screen Rant’s list of 10 Famous Movie Plot Holes That Need To Be Explained.
And we should warn you, there WILL be spoilers.
Star Wars The story of the Star Wars saga goes that
once Anakin Skywalker becomes Darth Vader, a committed crony of Emperor Palpatine, his
children are hidden away from him for their own protection.
Leia is raised by Senator Organa on the planet of planet of Alderaan while Luke is raised
by Anakin’s step-brother, “Uncle” Owen on Anakin’s home planet of Tatooine.
But does that really make any sense?
The Star Wars universe is a vast and varied place, so if Obi-Wan and Yoda really wanted
to keep Luke safe, wouldn’t they keep him far away from Tatooine and his old family?
Wouldn’t they also change his last name to anything but “Skywalker”?
If Darth Vader ever decided to check in on his old family, this tactic would prove to
be an awful mistake.
Zootopia Before the otter florist Emmitt Otterton goes
missing in Disney’s smash hit Zootopia, his black panther chauffeur mentions that
he was yelling about the “night howlers,” leading police rabbit Judy Hopps to assume
that he’s referring to the pack of wolves that kidnapped him.
But later on, it’s revealed that “night howlers” are actually toxic flower bulbs
with psychotropic effects, and that explains why several of Zootopia’s “predators”
have been behaving aggressively.
But how did no one recognize the symptoms of “night howlers”?
Judy’s foxy friend Gideon Grey recognizes the flowers immediately, and they’re stocked
in the city’s flower shops, so they must be pretty common.
Yet neither Dr. Madge Honey Badger nor anyone else can identify the flowers or their effects
for almost the entire movie.
Toy Story OK, we might be nitpicking about the plot
hole in this Pixar classic, but we’re going to tell you about it anyway.
When Buzz Lightyear arrives in Andy’s room for the first time, he is utterly unaware
that he is actually a toy, and not a space ranger.
So why is it that when Andy enters the room, Buzz freezes and stops moving, just like the
rest of the toys?
If Buzz doesn’t think he’s a toy, then he shouldn’t act like one!
If he does know he’s a toy, then he’s just lying to the other toys.
Either way, colour us confused!
The Matrix When Neo and his pals need to enter “The
Matrix”, they have to sit down on an adapted dentist’s chair and “plug in”, always
with a supervisor watching over them at the computer terminal.
So how is it that Cypher -- the traitor of the group -- is able to plug into the Matrix
and meet with the nefarious Agent Smith without the knowledge of the others?
In an old interview, the Wachowskis claim that, earlier in the film, Cypher set up an
automated system to enter the Matrix on his own.
Still, it doesn’t explain the larger question about The Matrix: Why bother “unplugging”
at all?
Red pill or not, living inside of The Matrix certainly seems more pleasant than eating
goop and wearing rags in the “real world”.
Iron Man 3 You knew at least one Marvel movie would have
to make the list, so we’re pointing out the most obvious plot hole in the entire MCU.
When Tony Stark finds himself in a tight spot at the end of Iron Man 3, he initiates the
“House Party” protocol, and J.A.R.V.I.S.
summons several remote-controlled Iron Man suits, all of which come equipped with the
same powers as Iron Man himself.
Only, why didn’t he do that before?
Like when the Mandarin attacked and destroyed his house?
Or when he’s stuck in rural Tennessee recharging his suit with a car battery?
If screenwriters have to rely on deus ex machina to resolve their plots, they could at least
put a little more work into it than this.
Ocean’s Eleven The appeal of Ocean’s Eleven is in watching
all your favorite movie stars hanging out with each other and being their charming selves.
But if you look at the heist movie closely, does it really make sense?
First, Danny Ocean tricks casino owner Benedict into transferring all of his money into some
vans waiting outside (by threatening to blow up the vault).
But then Terry Benedict has his men intercept the vans before they get out of town, only
to find out they’re actually full of X-rated fliers.
But: when did Ocean and his crew make the switch?
In a DVD commentary, director Steven Soderbergh claims there is no explanation, meaning it
was either an oversight, or we’re supposed to believe there’s some movie magic at play.
The Lost World: Jurassic Park At the end of this dino-blockbuster, a Tyrannausaurus
Rex makes it off the self-contained island and wreaks havoc on the streets of San Diego.
But we have some questions about how he got there.
When the boat containing the T-Rex docks at the mainland, Nick boards to find that the
crew has been slaughtered, when a guard accidentally opens the cargo hold, freeing the T-Rex into
the real world.
But if the Rex was locked in the cargo hold, how did it kill the boat crew?
Well, in the original script, a group of velociraptors were on board as well, and they were responsible
for the slaughter, but in the movie, it’s a major plot hole.
The Santa Clause Obviously, The Santa Clause takes place in
a world where Santa Claus exists.
That’s why Tim Allen gets turned into the jolly old giftgiver when he kills the previous
Santa.
So how is it that before that fateful event, the adults of the movie behave as though Santa
doesn’t exist?
Obviously, he’s been delivering presents to their children every year, meaning there
is material proof that somebody is sneaking into their house every Christmas Eve.
Why does Tim Allen have to literally transform into ol’ Saint Nick for this to make any
sense?
Colour us confused!
Signs In M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs, aliens invade
Earth and begin to take over.
But at the end of the movie, little Bo Hess discovers the aliens’ weakness: water.
When a glass of water falls on an alien, it burns its skin like acid, so the Hess family
uses H2O to fight back against the extra-terrestrials.
Only, why would the aliens invade a planet that’s surface is 71% water?
Why would they invade a planet where rain could come down at any time?
More importantly, when they’re running through a dew-covered cornfield earlier in the film,
why doesn’t the water affect them?
Obviously, the twist at the end of Signs could have used a little more thought.
Furious 7 We need to talk about The Rock.
We’re all glad that Dwayne Johnson makes an appearance in the seventh Fast and Furious
film, but not everything his character does makes sense.
While he’s lying in a hospital bed, wearing a cast, Hobbs realizes he needs to help the
team, but has zero information about their whereabouts or what they’re doing.
Nonetheless, he finds an ambulance and launches it off a broken overpass at exactly the right
time to prevent another vehicle from killing Lettie and Ramsay.
Then, he grabs a machine gun and somehow walks across town, ready to help Dominic Toretto
shoot down a helicopter in his battle with Deckard Shaw.
Not a lot of this makes sense.
But we have to admit, if you have to write a superhuman into your script to make it make
sense, it probably helps if the superhuman is played by The Rock.
So what do you think of our list?
Did we miss any huge plot holes that you want everyone to know about?
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