Question: The dress Claire is wearing when Doug goes back to rescue her is not the same dress she is wearing at the autopsy. I don't understand this. Also when the terrorist calls Claire about her car, the truck he was using for the bomb had not yet been shot by Minudi. So he called her before he knew he would need her Bronco?
Answer: When Doug went back previously, he managed to save Claire and took her home. However he left her there instead of taking her with him to the ferry. The bomber would have suspected Claire had survived the explosion at the cabin and would have gone back to Claire's house in case she showed up there. Doug would have left her there thinking she would be safe. But after he left the bomber would show up, discover she had survived and killed her the exact way he was originally planning to. Only this time she would be killed in her dress. When Doug went back for the last time, he remembered seeing Claire at the morgue in her dress and knew then that she would only survive if he took her with him to the ferry, which he does. That one act is what saves everyone in the end because Claire ends up distracting the bomber long enough for Doug to kill him. That decision to take her with him finally closes the loop. Mission accomplished.
Nice answer. But then why is Claire's body ever discovered with a red dress and her fingers cut off? There is a weak argument that the first time Doug goes back he happens to make the trip a few seconds too late. Even then, with cut off fingers, you'd drop her off at the hospital, not at home, thus she wouldn't be killed and dumped in the river.
Question: In Angier's final performance Borden watches Angier's duplicate drown in the tank. Does the other Angier still reappear for the audience, and take a bow? They never explain this in the film. If he does take the bow, Borden would never have been accused of murder. If he doesn't take the bow, how does the duplicate know not to do so? The duplicate would have no idea that Borden was below stage.
Answer: Angier always wants to take revenge on Borden as he is the reason behind the death of his wife. He knows that Borden is in the crowd the two times, first time, Olivia suggests Borden to watch the new "Transported Man" trick of Angier, where Borden finds out the trap door in the bottom of the machine, second time, Borden wants to know how Angier flies that distance with in seconds through the trap door. As expected by the Angier in the final play, Borden reaches the back stage where actual Angier is drowning (it is as always actual Angier drowns and the replica of Angier appears at some distance in every performance). So, as per the plan the replica hides to create an impression that Borden intentionally murders Angier. Note: the replica of Angier has the same ability and sense like actual Angier.
It's never stated whether the "real" Angier drowns or takes the bow, but it's implied that it doesn't matter - as the clone is a perfect copy, they are both "Angier." Angier at one point says, referring to toll the trick has taken on him, that each time he did it, even he himself didn't know whether he would be the man in the box or the prestige. Similarly, when Angier asked Tesla which hat of all the duplicates was his, Tesla replied "They are all your hat."
Answer: No, he does not appear to take a bow. The set-up is as follows: Angier invites the audience on stage to observe the machine, but in reality it is so he can watch for Borden trying to work out the trick. When he sees Borden in the audience, he also knows Borden will not learn anything from the stage, and will go backstage. He then clones himself, and the clone is created with the exact knowledge he had at the time of the cloning, including Borden's presence and the trap the original Angier had set. So the "new" Angier hides away the best he can, letting Borden be framed for the murder of the "original" Angier. Had he appeared, not only would it ruin his plan of framing Borden, but it would also reveal how he had done his trick, and he would not allow any of those to happen, no matter what.
Question: I have three questions regarding the end scene. 1. How come Jean can't crush Wolverine's body? I ask this because we can see her easily kill all people who walk too close to her. 2. Why didn't Wolverine inject Jean with the cure instead of killing her? 3. What would happen if Jean got injected with the cure?
Chosen answer: 1) Apparently the combination of Logan's unbreakable skeleton and healing factor was enough to keep Jean from shredding him - it's possible to see his body getting damaged and repairing itself in a few shots. 2) Because, while he's capable of getting close to her mostly intact, the same isn't really true of anything he might be wearing or holding, so any cure syringe he carried with him would be destroyed. 3) Who knows? Given her extreme power level, the cure might or might not have worked, and, considering the final shot of the movie, which suggests that the cure isn't permanent anyway, her powers would likely return before long.
Question: At the end, during Cindy's play, there's a woman in a cream color coat in the audience that the camera and lighting seem to focus on. She's sitting cross legged and not reacting like the other extras. She seems totally out of place to be just an extra. At first I thought she was suppose to be someone and was going to do something (like reveal her superpowers or something). Is she suppose to be a character, like Ace? Did we see her earlier in the film? Is there a deleted scene with her? Or is it truly just a random extra?
Answer: She could be Cindy's Mom, who is video taping her daughter and not surprised by her powers. If not, she probably a government agent sent to keep tabs on her.
It's not Cindy's mom. The woman is after the boy is pulled up. Later Cindy's mom says "that's my princess" and it's a different lady (though a very similar outfit up top). I tried to see if there were other "out of place" people watching the other kids to see if government agents were watching them, but didn't see anyone.
Question: Why does Violet's hair change color? Is it a mood indicator or something?
Chosen answer: Her clothes also changes color, and so does the color of the clothes of the real XPD154. It's never fully explained, but it's probably a technological advancement from the future to change colors at will, whether it's bottled hair color or clothes.
Question: How did they stay frozen the whole time if they demolished the building? Wouldn't something that can keep a person frozen, require a lot of power? Did they just decide to demolish the building without checking that the power was out? Didn't they put a fudruckers on top of it? How did they remain frozen so long?
Answer: The science in this movie is far-fetched at best. Assumedly the pods had some sort of battery backup for emergencies. If the battery lasted 500 years, we can just assume it was secret government technology.
Question: If the crystal grows when it is dropped into water, whatever happens to all the chunks that fall off the new continent as Superman lifts it out of the ocean? Wouldn't they simply continue to grow and begin the crisis all over again?
Chosen answer: The chunks that fall off the "new" land are actually bits of the earth's crust. Superman had actually drilled himself way beneath the "new" land (under the bottom of the ocean floor) so that he was not in contact with the Kryptonite infected crystal land, so that he could lift it up and get rid of it. It is this earth crust that falls off slowly, revealing the kryptonite crystals beneath, and this is why his strength slowly gets taken away as he flies higher, until there is too much exposed and he loses all his strength.
Question: I kinda understood the scramble suits that they would wear in the movie to keep their identity secret but I do not understand exactly how they would help. If you had to walk into the office every morning (it would have to be a high security area they worked in) where you would have guards/security and id cards and such to get in, people would know that you worked there simply by watching you entering and leaving the building. The only thing the suits would help with is at public speakings but all they really seem to do is keep your coworkers guessing who you are. You see "Code name guy" walk into room then "regular guy" walk out. Not very hard to figure out. Anybody with a little insight please explain.
Chosen answer: You are working on the assumption that it would be a standard 9-to-5 job and that the same people would be walking in at the same time. Bob Arctor is seen to go in irregularly and "Hank" would also keep irregular hours, much like officers in real-life. James was also seen to enter and exit the building and he was a witness; other witnesses, lawyers, public officials, the medical staff and janitors would also irregularly enter and exit the building. There are simply too many people entering and exiting the building randomly for anyone to definitively figure out who is who, particularly as their real and "suit" identities would be kept as separate as possible, "Hank" only figured out it was Bob because she was Donna. The identities of real-life police officers (particularly officers working undercover, especially on drug-deals) are routinely kept secret and the design of the building that Bob and "Hank" work in would be designed to protect their identities and the scramble-suits would be another layer of protection on top.
Question: Was the birth scene real? It seemed completely real, and the woman appeared to actually be pregnant earlier in the film.
Chosen answer: No, it wasn't real. Good make-up and acting, that's all.
Answer: The second part of your question: the bad guy needed a truck. He called Claire but they can't deal. SO he bought another truck. That truck shot by the policeman. Because he don't have enough time he must call Claire again to buy her truck.