movie plot holes and paradoxes

I think this Ben Affleck quote from the film s commentary says it better than I ever could, and also underlies why picking out plot holes is an ultimately futile pursuit

In an unexpected moment of love for his last surviving blood relative, Scar lets Simba go rather than confirming his position of power and right to rule. Run Simba, run far away and never come back . Then he has a change of heart and sends the frankly incompetent hyenas to do the deed. It s only the most important mission left for Scar to do, and, yeah, I get he doesn t want to get his claws dirty, and cub murder is probably a bit much for a Disney cartoon, but come on! I wonder what happens in Kimba The White Lion?

Proof that even the very finest of movies aren t immune from gaps in logic. While of course Chekov would realise the danger they were in once the name Botany Bay is revealed, just how exactly does Khan remember Chekov who wasn t even on board the Enterprise when Space Seed took place. That s some incredible super human skills you have there Mr Khan. However, it took me years to realise this so chances are no one really minds.

Grease is a brutally honest and realistic depiction of teenage life in 50s America. Using documentary techniques to show what life was like for the millions of post war baby boomers, it never once deviates from its verisimilitude until the very end, when they all get into a flying car and depart for the skies. While of course, Grease is a candy coloured musical fantasy, the flying car bit always sticks out for pushing it too far. Director Randal Kleiser has reportedly and quite fairly answered questions about why it ends like this with a simple Why not? , but it does suggest that the entire ending is just one more extended day dream, and the whole thing never happened. Danny grows old alone.

Keyser Soze not really much of a master criminal in the shadows when you think about it. Despite it being one of the truly great endings of a film, you can t ever think too much about it. If Keyser is so concerned about keeping his identity secret, why does he spend hours in the police station yapping on about everything? Is he just lonely? That faxed picture of him could have arrived at any second, then he would have been screwed.

I love District 9. It s one of my all time favourite sci fi films, and in Christopher Johnson, has one of the most unlikely filmic heroes of all time. You can t help but feel elated when he finally powers up the space ship they arrived in and blasts off to the stars in search of freedom. It s a pity that the beginning of the movie shows us humans cutting a massive hole in the side of that same ship inevitably leading to a fatal hull breach once Christopher leaves our atmosphere.

In Limitless, Bradley Cooper becomes the world s smartest man thanks to a new wonder drug. It s actually quite an enjoyable and entertaining film (until the silly ending). However, it s let down by one of those plot contrivances that once read, destroys the film. If he s so smart, why does he think it s a good idea to borrow money from a mobster? I m an idiot and I know not to do that.

I think you could probably make an entire list of plot holes from this disappointing sequel. But to do that would be mean (they ve now cured death, Khan s totally different personality and ethnicity, Khan s varying strength, hell just Khan himself, Spock not understanding the Prime Directive...). To be fair to the film, it sets out its stall early on. It doesn t give a damn about logic (is that ironic in a Star Trek film?). Prime example they hide the Enterprise under the sea. For no reason. If this is a primitive civilisation, couldn t they have just left it in orbit undetected? Rather than go to all the trouble of hiding a space ship under the sea? Which is actually impossible, but then so is warp speed and teleporting so I ll give them a pass on that.

Man Of Steel is another 2013 summer blockbuster which doesn t make a whole lot of sense when you start examining it closely. Case in point, Clark/Kal finding his iconic Superman suit basically lying around in a cupboard aboard an ancient Kryptonian scout ship. Did Jor El make it for him? Had it been there all the time? Why is it so colourful considering Kryptonian s penchant for muted tones? (I like to think that the colonists dressed up in brighter garb back in the day. A bit like how we used to wear ruffs). If it had been waiting for Clark, then the suit was around 18,000 years old. So many questions for you, suit!

So it s clearly stated in Beauty And The Beast that Beast is 21. Lumiere also says they ve been cursed for 10 years. Which means that the poor orphan Prince was only 11 when that witch dresses up like a hobo, barged her way into his home, and then got annoyed when he was rude to her and decided to destroy his life in the process. It also begs the question, why is there a painting of the adult Prince hanging on the wall? How is that even possible? Was it just a lucky guess, like when you do that age composite thing online to see what you d look like as an old person?