Plot hole: During the later parts of this movie there is much talk about 'continental displacement' and this appears to be happening in the film. The Earth's crust is falling apart because of the heating of the inner core, and all the cities seems to be falling apart since the ground can no longer hold them. When our cast finds themselves surprised to be already over China when they figured to be over the ocean, it is explained that Asia has actually moved from where it was. If this phenomenon is taking place globally, how come the monks in China don't seem to have been disturbed at all? In fact the bell the monk rings as the ocean approaches hasn't even been shaken. The arks are built in between the mountains, but the mountains are apparently fine. Shouldn't they be falling like the rest of the crust?
Plot hole: Inmediately after Jamie Foxx finds the bomb in the city hall, and he says, "We don't tell the mayor anything", we see Gerard Butler arriving to his property next to the prison, and finally he enters his jail cell. So, in the time between Gerard Butler's arrival to the property and his entrance to the jail cell, Jamie Foxx thought about a plan, picked up the bomb, passed through the traffic and security checkpoints, talked to the warden to get access to the prison, entered solitary, handcuffed the bomb, and still had time to wait for Gerard Butler's arrival.
Plot hole: So he needed the help of a big strong burly guy to flip the safe with the body, end over end to the pit, but he somehow was able to easily get it out of his basement and into the back of his car by himself?
Plot hole: A detective would never be assigned to a suicide scene, since suicide is not a crime. A detective would only be assigned if the suicide is actually found as a murder. Nor would a detective be assigned to find out about a potential sexual relationship or affair unless it involves a crime.
Plot hole: Despite their awareness of the red matter and the power of the singularity, no one on the bridge had the common sense to suggest pulling back to a safe distance. Nero had already refused their assistance so there was no need to stay so close to the singularity. And when a black hole was created inside Vulcan, an officer mentioned they had to reach minimum safe distance, so they know what they need to do, but no-one does it. (01:00:30)
Plot hole: After the scene at the Houses of Parliament where Irene Adler escapes through the sewer from the clutches of Lord Blackwood, she suddenly appears at Tower Bridge, about 3 miles away. Even assuming she ran there and the journey was skipped, going there makes zero sense. It slows her down, leaves her exposed and limits her exit points - she's got all of London to escape into! (01:48:00)
Plot hole: Throughout the first half of the movie the focus is to locate and find David Park. It is believed this will lead them to Bragga and they can arrest him. However, later in the movie it is revealed that Letty was working with the FBI and was killed running drugs for Bragga. This means that the whole storyline to find Park was useless because they already knew how to get people inside. (00:18:55)
Plot hole: Towards the end, Patrick takes the 5kt bomb into a helicopter and climbs it away to safety. The problem with that is that the helicopters have a rather low rate of climb - ~10 m/s for military helicopters, less than that for civilian ones. This is the rate of climb at low altitudes, and it is with altitude. He had less than 5 minutes to climb, which would put the bomb at most 3000 meters above the city, and more realistically, one tenth that - just about the optimum height for the bomb to inflict major damage on the Vatican city and the center of Rome.
Plot hole: From day one, you have to have insurance to even be able to set foot (skate) on the rink. You must provide your drivers license and sign a waiver. Minors have to have paperwork filled out by their parent/guardian. Bliss would have had to show ID to prove her age (she could have a fake, but people can spot those). She would have been busted her first day.
Plot hole: Despite supposedly being deprived of food, neither of the main characters (nor most of the minor characters) seem to display any signs of malnutrition. They both have all of their visible teeth, their stomachs are not distended and they seem to have a large amount of energy to travel by foot over lengthy distances.
Plot hole: The UN agent boards a 50-year old Russian cargo plane, has to ask the pilot, Delphy, where the hatch is, and yet immediately accesses the triggering mechanism, down to knowing which of the connectors is for the explosive bolts. How likely is that?
Plot hole: When the 3 criminals are in the kitchen with Mary's parents, you see a picture of Mary on the fridge. There's no way none of them didn't see it considering they were in the kitchen for an extended period of time.
Plot hole: Anna's lawsuit was completely unnecessary. Regardless of the parent's wishes, no transplant physician or program would ever accept an unwilling minor as a living donor. All Anna would have had to do is express her refusal.
Plot hole: There is a scene when Terrence tricks Big Fate into touching his "lucky pipe". Terrence then plants it at the murder scene in order to rightfully implicate Big Fate in the murders. Terrence then goes to the police station and tells Beniot about his strange feeling that the perpetrator smoked crack while committing the murders, and suggests Beniot comb the scene again. Terrence's fingerprints were all over the pipe as well. He couldn't wipe his fingerprints off without wiping Big Fate's off as well. Since it is a requirement that all police officers have their prints on file and since Terrence isn't the officer to locate the "evidence", how can he explain his fingerprints being all over the pipe? After all that has happened, I would think he would have implicated himself.
Plot hole: During Ed's transformation back to humanity, he burst into flames several times. His heartbeat was monitored using wires attached to his chest. They did not stop working despite being in the flames.
Plot hole: According to the phone book the name given was "M. Horowitz" but when Mary mails he first letter to him she already knows it's "Max."
Plot hole: Every ghost that we see in the house looks the way they did when they died, for example the girl from the film's intro is seen without skin on her face, which happened to her before she died. However, in the final scene when we see Simon's ghost joining them, he looks completely normal, when he should have had a throat slit wound and the carved markings on his skin. (01:31:20)
Plot hole: The main character never takes the elevator. He only takes the stairs. When leading a workshop he leads a group of people from street level by saying 'follow me' and in the next shot the whole group is on top of a high rise hotel. How did he and the entire group get from street level to the roof together if he never takes the elevator?
Plot hole: Mr. Cranston asks Denise to be the accompanist for the school's production of "Chicago". This is an error. In the year 2009, in which the film is set, this would be impossible since the licensing company which has the theatrical rights for "Chicago" restricts the show from being produced (even by amateur groups and schools) anywhere in the greater New York area while there is an open-ended production running on Broadway.
Plot hole: Although this film is a virtual jigsaw puzzle of flashbacks, the dynamic between Dan, Laurie and Rorschach pretty much defines the movie's continuity in the present. However, when Rorschach is framed for murder and arrested, he goes directly to a maximum-security prison, apparently without trial, conviction or sentencing (all of which would require months of due-process, at least). Even if this lapse of time is some sort of artistic device to rapidly advance Rorschach's story, there is no corresponding lapse of months in the relationship between Dan and Laurie, which runs parallel with Rorschach's story. Either there is no due process for Rorschach in this story, or there is a glaring plot hole.
Suggested correction: Rorschach was a famous and dangerous outlaw. We are talking about an alternate 80's here with Nixon as president and a nation-wide ban on masks (the Keene Act). Rorschach probably faced the death penalty for his long list of crimes, besides the murder he was finally captured for (not to mention to handful of cops he seriously injured whilst trying to evade capture). I don't think it's strange that his trial was quick or not fully by the book. They made sure he was locked away fast and quietly. The justice system probably works a lot faster in a world of masked vigilantes.
lionhead
Yes, Rorschach was a vigilante; but, before masked superheroes were outlawed, Rorschach was also responsible for sending dozens (if not scores) of far worse criminals to prison, thus benefitting society. This much is stated in the film. His contributions to justice would certainly carry weight, and testimony in his favor would have to be considered in any legal proceedings against him. Also, after his capture, authorities were still trying to assess his mental state, which implies that some sort of due-process was still in place. Rorschach should have received a months-long trial, at the very least.
Charles Austin Miller
To be fair, the original, Hugo Award-winning "Watchmen" graphic novel makes the same continuity leap when it comes to Rorschach's fate. Rorschach keeps a secret diary that dates everything, but it egregiously skips over his trial and sentencing, even though the relationship between Dan and Laurie remains consistent. So, we can say that the movie is faithful to the novel, but the novel itself is flawed with a gaping plot hole.
Charles Austin Miller
The cops of that city don't care about his past deeds, which includes dropping the body of a criminal in front of the police station with the message "Never." They don't like him. Not even his colleagues liked him. That was a long time ago too, he's been the sole masked vigilante for a long time and I bet the cops just started disliking him more and more for his antics. Thus, a quick trial.
lionhead