Eye Rolling Movie Tropes

[2006_Eagles]

I'll start it off;

When Character A pulls a gun on Character B and points it way too close to CB. CB knocks the gun out of CA's hands with ease

The whole point of a gun is it's ranged ability

 

[emuboy]

One trope that annoys me is when at the end of a movie characters achieve or learn something and for the sake of making a sequel, this is destroyed or retconned in the next film. Some examples:

The Wog Boy - The end of this 1999 Australian cult classic saw womanizing Frank find love with Annie and the two getting married, while the main character Steve finds love with Annie's older sister Celia. When a sequel is made over 10 years later, Frank is going through a messy and acrimonious divorce, but the wife is never named or seen, while Celia has vanished completely. Steve is single and behaving the same as he did at the start of the first movie, and Frank rather than appear sad at the end of his marriage goes back to his old ways. This was okay in the late 1990s when they were younger, but now both are middle aged and a decade has passed, and they are hanging around pubs and clubs chatting up girls living life like they did before? This is sad and more than a bit creepy.

Paul Blart Mall Cop - Mall Cop ended with Paul Blart a hero and marrying his love interest Amy. When a sequel to this 2009 film is made 5 years later, Amy and Paul's mother are superfluous to the plot so both are removed, Amy by filing for divorce from Paul less than a week into their marriage and Paul's mother killed (quite graphically) by a truck, leaving Paul alone with his teenage daughter. If this had been handled better - for example the mother and Amy both die and it is played for drama, with Paul turning into a morose sort of man who goes through life as if on auto pilot - this might have been okay. But it is handled so badly that it ruins any chance this sequel had, and to make things worse Paul appears unconcerned and has a smarmy, smug and arrogant attitude now, which was never evident in the first film.

Zoolander - A classic case of a bad sequel that should be taught to film students. The popular Zoolander film in 2001 saw Derek Zoolander married to Matilda and they have a young son and Derek along with his former rival and now best friend Hansel are running the 'Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good'. While still not the brightest bulb in the box, Derek is shown to be a good father and husband, and is running the center competently. However, in the sequel in 2016 Matilda is long dead, killed when the Derek Zoolander center collapses due to Derek's incompetence; the child protection authorities took Zoolander's son away into foster care more than a decade earlier as he could not care for the boy; and Hansel and Derek have been estranged for years after a falling out, Derek now living in a rundown cabin in the woods like some bitter hermit.

 

[FrostyDaniel69]

Im getting tired of every single investigation show or film having a character with severe autism that can remember the tiniest of details in a mind palace and puts together information with very little connection that is on par to having a level of paranoid schizophrenia.

 

[spinynorman]

Way too many movies, shows and now even longform articles begin with a key scene and then tell the story of getting there. It seems to be done in things with long, slow builds, as if a way of telling audiences "don't worry, there will be some action later on". I hate it, it teaches impatience in the audience. If Deliverance was made today they would open with a man getting ****ed like a pig and then cut to the original story, rather than the long, slow build with incredible tension that gets us there and makes that movie such a classic.

 

[PhatBoy]

Not a movie but I liked in GoT how they actually spoofed a couple of tropes like the concept of an inspiring rally call before a battle.

Tyrion at the mud gate basically saying ‘there’s blokes outside who want to kill your women and children, let’s f*** them in the arse and kill them’ rather than some incredibly eloquent speech, as well as Theon actually giving a fairly rousing speech before Dagmar clobbers him over the back of the head and one of the other guys going ‘I thought he’d never shut up.’

 

[Gasometer]

Stormtroopers missing their....any target

 

[PhatBoy]

Stormtroopers missing their....any target

And it’s never addressed.

At least in Red Dwarf at one point while running away from a bad guy lister says ‘why can’t we ever meet anyone nice?’

Cat replies ‘why can’t we ever meet anyone that can shoot straight.’

 

[Drugs Are Bad Mackay?]

Characters in a car getting side swiped. Seems like a writer's skeleton key. Where are we going to take this? How do we wrap things up? How can we add some drama?

Cocky bloke taking on a woman in any sporting event, game or challenge. Woman unexpectedly wins... man can't believe it. Wowser.

 

[BuddysBiggestFan]

95% of Moviemakers only hiring attractive girls or women these days. The scripts are so shit they have to sell their movies somehow.

 

[spinynorman]

95% of Moviemakers only hiring attractive girls or women these days. The scripts are so sh*t they have to sell their movies somehow.

Yes, successful movie actresses were never absurdly attractive until recently.

 

[Moorabool St]

I've seen one too many instances of modern studios taking a popular song and having someone do an accoustic cover for trailers.

 

[Gasometer]

When a group of Xs take over a group of Ys and in the next scene said Leader appears

 

[JackOutback]

In many heist/chase/kidnapping movies, at some point a driver making a getaway will think they are free and clear when a car comes out of a side street right in to the side of them. The actual logistics, mathematics and physics of pulling this off would be absurd.

 

[Ticky009]

The empty gun that no one ever notices before they attempt to shoot. Drives me nuts.

 

[Gasometer]

Shooting accurately with a pistol

 

[Geelong_Sicko]

Way too many movies, shows and now even longform articles begin with a key scene and then tell the story of getting there. It seems to be done in things with long, slow builds, as if a way of telling audiences "don't worry, there will be some action later on". I hate it, it teaches impatience in the audience. If Deliverance was made today they would open with a man getting f’ed like a pig and then cut to the original story, rather than the long, slow build with incredible tension that gets us there and makes that movie such a classic.

Did you enjoy Pulp Fiction? That was cut into three interconnected stories, except they weren't even shown in chronological order!

Spoiler

It all ends with Jules and Vincent leaving a diner very much alive, except that Vincent had already been killed by Butch in story #2!

 

[RolandF1]

Everytime there is a big aggressive beast of some kind the protagonist(s) have to face off against it takes a moment to stand there and roar for some ****ing reason. IT HAPPENS EVERYTIME. Tell me one film in the last 20 years where there is a big foe and it doesnt roar before attacking. Not to mention the last minute running, dodging and breaking shit.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

stabbing a person once in the guts and they die near instantly. One stab wound never kills instantly, that's why in real life knife murders you always hear the victim was stabbed 30+ times.

C4 explosives detonate if set on fire. This is not true. C4 needs a detonator, just setting it on fire won't make it explode. Mythbusters proved this.

 

[spinynorman]

Did you enjoy Pulp Fiction? That was cut into three interconnected stories, except they weren't even shown in chronological order!

Spoiler

It all ends with Jules and Vincent leaving a diner very much alive, except that Vincent had already been killed by Butch in story #2!

Oh of course, and non-chronological storytelling can definitely be done well (The Killing also a great one), although it was also overdone a bit post-Pulp Fiction. But I was referring to things that generally begin with some big scene for like no more than a minute, and then cut to something and usually have a title card of like "Earlier that day" or "Two months earlier" or what have you and then tells the story chronologically. I will say Breaking Bad used it to excellent effect, but there's a lot more bad than good with it.

 

[Carbine Chaos]

The villain acquiring powers similar to those of the hero. Marvel seems especially guilty of this one.

The other one in that genre is when others get similar powers to the hero they seem to wield them with ease straight away, even though half the movie is dedicated to the hero having to train to become adept.

 

[The Sultan]

breaking the law is ok if you're the the protagonists (good guy)

Prison Guards are always sadistic sociopath's, and probably should be the ones behind bars.

 

[pumpter]

Here’s some things that really annoy me in movies.

When two people have conversations in cars, and the driver generally maintains eye contact with the passenger for five plus seconds, whereas, if you did this in real life, you’d have run the car off the road.

When people are thrown in jail, and they get their obligatory one phone call, they can always real off a phone number, and it’s always answered. If I’m ever thrown in jail, I’m stuffed, as I haven’t got a single phone number memorised, as they’re all in my mobile.

When a movie or TV series is set in a big city like New York, yet the characters constantly run into each other like they’re in a small country town.

When two people have a phone conversation, they both just hang up without saying goodbye, like a normal everyday conversation

 

[Andre]

The villain acquiring powers similar to those of the hero. Marvel seems especially guilty of this one.

The other one in that genre is when others get similar powers to the hero they seem to wield them with ease straight away, even though half the movie is dedicated to the hero having to train to become adept.

Spoiler

DC as well with the latest Wonder Woman. Yeah, so 'girl whose never noticed' wishes she could be as beautiful and strong as Diana. Fine, sure, ok, she should be able to beat up on the creepy guy hitting on her easily, but against WW should have latest 10 seconds trying to just swing fists / feet before an equally strong woman whose trained to fight from birth wipes the floor with her.

 

[MasterSamurai]

When both male/female characters don't get along for half the movie but you KNOW it's only a matter of time before they disrobe and hit the sack! You can see İt's coming from a mile out.

 

[phantom13]

I've seen one too many instances of modern studios taking a popular song and having someone do an accoustic cover for trailers.

Good observation but honestly I’m still in on it. Creepy slowed down version of a classic rock song for a horror movie gives me the jeebies.

The current Amazinf Race trailer has a belter.