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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom really jumped the dying Brontosaurus...
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00:00Ever had a great idea for a film, but halfway through explaining the story, the narrative
00:04didn't work and you lost momentum? Well, that definitely happens to real films, too. Sometimes
00:10a writer's block prohibits a logical development, and a ham-fisted bit of dialogue is waved
00:15in to force the story along. Other times, the quality of the film drops, and you start
00:20to see where the filmmakers stopped caring for their project.
00:24So with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here with 10 exact moments movies
00:29stopped trying.
00:3010. The Twin Reveal in Nighthunter
00:34Nighthunter is a film that had some potential. It was a serial killer manhunt movie with top
00:40draw actors and a few compelling twists and turns. The film follows cops and vigilantes
00:45tracking a serial killer who is capturing, mutilating, and then murdering their victims. When the
00:50prime suspect is caught red-handed, the cops and audience are confused to find he has an
00:55affliction that would make it hard for him to commit such horrific acts. Through a series
00:59of convoluted sequences, the suspect is released, but then recaptured, only this time he isn't
01:06as naive. Does the suspect have split personalities like primal fear, or is it a shady character in
01:12the police helping the killer? It doesn't matter. At the end of the second act, it's revealed that
01:16there is literally an evil twin committing the killings, and the afflicted twin is just an
01:21oblivious accomplice. This would have been a neat twist if there were some moments that compel us
01:26to re-watch the film and point out where we were duped, like The Prestige. Instead, it feels like
01:32writer and director David Raymond wrote himself into a corner and had to double down on the silliness
01:37from then on.
01:389. Vision's Birth in Avengers Age of Ultron
01:43It's no secret that Joss Whedon's second Avengers collaboration was not a pleasant one.
01:48By studio interference and pushes from executives to include story devices and set pieces that set
01:54up future films, the stress and lack of creative freedom endured did show in the final cut.
02:00While Thor's dip in the exposition pool might be argued as the laziest moment of the film,
02:05a mental image of Joss giving up and giving in seemed more realistic when he had to cram in the
02:10birth of the character Vision before the film's third act. Not all movies stop trying because the
02:16writer gave up or got writer's block. Sometimes pressure from the studios can squash them into
02:21submission, even if it doesn't make sense. From a story perspective, the birth of Vision
02:27should have come sooner in the film, but clearly Joss wasn't ready to add in another hero just as he
02:32was turning Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch over to the good side.
02:368. Abby is Possessed by a Ghost in Ghostbusters
02:40The 2016 all-female reboot of Ghostbusters didn't get off to a good start when, before it even came
02:47out, it drew criticism from fans nostalgic to the original titles, as well as the torrid,
02:52sexist abuse the film suffered simply because it consisted of female leads. The film's cast was solid,
02:59four Saturday Night Live alumni leading the script with experiences in comedy and improv going back
03:04decades. It almost makes you wonder if the film needed a script and instead just film the actress's
03:10riff for an hour and a half. But alas, a script was written and the cast did what they could to stand
03:15by it. One scene midway through the film shows Abby possessed by a demonic spirit and begin attacking
03:21the other Ghostbusters. The scene is chock full of possession cliches, including head spins, lifting
03:27characters up from the ground with one arm and speaking with a deep voice. What's frustrating is that this
03:32scene does nothing to further the plot. Abby isn't possessed for very long and it doesn't trip up
03:37the story or the Ghostbusters themselves in any way. It's a pointless sequence that proves the
03:43writing wasn't fishing for any original or unique ideas. 7. Wichita and Little Rock leave in Zombieland 2
03:51Now there's a lot to pick apart with Zombieland's sequel, but it's healthy to remind yourself that
03:56it's a Zombieland sequel and it's really not worth the effort. What's the problem? Well, it feels like
04:02the script was written shortly after the first one came out and no one considered rewriting or revisiting
04:07some of the dialogue. 2009 jokes about hippie communes, ditzy blondes and Elvis obsessions
04:13reek throughout the sequel. When our four leads claim the White House for their own, it gives
04:18protagonist Columbus pause and he asks Wichita to move forward in their relationship. Wichita freaks out
04:24and accuses Columbus as getting too close to her. The next morning, she and Little Rock have left Columbus
04:30and Tallahassee in a scene reminiscent of the first film. What's confusing about this movie is that it's
04:36established Columbus and Wichita have been together for 10 years now, and Wichita is worried Columbus
04:41is getting too close to her. They've been together for 10 years, not 10 days!
04:466. The Third Puzzle in Ready Player One
04:50The setup for the film is simple. A community of video gamers must solve three separate puzzles in
04:56order to win a vast fortune and control over the intense virtual reality world. In between the
05:02video game and movie nostalgia, the film finds time to give audiences a narrative and action set piece
05:08around two of three of the puzzles. That's right, only two puzzles have clues. In the film's third act,
05:14the location of the third puzzle is revealed without any mystery clues to solve. The film rushes to the
05:19climatic battle in a gothic fortress, and all the audience has to go by is that the film's antagonist,
05:25IOI, worked out the third clue and located the challenge. This news comes to us from the character
05:30who heard this information on The Grapevine. This movie had time for a Saturday Night Fever
05:35dance sequence and a real-world romance subplot, but not enough time to create a third riddle for the
05:40heroes to work out. It's a sign the filmmakers stopped trying when they couldn't be bothered to
05:45write a third puzzle and instead just fast-forwarded to the smasher muppet had been building up to and
05:50teasing in the trailers. Number five, to save the world we must destroy it in Godzilla King of the
05:57Monsters. Can we just make a rule for the roaring 2020s going forward? That baddies cannot use the
06:04we must tear down this old world to build a better one logic for their evil schemes. The scene was
06:09foreshadowed earlier on when forces led by Alan Jonah kill all the monarch scientists except Emma,
06:15and force her to activate the orca to free King Ghidorah. The logic and steps of this villain
06:21don't make sense, especially in the current climate of a healing world. The character of Emma wants to
06:27unleash a world-ending monster army to save it. The character arc would have been far more compelling
06:33had Emma resented Godzilla, rightly so, after she and Mark lost their son during the events of the
06:39first film. And as a means to get revenge on everyone's favourite sea-dormant lizard, she goes on a
06:44revenge mission to find a creature powerful enough to kill him. The use of a character like hers
06:49radicalised to become a zealous eco-warrior who believes turning the world to ash so humanity can
06:54rise in a new world not only doesn't make sense, but it's so two-dimensional it's not courageous from
07:00a narrative perspective anymore. Number four, my name is Khan in Star Trek Into Darkness.
07:07Even casual Star Trek fans could toot their own horns about how they saw the twist about Benedict
07:12Cumberbatch's character coming before they even sat down in the cinemas. And while it's a cheap win to
07:18pat yourself on the back over that easy guess, the reveal does inhabit a far worse revelation.
07:24Up until this point, there was an intriguing mystery behind the character and where the story might go.
07:30From John Harrison recruiting desperate parents who martyr themselves, to Kirk hot-headedly championing a
07:36manhunt for the fugitive, it seemed like the sequel to the 2009 flick was going to take some curious
07:42turns. Once John Harrison reveals himself to be Khan, the entire film shifts into cliches and rehashes.
07:49Peter Weller is revealed to be a war lobbyist, Kirk and Khan replay a less interesting version of the
07:55skydive from the first film, and a modernised version of the wrath of Khan's scream is bellowed out to
08:01embarrassing uproar. 3. The Brontosaurus's death in Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom
08:08Or was it a Brachiosaurus? Who cares? The writers certainly didn't.
08:12Immediately, Jurassic World Fallen Kingdom feels like two films with one half taking place on the
08:17dying Isla Nublar, and the other half taking place in a mansion that hosts illegal dinosaur auctions.
08:24Neither act is that nail-biting, but a film set on the original Jurassic Park Island,
08:28and the main story, trying to get as many dinosaurs off the island as possible, should have been better.
08:34Capturing the dinosaurs was a big part of the lost world, but in this muddy puddle of a film,
08:38the entire endeavour is treated like a shopping montage. Also, the story can fast forward and get
08:44off the island. And what better way to mark this transition than to have us witness a poor innocent
08:50Brontosaurus get consumed by the molten lava as Isla Nublar sinks. It's laughably lazy, and a weak
08:57attempt to tug at heartstrings. As you hear this unknown animal moan through the ash clouds,
09:02you can imagine the writers expecting their day of work is done, only to realise they have another
09:07hour of a movie to write, and so they latch on a dumb auction horror mansion plot.
09:122. Save Martha in Batman Vs. Superman
09:16Batman Vs. Superman was such a busy film. It had so many spinning plates in motion, something
09:22eventually had to give. Prior to Batman and Superman's big boss fight, there needed to be
09:27a friction between the two, and we as an audience needed to see justification for their hostility.
09:33But these two also needed a reason to forge an alliance, and the fact that their mothers have
09:38the same name is a neat coincidence, but it's also the most transient thing. When a battered Batman
09:43gains the upper hand on Superman, he's ready to plunge a kryptonite spear into the alien god,
09:48but Superman screams his mother's name, and Batman stops. Instead of Superman pleading for his life,
09:54what would have worked better would have been the other way around. Superman didn't want to fight
09:58Batman to begin with, and it would have made a better character moment if Batman relented instead.
10:04The Martha moment in Batman Vs. Superman was a necessary annoyance, but it also sets a tone for the
10:10current state of the DCEU. The franchise was trying to play catch up with Marvel's success,
10:15and it shows in embarrassing fashion. Had the film moved at its own pace, maybe this moment
10:20wouldn't have happened. 1. Somehow Palpatine returned
10:25in Star Wars Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker
10:28Imagine getting the opportunity to write a Star Wars film. You'd be so ecstatic about the job,
10:34you'd work on that entire story and polish off those points until it was the Citizen Kane of science
10:39fiction. Sadly though, some people just aren't that enthusiastic, and even sadder is they're the ones in the
10:45lucky position. If there's one thing Star Wars fans can agree on about the new trilogy, it was that
10:51they were made with a cynical cash-grab mindset, and as such the twists and turns of the film,
10:57especially Episode IX, were done with very little thought. The twist that Palpatine had been alive
11:02all along might have been an interesting reveal, but it comes up in the opening crawl text and the film
11:07makes a very flimsy attempt to explain his return. This effort and attitude made by the filmmakers
11:13trickles throughout with the other poor and shameless story beats that echo throughout Episode IX.
11:18When news gets round to the rebels, the expressions on their faces seem less like concern and more
11:23like frustration. And that concludes our list, if you think we missed any then do let us know in
11:28the comments below and while you're there don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification
11:33bell. Also head over to Twitter and follow us there and I can be found across various social
11:38medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild. I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day
11:43and I'll see you real soon.
11:53Bye!
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