Everyone loves a good twist. When you think you have figured out where a movie is going, suddenly it pulls out a card it had up its sleeve all along, throwing everything we thought we knew into disarray. However, every now and again, we can see a plot coming from a mile off and it kind of becomes laughable. The movie will reveal a twist and sometimes you didn’t even realise it was a secret. Below I have four twists, that if you know a thing or two about movies, you will guess long before the director reveals it.
4 – GOLDENEYE – 006 DIDN’T DIE
The twist: In the opening scene of Goldeneye, 007 and 006 storm a base in Russia, destroying their weapon supply. However, while escaping the evil Ouromov manages to shoot 006 in the head. When Ouromov resurfaces years later, Bond chases after him, intent of revenge. However, near the end of the movie, we learnt that 006 faked his own death and is actually the guy behind the whole thing.
Why it was obvious: Here it is a case of Catch 22. Hiring Sean Bean to play Alec Trevelyan was a good choice, because he was amazing in the role. I have already suggested that he is one of the top Bond villains to date. However, the actor was too famous for his own good. When the credits kick in, we see that Sean Bean is the second actor on the cast list, coming right after Pierce Brosnan. So, we learn that he is the second most important actor in the movie, yet he is already dead by the time the credits are rolling. This is enough to arouse suspicion, so when Sean Bean returns on the screen, we kind of nod knowingly rather than have our minds blown.
3 – IRON MAN 3 – MAYA IS WORKING WITH THE BAD GUYS
The Twist: Iron Man 3 gave us the new character of Maya Hansen, the unwitting creator of the Extremis formula. She tries to undo her mistakes by teaming up with Iron Man. However, as the movie progresses, she suddenly turns on them. It turns out she sold the Extremis to the Mandarin and was working alongside them all along.
Why it was obvious: Maya’s character was bringing literally nothing to the plot. I get her part in the start, as she lines up the origin story of Extremis well, but after that, she seems like an add-on, rather than a vital part of the plot. Her, being a villain, was the only way to explain why she kept turning up at the right place at the right time and was being overly friendly to some drunk one-night stand she had thirteen years ago. Hansen’s character was totally useless in the film, being killed off soon after the twist that she is a bad guy is revealed. It seemed like a generic action movie requirement and was one of the main reasons, Iron Man 3 wasn’t perfect. I would have preferred it if Hansen only showed up at the start: we could have even got a bigger and busier actress to take the role as it only would have lasted five minutes this way. This trivial plot point is one of the things holding Iron Man 3 back from becoming the best film of 2013.
2 – RETURN OF THE KING – GOLLUM SURVIVED THE FALL
The twist: Gollum attempts to feed Frodo to the terrifying spider lurking in Mordor, Shelob, but Frodo, using elven gadgets, evades her. Gollum tries to take the ring for himself, but in the struggle, Frodo pushes him off the cliff. We see Gollum fall to his death. Or did we? Just as Frodo and Sam make it to Mount Doom, it turns out Gollum survived all along and is angry!
Why it was obvious: Three reasons. One: the titanic battle at Mount Doom is one of the key scenes in the book, so it would be surprising if Peter Jackson replaced it for some girly little fighting that lasts ten seconds. Two: a big deal wasn’t made out of the death. Every major death in the rest of the trilogy is accompanied with a big emotional scene. Boromir took four arrows and an orchestra. Even Haldir, an elf who hardly took part in the story, got a pretty heroic, slow-motion death in the battle of Helms Deep. There was no way Gollum was going to swiftly thrown off a cliff and then forgotten about. Also, finally, no one in the history of Lord of the Rings died from falling off a cliff.
1 – DUSK TILL DAWN IS ACTUALLY A VAMPIRE MOVIE
The twist: We spend half of the movie thinking that From Dusk Till Dawn is a quirky crime thriller. There is a kidnapping, a shady meeting in a strip bar and the gnarly convict figure of George Clooney. However, director Robert Rodriguez suddenly introduces vampires into the plot, swiftly killing off the second lead, Tarantino, and throwing the rest of the movie into a non-stop battle with the Undead.
Why it was obvious: Well, it’s not. There was no foreshadowing, no hints, nothing. It should have been the most brilliant twist in movie history. But the producers wimped out, thinking that audience members would be livid, when they found out the crime drama they were watching was secretly about fighting vampires. Therefore, they gave away this cool twist in the movie summary, the trailers and even the DVD cover. The twist was spoilt for everyone.
But what if it wasn’t? From Dusk Till Dawn would be epic. I can see the producers’ worry, but I truly believe that Rodriguez is the only director in the world, who could get away with a twist like that. It would be the greatest sucker punch in cinema. Part of me wants to find someone, who would both ‘get’ Rodriguez’s cinema style, hadn’t seen the movie, which could be considered one of his greatest, and also have never had the ending spoiled. An impossible mission if there ever was one.
Oracle of Film 