That one thing that ruins everything.

[Werewolfkid]

I recently watched the new version of The Lorax and I didn't much care for it. The reason however was because of that one character O'Hare. If he wasn't there the movie would have worked. Yeah the songs were kinda bad and the romance between the kid and the girl is shallow, but the themes of overcompensation and and greed could have worked if O'Hare wasn't there being the bad guy and basically telling the audience "No average people is in no way to blame for the stupidity and greed that's destroying the world, it's all that evil corporate guy's fault, he has lead us astray and now that he has been defeated everything will be wonderful forever." The whole O'Hare thing felt like a massive cop-out to me and ruined the entire movie as a result.

So I ask you my fellow forum posters, name any movies, games, book, etc. that was ruined for you by one thing that you felt should have been removed or could have been done better.

 

[shogunblade]

The Lorax didn't work for me on many levels, chief among them that it wasn't a good movie, but I digress.

I honestly believe The Human Centipede could have been a good bunch of movies (Yup, I defend them) if the director actually wanted to make a good movie instead of a series of bland images based off a really bad joke he thought was funny enough to turn into a movie. It's the one movie I'd request to have a remake, just because a better writer could make a legitimately scary movie with what is given to the audience, instead it becomes a boring, bored movie that has no suspense, which, if that was the director/writer's point, he should have found a way of making his gimmick work out better then it did. As it stands, it's kind of sad that it sucks so much.

I think A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge could have been a better movie (It kind of is) if the writer thought to cut out all the truly obnoxious references to homosexuality, and I don't mean that as a slam, I mean, the writer wanted to make a movie about a gay boy wanting to find himself. He then chose to do it in the most obnoxious fashion thought possible. If he had been a teeny bit more subtle, it wouldn't be considered the best, but I'd rank it higher than the First Elm Street (I almost believe Elm Street 2 is better, in many respects, than the original).

I think Street Fighter the movie would have been better if the Blanka/Dhalsim subplot had been dropped, it's the worst part of the movie to me.

 

[Elfgore]

Shuffle! I really didn't care for it to begin with, but the girl he picked in the end completely ruined it for me.

Here is why: Each girl in Shuffle! suffers from some kind of illness.To list a few, split personality, obsessive disorder, overly high magic levels, and a form of Posttraumatic stress disorder. The girl the main character picks has a case of denial, denial of her birth causes her to be ill. She is ill because she is a brat that can't accept her birth and would rather risk her life than accept it. The worst part is her birth would not make anybody hate her or change their opinion of her. She just doesn't want to accept facts. Ruined the entire series.

 

[Wickatricka]

Batman the Dark Knight. If they got rid of batman it would of been a way better off movie lol. He is really the most uninteresting hero ever in my opinion. Which is a shame because the Villains are so well crafted that when I watch a batman movie I just want it to be about them.

 

[piinyouri]

I honestly believe The Human Centipede could have been a good bunch of movies (Yup, I defend them) if the director actually wanted to make a good movie instead of a series of bland images based off a really bad joke he thought was funny enough to turn into a movie.

I agree.
There's so many scenes in that film that just don't have a purpose, and everything is done with a lack of suspense as you said. In that way I guess it's a real pure form of exploitation. There's nothing going on behind the scenes. No symbolic irony, no plumbing of a tragic insane characters mind, it's almost straight exhibitionism.

Which is kind of admirable in a way I admit, but yeah. That movie was so boring.

OT: I don't think anything has gotten me to pull a "RUNED FORVER" on any media universe I enjoy.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Batman the Dark Knight. If they got rid of batman it would of been a way better off movie lol. He is really the most uninteresting hero ever in my opinion. Which is a shame because the Villains are so well crafted that when I watch a batman movie I just want it to be about them.

I raise you Superman. He can literally do everything without breaking a sweat unless confronted by a magical rock and then he has to be slightly more careful. Oh i'm really invested in the main character's struggles now.

At least Batman has a cool origins story and is actually a little bit crazy himself. That no kill rule gets rather outdated when you have super criminals breaking out of jail every week to plant more bombs in orphanages.

OT: Child characters. Fuck 'em. How to make anything 50% more "emotional" and "deep feeling" show some children in a dangerous, life threatening position. Behold people getting tricked by their own ma/paternal instincts to want to protect the offspring of the species.

Yes there are proper child "characters" instead of child plot devices, just so someone doesn't just go "lol clementine, lol Ellie" at me and think that invalidates my entire argument. 99% of child characters suck. I have four examples of decent ones.

Clementine, Ellie, Nanako (once you get halfway into) Persona 4 and Carl from BlazBlue.

 

[Legion]

Pacific Rim could have been amazing if they hadn't gone down the clichéd Hollywood route.

- Too much focus on Gipsy Danger being "badass" rather than making it about the Jaegers in general.
- Too many idiotic moments such as not using weapons when they make sense (swords/missiles/cannons etc) instead only bringing them out at convenient moments or for suspense.
- Comic relief with the scientists felt like it was included just because these things always "need" one (Transformers for example).
- Better dialogue and characters that don't just fit into stereotypes (cocky and arrogant protagonist, bitter rival and so on).
- More variety in scenarios and Kaiju types.

I loved the idea behind it, and although I didn't mind that it was just another "dumb action movie" a part of me wishes that they'd tried to make it something more.

 

[Ralphfromdk]

Well, I might as well be the first to mention it.

The Mass Effect series, and the ending of ME3.

You all know why that is.

 

[shirkbot]

The idea, across all mediums, that death is reversible. Be it through alternate realities, magic, or what have you, I actually have a very hard time enjoying fiction where death doesn't act as a permanent consequence because, to me, if death can't be held as permanent, what else can? I find this doubly annoying in situations where death is reversed due to a character's popularity. How can you create meaningful drama if people can be brought back from the dead by popular demand?

 

[NoeL]

At first I didn't like the ending of Avatar: The Last Airbender

Spoiler

when Katara kisses Aang. It felt like forced fan service rather than genuine.

but then I accepted it and came to like it.

Oh! And that episode of Happy Days where Fonzie jumps the shark... /trollface

 

[Casual Shinji]

Akira (the manga) - It ends with the characters we know and love suddenly turning somewhat xenophobic, rather hostile, and uniting under the banner of an organisation we spent half the story hating. And this is all played as something positive, as a new and brighter tomorrow. No sorry, but fuck you!

Attack on Titan - An eight year old boy with no training whatsoever manages to kill two full grown men with a kife. Not only is it improbable as all hell, it completely contridicts the character's behaviour later in life. It was a ridiculously cheap plotdevice to forge an unbreakable bond between him and his girl sidekick.

Berserk (the manga) - The fucking Berserk armor. Way to ruin your own main hero, Miura.