Movies are all about the immersive process . In order to truly appreciate any film, you need to allow yourself to be present in the moment. But that doesn’t always come easy.
Sometimes, no matter how great a film is, one little slip is all it takes to bring you crashing back to reality. With that in mind, I’ve compiled some of the very worst offenders with these 10+ things that definitely ruin movies all the time.
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Completely unrealistic explosions.
Have you ever been watching a movie when something just explodes for literally no reason at all? It happens all the time in action movies.
I’m looking at you Bad Boys II — that car chase scene is just ridiculous.
When an actor can’t nail an accent.
I understand that accents are tricky, but Dick Van Dyke’s accent in Mary Poppins is almost unforgivable.
To this very day, Dick is still mocked and apologizing for his linguistic transgressions.
When people hang up the phone without saying goodbye.
This has got to be my biggest pet peeve, and nearly every movie I’ve ever seen does this! Why don’t people say goodbye?
It’s just so rude, I don’t get it.
Unnecessary love scenes that have nothing to do with the plot.
I first saw Will Smith’s Ali with my mother and grandmother. For those who haven’t seen it, there’s a five-minute-long love scene.
I know it’s five minutes because I counted each and every one of those agonizing seconds as they slowly ticked by.
No movie needs a love scene. Not ever.
The amount of time necessary for hacking.
I love Swordfish and I stand by my assertion that it’s a truly underrated action flick.
That said, Hugh Jackman is able to hack into secure government mainframes in a matter of seconds.
I’m sorry but I’m not buying it.
The fact that you never see anyone reloading a gun.
Oh, Arnie — there will never be another like you! As incredible as the first two Terminator films are, they require an element of suspended disbelief.
There are literally thousands of bullets fired in this film, and never once do we ever see anyone reload.
When the villain starts bragging
This is why I can’t stand watching old James Bond movies — it’s just so cheesy!
Maybe it’s because I grew up on Austin Powers , but I feel like the entire genre is just one giant caricature of itself.
Countdowns and timers never actually show how much time is left.
In movies, time tends to move a little differently. It appears to be able to slow down at will, turning seconds into minutes and minutes into hours.
If the bombs actually went off in the films when they were supposed to, it’d be a pretty grim finale.
Plain old bad acting.
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And so, a film is only as great as its poorest player.
Unless we’re talking about Tommy Wiseau in The Room . He’s the exception that proves the rule.
Any time a movie is shot in found-footage style.
OK, this one is a bit of a personal bias — I admit it. And I’ll also say that there are found footage films that I absolutely love, like Paranormal Activity .
But by and large, the jittery camera work just makes me nauseous.
Every time you see someone run up the stairs in a horror movie.
Here’s a scenario: You’re confronted by a masked killer in your house. To your left is the front door; to your right is the stairs. What do you do?
It seems so obvious. Unless you’re a character in a horror film, it would seem.
Why does everyone know how to fight in action movies?
Have you ever noticed that in every action movie, even the most pedestrian of characters is somehow this secret martial arts specialist?
I love the Rush Hour trilogy, but I don’t get why everyone fights as if they’re in an old Chuck Norris movie.
When the trailer gives away the ending.
There are countless examples in this instance, but the one I always come back to is Shutter Island .
Even before walking in, I felt like I had the plot 2/3 of the way figured out.
Horribly unrealistic CGI.
I have very strong feelings regarding the remake of The Witches that I don’t have enough time or space to properly get into.
I will just say that this image is the least of the film’s concerns.
Blatant and obvious product placement.
Movies have had to get a lot better at concealing their product placement as audiences were growing too aware of what they were being forced-fed.
When you compare E.T. with Toy Story , you can see how a lot has changed.
Incredibly cheesy catchphrases.
There’s nothing I hate more than when a character utters a line of dialogue that you just know was written by some Hollywood writer.
It kills the realism in an instant, to the point of being unrecoverable.
When two “experts” have to stop and explain a basic concept to one another.
This happens all the time and can be incredibly infuriating. The only time a director does this is when they assume that the audience isn’t intelligent enough to follow what’s being said.
Like the RICO scene in Dark Knight .
How could anyone possibly heal that quickly?
Have you ever seen any of Jackie Chan’s old movies? They’re incredible. Packed with brilliant choreography, incredible stunts, and death-defying fight scenes.
I love you, Jackie, but not even Wolverine could heal as fast as you do.
Kids who talk as if they’re 30 years old.
I’m not saying that there isn’t a time and place, but on the whole, this common movie trope is just annoying.
I’m tired of seeing these little smart-alecs get away with flagrantly disrespecting their parents.
Fashion trends that are far ahead of the time.
Have you ever been watching a period piece and spotted something that was so far outside the times that it ruined the entire fantasy for you?
I know I have: His name is Brad Pitt and the film was Legends of the Fall .
Why do bad guys have such bad aim?
They have all those bullets and seemingly nothing but time to work and perfect their marksmanship. So how is it that Bruce Willis can avoid a full clip from an AK-47?
It just doesn’t make any sense.
When siblings call each other “Bro” or “Sis.”
Ugh. The word “Bro” sends shivers up and down my spine. Never, in my 32 years of having siblings, have I once referred to them as “Bro” or “Sis.”
We know we’re related; we don’t have to remind one another.
Realizing that everything you just saw was only a dream.
Do you know what a deus ex machina is? It’s when an unexpected intervention occurs to rescue a seemingly hopeless situation.
Having a character awake from a dream is the ultimate example of a deus ex machina .
A Wilhelm scream.
This has almost become a bit of an inside joke among filmmakers, only I for one am not laughing.
You know that high pitched scream you’ll hear in movies like Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark ? That’s a Wilhelm scream .
When a film takes place in a foreign country yet for some reason everyone is still speaking English.
Unfortunately, the western world by and large has a problem with subtitles.
This is why even when we’re watching a film like 300 , which takes place in Ancient Greece, King Leonidas and his Spartans are speaking English.
The blatant whitewashing of cultures and characters.
Let’s never forget that only a few years ago Hollywood released a film called Gods of Egypt that starred Gerard Butler (a Scot) and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who is of Danish descent.
I could keep on going but I think you get my point.
Every time you see someone fall down in a horror movie.
This one seriously gets under my skin. If I saw Freddy or Jason chasing me, I would be channeling the spirit of Usain Bolt!
I wouldn’t look back every 30 seconds to see if the murderer was still chasing me.
When people read their text messages aloud.
How about instead of reading the stupid message aloud for the audience to hear, why not just show us a camera angle of the phone?
Or have the text dialogue appear on the screen?
When there’s obviously no one on the other end of the phone.
This is one of the most common faults I find with movies.
You’d think that something as simple as a phone conversation would be easy to pull off, but you’d be wrong.
How is the hero able to walk away from the explosion without getting blown up?
Do you know what the force of an explosion can do to the human body? It can cause your eardrums to erupt, liquify your organs, and cause irreparable internal damage.
So how is it that Hugh Jackman can look so cool walking away from an exploding fireball? I don’t care if he is Wolverine, he’d still feel this.
When a film glorifies “dining and dashing.”
I speak to this last egregious error as a former server. Let me be frank, there is absolutely nothing romantic, funny, or adventurous about dining and dashing.
Especially when you see that it’s some rich bigwig who’s too cheap to pony up for his/her meal.
