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: Simmons stands outside the 'The Monastery' at Petra (not to be confused with 'The Al Kazneh' at Petra where Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade was filmed) and looks at the horizon, and he is able to see the Air Force landing with Optimus by the pyramids. It then appears to take them mere minutes to drive over there. This is outright laughable, even accepting that they make the trip in an alien robot car. Petra and Cairo are separated by hundreds of miles of desert, not to mention Israel being between Egypt and Jordan.
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: The super warriors that are given the venom are supposed to be fearless and without self preservation. However, during the scene in the Sahara base when they are helping to get the warheads back from the Joes, one of those men screams out in fear as he falls down the shaft, which makes no sense as the one guy did not scream in frustration when he was bitten earlier by the deadly snake and knew he would die. (00:40:20)
Plot hole: When the asteroid first approaches Earth it does so very quickly, but then it takes hours to finally enter the atmosphere and land on Susan.
Plot hole: When Abby and her kids are abducted, the sheriff is sitting right outside her house and sees this happening. Yet the video didn't record. Well the sheriff saw it all with his own eyes so why wouldn't his testimony hold up? The tape actually shows the UFO so there's proof right there. (01:08:55)
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: Early in the movie, the principal from Precious' school buzzes Mary's apartment intercom to talk to Precious about alternative education. In order to hear what the teacher is saying Precious has to press the 'Listen' button, but occasionally the teacher can be heard speaking through the intercom even when Precious isn't holding the listen button.
Plot hole: The character Strickland (played by Jack Noseworthy) is born in 1969 (according to his file in the FBI computers that Peters accesses), like Noseworthy himself. Since the character is presumably also approximately 40 years old, this would imply that the film takes place in 2009, which is totally inconsistent with the level of technology needed for surrogacy.
Plot hole: The Sheriff decides to go out in a blaze of glory by flying the helicopter into the robot. The robot has already stopped right next to Van Ryberg and the Doctor, yet the Sheriff still thinks flying a helicopter full of fuel (as witnessed by the huge explosion) is the best way to save his friends. Quite simply, if the robot didn't kill them, the massive fireball from the crash certainly should have.
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.
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.
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