Question: Why would Nero need Earth's defense codes if his weaponry was so much more advanced?
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Question: When Hermione left divination why did she knock over the crystal ball?
Answer: Hermione was always a bit arrogant about being the smartest student. She thought Divination was nonsense and deliberately gave a phony reading from the crystal ball to mock Trelawney and the subject. Trelawney knew she was faking it and made a rather rude assessment of Hermione's "ability." Hermione was insulted and and knocked the ball off the table in anger and disdain.
Question: Why did the dogs in the park, the racing horses and the orcas of a water park go on a strike? Whatever outcome for the forest wouldn't affect them in any way.
Question: Why did Blackbeard's daughter kidnap Jack in the first place? How did she know she would see him in London?
Answer: As I recall, she was impersonating Jack in order to exploit his notoriety to recruit a crew for her father, Blackbeard, to find the Fountain of Youth. She was not intending to kidnap him. Jack heard about an impostor and showed up to confront her. She captured him to prevent being exposed as the fake Jack. She may or may not have known he was in London.
Question: Why did Ripley not yell for Newt and Bishop to hold onto something before she opened the air lock?
Answer: I wondered about this, too. Ripley may simply have overlooked doing this due the extreme duress she was under, focused on killing the creature. She intended to act quickly and save Newt if needed, but the creature grabbed onto her leg, delaying it being shot into space. Ripley may also have believed that Newt was still hiding under the grates, and that Bishop, ripped in half, was already "dead." I also think it's something of a plot hole.
I know I'm answering my own question here but when I look back at the scene, you do see her press the button that triggers the alarms before she pulls the latch to open the air luck. Probably a form of telling them what she is about to do. And looking back at the scene it's pretty obvious what she's doing, unless Newt was all of a sudden oblivious to what was happening.
Newt was not exactly oblivious, but she was a frightened child who was reacting, as would be normal for someone her age, impulsively and without much forethought. She was also unfamiliar with the ship, its operation, and probably would not know what the warning alarm was. Her instinct was to jump out of the recessed floor space to see what was happening to Ripley. I don't think Ripley turned on the alarm separately. It would just automatically go off as soon as someone started opening the hatch. It's the same as a back-up alarm on the truck.
True she's unfamiliar with the ship but even when you move to a new school or building, you're still aware of the fire alarm.
Newt had never been on the ship before and had only been there for about five minutes when the mayhem started with the alien queen. A child going to a new school might be aware of the fire alarms, but only after they are taught about safety issues by an adult and not during a panicked emergency. Newt, terrified, had no understanding of what exactly was going on when the alarm sounded or how to react to it.
Question: When did Paul Blart have time to steal the Kiss cover band's member's wig? And why? Did he know he needed it later?
Question: How did they get the RV out of the lake?
Answer: In the world of "make believe", they used "movie magic" to zap the RV out of the water and on to dry land - with no mechanical issues resulting from being submerged. In the real world, someone called a tow truck - perhaps AAA - and the RV was pulled out of the water and it suffered water damage and needed some repairs. This movie was presented as being "real life." Bob left on a bicycle to "try to find help." Near the end of the movie, Carl said that the RV "spent two days under water and they had to fish it out." He didn't say who "they" were. A fishing pole would not be strong enough to reel in a large RV, so I think it is safe to conclude that a tow truck was used to pull the RV out of the lake.
It should be noted that "fish it out" is a common phrase to mean pull or take out, especially after searching. When people use the term, they're never taking about using a fishing pole. But often when people post questions like this, they're asking for an in-film explanation in case they missed (or didn't understand) something. If no in-film explanation was given, a reasonable speculation can be given. You don't need to remind people the movie is a movie. If the in/film explanation is uncharacteristic to real life, then one can point out that in real life it wouldn't happen that way.
Question: Paul tazed the bad guy just as he got back up every time. Can you actually be that resistant to it?
Answer: I will admit I've not seen the movie, however. A taser is designed to temporarily disable and subdue a target without using leathal force. 2 shocks from a taser is usually enough keep most people down. However this movie is a comedy so repeatedly getting up just adds to the comedy.
Question: Wouldn't Earth's gravity cause Gardner's feet and leg to ache, given that he is from Mars, a planet with much lower gravity, and has lived there his entire life?
Answer: Any answer would be speculation at best, although it does seem likely that being on Earth would cause various pains. But it also depends on his conditioning while on Mars (for example, soldiers in the military often train with heavy packs on). The reason astronauts experience pain upon return to Earth after long stints in space is mainly due to muscle atrophy, similar to someone being bed-ridden for months. Additionally, being weightless in space with 0-g's (not zero gravity), their spine elongates and then back on Earth, it compresses back to normal, which can be painful. Gardner may not experience pain since his muscles aren't atrophied, and he may not experience spinal compression.
Question: When going to kill the Killians, how did the Horseman know that Thomas was hiding under the floor? Thomas stayed completely still and didn't make a sound.
Question: Does anyone know the name of the song that starts right after Brick and McQueen slam the car door while Lincoln is sleeping inside?
Question: What happened to him as a little boy when he was hunting with his Father and Uncle? Was he sexually molested?
Answer: If you are referring to the girl Casey, then yes, the movie is implying that her uncle had been molesting her.
Question: What was Jeff talking about when he said Miles said they made a deal with the school about weeknights.
Answer: It's a boarding school, but Miles wants to return to his old school. Miles made a deal with his dad that he would attend the new school and stay there during the week, even though he could commute as they don't live too far away. In return, he is permitted to go home at the weekend.
Question: Could the poster next to the Alan Moore poster with "Eruptions on Mars may be volcanoes" be a nod to "War of the Worlds"?
Answer: Yes. The implication (from the HG Wells novel) is that what Earth observers thought were volcanoes were actually Martian spaceships launching to attack Earth.
Question: When Mystique is disguised as Senator Kelly, why did she tell the other politicians about Professor Xavier's school?
Answer: Stryker was trying to get permission from the President to raid the school on the grounds that it is a mutant training facility. Mystique interjects and claims it is a docile boarding school in an attempt to dissuade the President from granting Stryker's request, as she doesn't want the students at the school to be harmed.
Question: I've heard that many people (Ralph Macchio included) do not like this movie. Is there a reason why?
Answer: Ralph Macchio admitted that he didn't like it as he felt that they were just making the first movie all over again and left out a lot of good stuff.
Question: Why didn't Frank Welker reprise his role as the voice of Soundwave for this film?
Answer: I couldn't find any other information, but honestly... Soundwave is barely in the movie. Probably just wasn't worth it for the production to pay Welker to come in just to record a few throwaway lines.
I considered that possibility as well, but since Peter Cullen reprised his role as the voice of Optimus Prime yet again for this film despite Prime's minimal involvement, it doesn't quite wash. Also, given Frank Welker's highly prolific voice acting career, it's unlikely he would have declined on the basis of pay or importance of his involvement.
Soundwave was barely in the movie (he's literally only in a few shots) and only had one or two lines. As the other answer suggested, it probably just wasn't worth it for the studio to pay Welker to come in, or they just didn't feel it was necessary given that Soundwave was essentially just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo. Optimus has a much larger presence, and Peter Cullen's voice is pretty synonymous with the character in the film series. Hence, it was worth it to have him return.
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Answer: It makes it even easier to attack and would lessen Nero's losses by disabling Earth's defenses as much as he possibly can.
raywest ★