- 7 hours ago
Some films don't just stretch believability — they snap it entirely. Join us as we count down the movies that assumed audiences would check their brains at the door and accept every ridiculous plot hole, lazy shortcut, and insulting narrative decision without question. Which of these films made you feel most disrespected as a viewer? Let us know in the comments!
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Let's imagine for a few moments what our life would be like if we could access, let's say, 20%
00:06of our brain's capacity.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at the films that assume audiences would mindlessly trust the plot without thinking
00:16for themselves.
00:17Thanks, Cops!
00:24Prometheus
00:25This alien prequel shoots for grand themes of fate and humanity, yet all that symbolism collapse once you spot its
00:32many glaring plot holes.
00:33Right there. God does not build in straight lines.
00:36After all, it's hard to be invested in a story where characters seem to go out of their way to
00:41behave as ridiculously as possible.
00:43On a hostile alien world, sure, take off the helmet. Nothing could go wrong, right?
00:49A huge spacecraft collapsing straight towards you? Let's keep running in the same direction instead of jumping aside.
00:55And what do you do when you encounter a suspicious, snake-like alien?
00:59You pet it, of course.
01:01Ultimately, the film's insistence on pushing through with its plot, no matter how implausible it might be, ends up undermining
01:07its own experience.
01:09Why do you think your people made me?
01:12We made you because we could.
01:16Can you imagine how disappointing it would be for you to hear the same thing from your creator?
01:21Suicide Squad.
01:22It's taken some work, but I finally have them. The worst of the worst.
01:27If there were ever a film that needed to follow the show-don't-tell rule, it would have been this
01:32one.
01:32Rather than proving its character's ability organically, Suicide Squad spends its first half hour on flashbacks just to get its
01:39narrative going.
01:39It then expects audiences to bind to the idea that a group of criminals, most with no real superpowers, can
01:46take on world-ending threats.
01:47I'm not gonna kill you. I'm just gonna hurt you. Really, really bad.
01:55For the most part, pre-release Buzz did a lot of work for a film whose execution never delivers.
02:01In the end, Suicide Squad basically wants us to marvel at how cool it is without earning any goodwill.
02:08Then again, what else can you expect from a movie that treats its title like some kind of mic drop?
02:13Seriously. What the hell's wrong with you people?
02:16We're bad guys. It's what we do.
02:19Armageddon.
02:20If I do this, I'm gonna want to take my own men.
02:22You got it.
02:24So you're saying you'll help us?
02:27Yes, sir.
02:28The largest known potentially hazardous asteroid is about 7 kilometers wide.
02:33The one featured here is roughly the same size as Texas.
02:36That's pretty much all you need to know that Michael Bay's sci-fi disaster can't be taken seriously.
02:42On the commentary track, Ben Affleck even mentions asking Bay why the story trains oil drillers to become astronauts instead
02:48of the other way around.
02:50You swear on your daughter's life, on my family's, that you can hit that mark.
02:56I will make 800 feet.
02:58I swear to God I will.
03:00According to Affleck, Bay simply told him to shut up and stop asking questions.
03:04All things considered though, that might be the only way to enjoy this film.
03:08According to Neil deGrasse Tyson, the movie violated more laws of physics than any other in cinema history.
03:13You go take care of my little girl now.
03:16That's your job.
03:20I've always thought of you as a son.
03:23Fortunately for Armageddon, that distinction now belongs to Moonfall.
03:27Battlefield Earth
03:28While you were still learning how to spell your name, I was being trained to conquer galaxy.
03:35Some films defy common sense far past explanation, but will still give Battlefield Earth a shot.
03:41Despite reigning over humans for over a thousand years, the tyrannical cyclos don't even seem capable of going a day
03:48in charge.
03:48Maybe it's secretly listening, trying to get leverage over on us.
03:52Man, we're getting leverage over a cyclo.
03:55That'll be the day.
03:56Meanwhile, the supposedly primitive human survivors somehow master advanced alien technology within a couple of days.
04:02If it's that easy, then why did it take so long for the resistance to kick off in the first
04:07place?
04:07For their part, the cyclos mainly seem to exist just to cackle at the camera and chew the scenery.
04:12Maybe the film thought we wouldn't notice.
04:14Not with the overused, tilted camera angles that seem designed to give us a perpetual headache.
04:19Home office does not make mistakes.
04:22Of course not.
04:23But have you looked at my file, sir?
04:25It explicitly says that this is a temporary assignment.
04:29Movie 43
04:29Will you poop on me?
04:32What are you?
04:34Wait, what did you say?
04:36Honestly, it's still hard to believe that not only did this film ever get made, but that it even made
04:41eight times its budget.
04:42There's also the fact that an absolute who's who's of A-list talent agreed to make mockery out of themselves.
04:49Disgusting.
04:50From sleazy toilet humor to bizarre scenes involving dangly neck autonomy, or to unfunny speed-dating DC characters, the film
04:57is designed to go off the rails.
04:59But far from clever satire or charming spoof energy, Movie 43 is gross just because it wants to be.
05:05The film may have drawn people to theaters through its A-list cast, but it fails at delivering even the
05:11smallest chuckles from its audience.
05:13When the swelling goes down, you're going to look great, Emily.
05:17Thanks, sweetie.
05:17Lucy.
05:18Lucy.
05:19Life was given to us a billion years ago.
05:22What have we done with it?
05:26The 10% of the brain myth is something most of us believed back when we were, well, 10 years
05:31old.
05:31But Lucy turned the idea into its main premise and a selling point for audiences, leading to an incredible $469
05:38million gross at the box office.
05:40After absorbing a synthetic drug into her bloodstream, potentially character gains godlike abilities, apparently because she's the only human to
05:48ever use 100% of her brain capability.
05:56While the film has an entertaining concept, the gaps in logic are too obvious to overlook.
06:01Asking us to believe that humans have hidden psychokinetic powers is like trying to convince us that Hogwarts really exists.
06:07It's fun to imagine, but don't expect us to think any of it's real.
06:11Where is she?
06:21Speed 2 Cruise Control.
06:23Isn't it true that the captain goes down with the ship?
06:35Speed 2, it's more like bigger is slower.
06:38Instead of the fast moving thrills of a bus raging above 50 miles per hour, we get a cruise ship
06:44that lumbers along at a leisurely pace.
06:46It wouldn't be so bad if the film at least accepted its silly premise.
06:50However, characters keep treating the conflict like some edge-of-your-seat thriller, as if hoping that'll convince audiences.
06:57All in all, the real mystery might be how the producers convinced Sandra Bullock to return in the first place.
07:01Decades on, its entertainment value comes from the way the actress continues to poke fun at the film.
07:11Jack and Jill
07:12Looking back, it's remarkable how Adam Sandler's reputation has rebounded since this critical disaster.
07:18Like a bad skit stretched out to 90 minutes, Sandler goes to his hammiest lengths to portray his own sister.
07:25How come I didn't know about this?
07:27I didn't even know she did karate.
07:29I mean, I feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone right now.
07:32If that wasn't enough, the studio managed to rope in Al Pacino as Jill's love interest.
07:37In a 2024 interview, Pacino revealed that he only did the part because his accountant was in prison and I
07:43needed something quickly.
07:45Ironically, watching him drop some serious moves for a Duncaccino commercial might actually be the best part of the movie.
07:50You want creamy goodness? I'm your friend. Say hello to my chocolate blend.
07:55Treating slapstick and gross-out gags as its only currency,
07:59Jack and Jill is the kind of film that assumes any kind of childish behavior can pose as comedy.
08:03What did I say? Oh no, it's not you, it's the jibby-jongas!
08:082012
08:15Disaster movies always require suspension of disbelief, but some really do push you.
08:20Many thought the day after tomorrow might be the peak of the genre's absurdity,
08:23but 2012 arrived to prove them wrong.
08:26It's one of many tornadoes that are destroying our city!
08:30There's another one!
08:31If the film shows us anything, it's that the power of love and family can make you outrun the literal
08:36end of the Earth.
08:37No matter where our heroes find themselves, they're able to escape everything from volcanoes, tsunamis,
08:43and continental drifts right at the last possible moment.
08:46The science behind the apocalypse may also make physicists quit their job,
08:50as the film bends the very fabric of nature for sheer spectacle.
08:53But considering it made nearly $800 million at the box office,
08:57maybe scientific accuracy wasn't what audiences came for.
09:00I have goosebumps, people!
09:03Before we unveil our top pick, there are a few honorable mentions.
09:07Transformers, The Last Knight.
09:09So over the top, it effectively killed off the franchise's commercial appeal.
09:17Geely, fans weren't willing to gobble this one up.
09:20It's turkey time.
09:23Huh?
09:26Gobble, gobble.
09:28Vantage Point.
09:29An interesting premise killed by gimmickly presentation.
09:41The Core, when a B-movie plot gets an A-list budget.
09:57Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's audio, Songs from Iran.
10:02Reimagining Persian melodies as modern rock, metal, and pop songs.
10:06Check out the full track and album below.
10:23The Last Airbender.
10:25Not every movie manages to be a franchise killer before launching said franchise.
10:29But The Last Airbender ran away with this dubious honor.
10:33Instead of leading with heart and humor like the animated series,
10:36M. Night Shyamalan's adaptation relies on stiff narration and constant exposition dumps.
10:50It's as if the director assumes audiences can't understand the story without being reminded about it in just about every
10:56scene.
10:56My people are dying, Ahsoka.
10:59Those who are in charge of others have a responsibility.
11:02It's time we show the Fire Nation that we believe in our beliefs as much as they believe in theirs.
11:06That approach also comes at the expense of a coherent story, stripping the world of any fun and personality.
11:11There is also the inauthentic casting which Shyamalan either seemed to ignore or thought no one would notice.
11:17But hey, at least it's still not as bad as the happening, right?
11:30Are there any other movies you can think of?
11:33Let us know in the comments down below.
11:34And don't forget to like and subscribe for more WatchMojo videos.
Comments