Question: How did Palpatine come back? Cloned? Or somehow survived the Death Star explosion, which seems unlikely.
Answer: It is not said exactly how he came back. He says that he had died before which presumably is him dying in ROTJ. The most we get is the reference to Sith ability that some consider unnatural.
It is not said how he came back, but I get the idea that he was using the Force to keep himself alive. At least that's the message I was getting when I saw that Palpatine's fingers were wilted away. And I thought that the power he was using was urging his life to go on, but his physical appearence was being dragged behind.
Answer: The line "The dark side is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural" is a direct reference to Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, in which Palpatine says the same line verbatim to Anakin. Recall that a major plot point to that prequel is that the Sith have long been rumored to have found a method to cheat death. This film strongly suggests that Palpatine had indeed discovered this method. The film doesn't go into specifics. My understanding is the novelization says his body is a clone. Going by his appearance in the film (blank eyes; body manipulated by machine), it suggests to me that he is a reanimated corpse.
Question: I don't understand Max's punishment. In the ending, Max says "a month in the hole", but his father tells him that birthdays, holidays, and summers are cancelled. He also tells his son that "the devil lives inside him", to no longer call him "Dad", takes away his electronics, locks him in his room, and says that he will always love him, but no longer likes him. So, is Max grounded for life or is it "a month in the hole"? Are his birthdays, holidays, and summers really cancelled? And does anyone else find this ending to a comedy actually depressing because of the way Max's father treats him in the end?
Answer: Max's dad probably over-reacted out of anger/rage over the drone and destroyed room and might have made changes after he cooled off. Plus, it was meant to be humorous. A "month in the hole" was immediately imposed; no more birthdays, holidays, summer, etc. would refer to after the month in the hole. Max's dad did not say he couldn't attend school-related events, such as the "Rock of Ages" show. Parents are supposed to give their kids unconditional love. A father can continue to love his son while disliking his behavior. Max's dad may have been unduly harsh (again, out of anger), but he still loves Max - which shouldn't be depressing. I don't think Max's dad said he was grounded for life, just grounded. However, Lucas told his parents that Max was grounded for life - an exaggeration.
So, even after being grounded for a month, he can't celebrate his birthday or summer vacation?
Not necessarily. Max's dad said those things in the heat of the moment. Although it is possible that Max's dad meant what he said (at least at the time), it isn't probable. The severity of the punishment given to Max was a reflection of how angry Mr. Newman was. A proud and loving father who tells his son "I will always love you..." is more likely to forgive Max so that they can return to their good father/son relationship.
Answer: He is grounded for a month, although he cannot have birthday parties or summers or anything.
So, even after being grounded for a month, he can't celebrate his birthday or summer vacation?
It's entirely understandable that Max's dad is totally peed off with Max for what happened with the drone and accidentally thrashing the house and probably said a lot of what he did in the heat of the moment. To totally deny the kid a vacation is one thing (and makes sense considering the grounding is for a month as the time frame is around that time of year) but a birthday as well? What the dad probably meant was no birthday party (and no fun) for that year, its not like four years later and "we're not going on vacation this year because you did something stupid when you were 12."
And Mr. Newman saying, "No more summers" is probably meant to be an exaggeration to get across to Max the authority he has over him and ability to stop him from engaging in fun activities. Similarly, Mrs. Newman said, "Winter is coming!" The restrictions they put on Max might make him feel as though there are no fun, sunny, carefree days. The parents obviously cannot CHANGE what season it is, but they can impose restrictions that will make him feel as though it is a different season.
Question: Why doesn't JJJ look like himself? True he's being played by JK Simmons but here he's bald without the trademark Jameson hairstyle.
Answer: The general movie-going audience doesn't always know the difference between MCU movies and movies that are based on Marvel properties made by other studios. Jameson's different look might have been done to avoid confusing fans into thinking that this iteration of Spider-Man is somehow connected to the Sam Raimi films.
Question: Why was this movie a Universal Studios movie, when the others were DreamWorks?
Answer: Universal Pictures (which is owned by NBCUniversial) bought DreamWorks Animation in 2016. However, this film is still a DWA production, it was just now distributed by Universal Pictures. All films have been produced by DWA, but they all used different distribution companies.
Question: This is a two part question: firstly if Crazy Carl was onto Sonic why didn't he find any of Sonic's quills when Tom found one without even looking for one? Secondly: what happened to the ring that Sonic threw and bounced of the robot, did he get it back, or will it play a part in getting Robotnick back in the possible sequel?
Question: What happened to Loki? Does this mean he's now alive?
Answer: The Loki who escaped is in a different timeline, so he will not encounter the "main" versions of the characters. This version of Loki will appear in the new series.
Question: Some valid reason Mystique dies early? Did Jennifer Lawrence get tired of playing her and wanted out?
Answer: Your guess is correct. Lawrence stated she was done with the franchise after "X-Men: Apocalypse." She jokingly told Simon Kinberg she would return for this film if he directed it, and to her surprise, he was serious about it and held her to it. Fans weren't very keen on her appearances either, because she was definitely phoning it in for the third film, so that may have factored into killing her off early as well.
More than one actress had played Mystique. Just because Jennifer Lawrence did not want to continue playing that role is not a reason the character would be killed off. They could easily recast another notable actress in the part. I would not be surprised if Mystique is miraculously "resurrected" in a future X-Men film with a new actress.
Aside from Deadpool, any new X-Men film would be a complete overhaul of the franchise since the characters will be part of the MCU now. You're not wrong about an actor wanting out to not really be a reason to kill off a character, but it doesn't preclude them from doing so either. They might have decided it wouldn't be worth the hassle of recasting the role with all the negative baggage that would come with it.
Here are some candidates I think could do it: Amanda Seyfried, Shailene Woodley, Chloe Grace Moretz. Heck maybe even Milla Jovovich-Anderson should be given an audition, what say you guys?
Question: How did the monkeys get onto the space ship and why were they so aggressive?
Answer: On the way from the Moon to Mars, the Cepheus interplanetary vessel receives an automated distress signal from a Norwegian bio-medical space station (that studies and conducts experiments on Earth animals in the deep-space environment). Apparently, a couple of very powerful and temperamental adult baboons escaped from their cages and killed everyone aboard the space station, feeding on their bodies. When the Cepheus answers the distress signal and arrives at the space station, the baboons attack and try to eat Captain Tanner and Roy McBride, also.
Question: What does "follow the flame to the desert fruit" mean?
Question: Didn't the Snowflake virus also infect other life besides humanity, such as animals and plants?
Question: When Dani and Grace are in the vehicle that drops out the back of the plane...how then is it possible that the plane is able to nearly come down upon them if it was moving in a forward motion at a great speed in opposite direction? The plane would naturally have gone down miles away from them and not nearly collided with them.
Answer: The simplest answer is, this is a movie, and movies often exaggerate, change, or fabricate details that logically could never occur in real-life. This is a perfect example of a deliberately faked action sequence that is contrived solely to entertain the audience by employing a 'suspension of disbelief.' It's more exciting and suspenseful to be able to see the plane crash, even though, as you point out, it realistically would be miles away by that time.
Question: Why is Las Vegas left abandoned for five years as shown on the screen by Dr Emma Russell when it was damaged by the MUTO? Why can't everyone just fix the damage to the city so the tourists can go there again or even repopulate it?
Answer: I don't remember if either Godzilla 2014 or Godzilla: King of the Monsters directly said that this was the case, but the MUTOs were feasting on nuclear radiation and warheads, meaning that their presence and deaths in the area would most likely unleash a ton of radiation. Radiation can make entire areas uninhabitable for years.
Question: Why was Chiwetel Ejiofor hired to voice Scar? Why didn't they hire David Oyelowo (who voiced Scar in The Lion Guard)?
Answer: None of the cast of The Lion Guard was cast in the film, so why would Oyelowo have been? Ejiofor was cast because, in the words of director Jon Favreau, he "is just a fantastic actor, who brings us a bit of the mid-Atlantic cadence and a new take on the character. He brings that feeling of a Shakespearean villain to bear because of his background as an actor. It's wonderful when you have somebody as experienced and seasoned as Chiwetel; he just breathes such wonderful life into this character."
Chosen answer: According to the novelization, Palpatine sensed Vader's internal conflict and created a clone as a backup in the event that Vader betrayed him. When Vader threw him down the shaft, Palpatine transferred his consciousness into the clone's body.