History InformedAbility / LiveActionFilms

* ''Film/HomeAlone3'' has a pretty bad example: the film pits a bunch of StupidCrooks against a wise-cracking, very-smart-for-his-age kid in a series of HomeAloneAntics. The difference between Marv and Harry and ''these'' guys is that they are allegedly ''veteran master spies and assassins'', they are assaulting the kid's home ''armed to the teeth'' (various pistols and a shotgun), they sure are not willing to provide any mercy.... and the resulting CurbStompBattle ends up in favor of ''the kid''.

* ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'': The villain Ajax is said to have enhanced reflexes and pain resistance. He is not shown as being more agile or tougher than any of his mooks.

* The eponymous members of ''Film/TheGeniusClub''. They are gathered together, explicitly because they have abnormally high IQ's. However, through the movie's dialogue they are twice shown unable to answer very simple (and well known) riddles. And all their arguments are extremely shallow. They're supposed to be geniuses, and they're in a hostage situation. Why can't they form complex arguments or express themselves above a junior high-school reading level?
* In the original ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'', Peter Parker is described as an intellectual nerd who is one of Doctor Connors' best students. However, aside from saying a couple of scientific facts, we never really see just how intelligent the films build him up to be, as the focus is typically on Peter's life problems and his relationships with other people rather than anything relating to his personality. Since he doesn't use web-shooters in this version, we never get to see if has the same understanding of technology as his comic self does. The film series also ends before he can graduate, so we don't get an indication of his intellect based on the kind of job he gained from his studies. When he joins forces with his counterparts in ''[[Film/SpiderManNoWayHome No Way Home]]'', however, he is given a chance to redeem this issue as he is shown using his intelligence to [[spoiler:create a cure for the Green Goblin, which his MCU counterpart failed to do (albeit with this Peter acknowledging he's been thinking about creating such a cure for years)]].

* ''Film/{{Deadpool}}'' villain Ajax is said to have enhanced reflexes and pain resistance. He is not shown as being more agile or tougher than any of his mooks.

* Creator/AnneBancroft plays a great ballerina past her prime in ''Film/TheTurningPoint.'' Herbert Ross, the director, wisely keeps Bancroft's "dancing" to a few shots (e.g., brief barre work), but even so, Bancroft fails to either look or move like a dancer, nearing retirement or otherwise.

* In ''Film/TheGreatRace'', while in Boracho, TX, Professor Fate & Max hear of a man named Texas Jack who is described as the roughest, toughest man they know of. When Jack shows up, everyone clears the way for him and the sheriff backs down. But once a bar brawl breaks out, Jack isn't shown to be better at fighting than anyone else.

* The plot of ''Film/BillAndTed'' centers around Rufus' claim that the two main characters will write the most important rock song in the history of the world, in contrast to all available evidence. [[spoiler:Rufus even jokes about their lack of ability in the last line of the film.]]

** Khan isn't very smart in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathofKhan'', despite his supposedly genetically superior intellect. Kirk keeps using the most obvious tricks and ploys with him, and Khan keeps falling for them. It gets lampshaded InUniverse even from Khan himself that he has RevengeBeforeReason ''way'' too embedded on his mind when it comes to the subject of James Kirk and on the final battle on the Mutara Nebula Spock points out that Khan and his minions are just not used to the full extents of starship combat.

** Inspecting the raided sandcrawler in ''Film/ANewHope'' Obi-Wan notes, "These blast points, too accurate for Sand People. Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise," yet throughout the rest of the series, stormtroopers [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy hardly ever hit what they're aiming at]], while in ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', a Sand Person [[ImprobableAimingSkills directly hits a podracer at full speed]].

** A variant - Rebel Alliance starfighters such as X-Wings and Y-Wings have DeflectorShields supposedly making them more durable then the Empire's unshielded TIE fighters. It's even mentioned several times in dialogue where the Rebel pilots explicitly switch deflector power and orientation to match the current combat conditions. In practice however the Rebel fighters don't fare any better when hit - only pilots with PlotArmor such as Luke and Wedge survive hits. Note that this doesn't apply in the expanded universe and video games featuring Rebel starfighters - the shields work just fine there.

* ''Film/SaveTheLastDance'' would have you believe that the character played by Creator/JuliaStiles is an amazing dancer, who is auditioning for a prestigious dance school. Unfortunately, Stiles has very minimal ballet training, and it shows. Stiles was not at all believable as a high level dancer who had any realistic shot at her goal. It's particularly apparent when she's in a dance class scene, where she should be at least as good as if not better than the other dancers-- when in fact, she is visibly struggling to even keep up. (For those not in the loop about ballet, the clearest example of this is her extension, meaning hip flexibility and how high she can raise her leg. The angle of her leg is noticeably lower than those around her, even to the untrained eye.) Obviously, given the type of story this is, the character is successful in her audition... which is unbelievable, given how severely Stiles's limited ballet experience shows in every scene where she does her own dancing.

* Zigzagged with Deckard in ''Film/BladeRunner''. Deckard is, or was, supposed to be one of the best Bladerunners in the business; however, he spends most of the film getting beaten black and blue by the NEXUS 6 replicants. He ends up [[spoiler:shooting one in the back while she was fleeing, has to be saved by his love interest when at the mercy of another, barely manages to shoot the other female replicant while getting his head kicked in, and simply lucks out when the final replicant drops dead.]] On the other hand, he does show skill at identifying replicants and part of his failures can be explained by the fact that there is no way for any human to match a replicant physically and his mental deterioration due to alcoholism. Finally [[spoiler: depending on the version of the movie there is no certainty as to how much of Deckard's backstory is real.]]

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': Played with to the point of several characters lampshading it. Jack Sparrow is touted to be the best pirate ever, yet he is mutinied after being captain for a year, in the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first movie]] is captured twice and saved twice (first by Will, then Elizabeth), gets knocked out from behind twice, and his {{Plan}} almost fails. In the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest second movie]] another one fails after Norrington discovers his BaitAndSwitch and pulls a switch of his own, setting into place the events of the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd third movie]], where everything finally seems to go his way. The characters themselves can't seem to figure out if he's a bumbling quirk or an unlucky MagnificentBastard whose {{plan}}s/{{Indy Ploy}}s keep getting {{spanne|rInTheWorks}}d. (One character at least calls him the worst pirate he's ever heard of, to which he remarks that the man ''has'' heard of him which clearly says something to his credit.)

* In ''Film/GoodWillHunting'', Will is said to be a mathematical genius by almost every character in the film who learns about it - his teacher, his psychiatrist, his friends...everyone. Yet, there is little to no evidence of his skills in action, and every time you see an example of Will's work, it's either been completed beforehand (with the teachers just seeing the end result) or mentioned in passing. Justifiable in that general audiences likely wouldn't understand the equations anyway (as Lambeau says in the film, there are only a few people in the world who could even tell the difference between him and Will), so they were kept to a minimum.

* In ''Film/TheExperts'', Creator/JohnTravolta's character - who thinks he's in a Nebraska town (he and Arye Gross's character are actually in a Russian town full of KGB spies training to be sleeper agents) - asks if anyone there knows how to dance. Kelly Preston's character says "I know how to dance," and the two promptly demonstrate that while ''he'' knows how to, it's a different story in her case. (Then again, let's cut them some slack as this was where they met - they were married four years later and remained a couple till her death).

* The plot of ''Film/{{Rhinestone}}'' revolves around country singer Jake (played by Music/DollyParton) betting her manager she can turn ''anyone'' into a C&W type in two weeks; She selects taxi driver Nick, who's played by Creator/SylvesterStallone. His singing at the beginning is genuinely as awful as you're supposed to think it is - but he hasn't improved a jot by the end (hearing him say "You got to be luh-huved" is the kind of thing for which BrainBleach was invented). No wonder this is an OldShame for Sly.

* In ''Film/WeCanBeHeroes2020'' Ojo is said to be a skilled artist who’s drawing abilities are supposed to be on par with Vincent Van Gogh, Claude Monet, and Salvador Dali, her drawings while decent are nothing special, they’re your basic cartoon art.

*** Much like Anakin, Kylo/Ben Solo is described as incredibly powerful, to the point that Luke is frightened by the sheer power he display. But his power is only reflected in displays of telekinesis and good piloting, and he doesn't do anything that sets them apart from other Jedi or Sith.

*** Much like Anakin, Kylo/Ben Solo and Rey are described as incredibly powerful, to the point that Luke is frightened by the sheer power they display. But their power is only reflected in displays of telekinesis and good piloting, and they don't do anything that sets them apart from other Jedi or Sith.

* Bastian in the sequels to ''Film/TheNeverendingStory'' is spoken of as "a special young human of great imagination," and others talk about how he's very well-read and intelligent for his age. In those movies proper, he comes across as dumb as a sack of bricks. He's so GenreBlind that he believes an ObviouslyEvil witch over an honorable warrior who is his closest ally, and he alternates between using his [[StoryBreakerPower wish-granting power]] in the least efficient way possible, and [[ForgotAboutHisPowers not using it at all.]]

** General Grievous is said to be a fearsome combatant that has personally killed dozens of Jedi, and such an effective and brutal tactician that he replaces Count Dooku as the greatest threat to the Republic during the Clone Wars, yet in the prequel film, he spends most of his screen time running away and getting his butt kicked. The claim that he was trained by Dooku also feels rather strange, when from what we can see, Grievous's fighting style consists mostly of [[EverythingsBetterWithSpinning twirling his wrists a lot]] while holding four lightsabers.

** Master Plo Koon of the Jedi Council. Based on both official and fan-written bios on his skills and abilities, one might be tempted to think that he's the third most skilled Jedi Master after Yoda and Mace Windu respectively. In the Expanded Universe, Darth Maul even stated that he was one of the most skilled lightsaber duelists of all time. It's even been said that he was the third best pilot after Anakin Skywalker and Saesee Tiin. Unfortunately, Master Koon has been involved in very few action scenes (the kind where he usually just destroys battle droids and enemy mooks), and fewer lightsaber duels, in the Expanded Universe literature, comics, and both Clone Wars cartoons to really justify his high standing, as opposed to someone like Kit Fisto who's been given more feats and showings in the EU. And while he does get to show off his piloting skills in ''The Clone Wars'', ironically, his only piloting scene in the movies is the moment where he's shot down and killed by one of his own clone soldiers. Though there's no doubt that at the very least, he's a skilled Jedi Master (why else would he be on the Council?), his feats in the Star Wars Universe are so few and far between that fans are left with little more than speculation on exactly how he ranks compared to other Jedi and Sith.

*** Much like Anakin, Kylo/Ben Solo and Rey are described as incredibly powerful, to the point that Luke is frightened by the sheer power they display. But their power is only reflected in displays of telekinesis and good piloting, and they don't do anything that sets them apart from other Jedi or Sith.

* Bastian in the sequels to ''Film/TheNeverendingStory'' is spoken of as "a special young human of great imagination," and others talk about how he's very well-read and intelligent for his age. In those movies proper, he comes across as dumb as a sack of bricks. He's so GenreBlind that he believes an ObviouslyEvil witch over an honorable warrior who is his closest ally, and he alternates between using his [[StoryBreakerPower wish-granting power]] in [[IdiotPlot the least efficient way possible]], and [[ForgotAboutHisPowers not using it at all.]]

*** Much like Anakin, Kylo/Ben Solo and Rey are described as incredibly powerful, to the point that Luke is frightened by the sheer power they display. But their power is only reflected in displays of telekinesis and good piloting, and they don't do anything that sets them apart from other Jedi or SIth.

* In ''Film/RoadHouse'', Dalton claims that his mentor Wade Garrett is better than him at everything. When Wade finally shows up, you don't really see any of that. In fact, he ends up [[spoiler:getting stabbed to death offscreen]], which is not something that would've happened to Dalton.

** Yoda's skills as a powerful Jedi Master are shown through his ability to lift up Luke's X-Wing using the force. His skills as a warrior, however, are left completely informed in the original trilogy. ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'' eventually included a scene where he demonstrates his abilities.

** Shinzon, of ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'', as a Khan {{Expy}}, shares this trait. He's supposed to be very clever and underhanded, and a tactical genius, but spends about three-quarters of the film dicking around and acting like a Bond villain despite having only a few days to live, and his main tactical decision in the film is to use his invisible ship to fly so close to the enemy that they can hit him while firing blind. However, this may be justified due to Shinzon's status as a clone of Picard currently undergoing cellular degeneration; while Shinzon ''was'' a good military leader in the past, by this point he may be desperately hanging on to what sanity he has left so that he isn't reduced to a drooling, screeching mess on the floor and relying on his reputation and power to do the job.

** Shinzon, of ''Film/StarTrekNemesis'', as a Khan {{Expy}}, shares this trait. He's supposed to be very clever and underhanded, and a tactical genius, but spends about three-quarters of the film dicking around and acting like a Bond villain despite having only a few days to live, and his main tactical decision in the film is to use his invisible ship to fly so close to the enemy that they can hit him while firing blind.

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': Played with to the point of several characters lampshading it. Jack Sparrow is touted to be the best pirate ever, yet he is mutinied after being captain for a year, in the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl first movie]] is captured twice and saved twice (first by Will, then Elizabeth), gets knocked out from behind twice, and his {{Plan}} almost fails. In the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest second movie]] another one fails after Norrington discovers his BaitAndSwitch and pulls a switch of his own, setting into place the events of the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanAtWorldsEnd third movie]], where everything finally seems to go his way. The characters themselves can't seem to figure out if he's a bumbling quirk or an unlucky MagnificentBastard whose {{plan}}s/{{Indy Ploy}}s keep getting {{spanne|rInTheWorks}}d. (One character at least calls him the worst pirate he's ever heard of.)