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• In Jaws, Mayor Larry Vaughn has a shark roaming his town's beaches around the Fourth of July. A band of shark-hunters kills a shark, Larry declares it mission accomplished. Chief Brody isn't convinced that it's the killer shark.
  You'd Expect: Larry would take Brody's concerns seriously and regulate, if not close, the beaches.
  Instead: Larry ignores Brody and lets the beaches remain open for the Fourth of July. It's only when the shark kills another man does Larry take Brody seriously.
  • In Jaws 3-D, Martin's son Michael is now working at Sea World, and he and his girlfriend Kathy have discovered a an overgrown baby great white shark that swam in through the dysfunctional gate connecting to the park to ocean and has supposedly killed a technician who was trying to fix it the previous night. Katherine suggests they capture the shark and put it on display as "the first great white alive in captivity", guaranteeing a boatload (pun intended) of cash and notirety for the park. They succeed in doing so, but first must nurse it back to health, which will take a decent time.
    You'd Expect: Calvin, the manager of the park, to be patient and wait for the shark to recover remembering that good things come to those who wait.
    Instead: He loses patience with waiting after a single day, and orders the baby shark moved to an exhibit without Katherine's approval to do so. The tank the baby shark is placed into is apparently incapable of supporting Great White sharks, and the baby dies almost immediately along with the good fortune that he would have brought to the park if Calvin had been a little more patient or talked to Katherine first. Making matter worse, the baby's 35 foot mother isn't too happy with what has happened to her baby...
• In The Jazz Singer, the band Russel writes for is down a member and they promised an all-black group.
  You'd Expect: Russel to try to convince the club to let a white guy sing.
  Instead: He sings in blackface, predictably leading to a fight when this secret is found out.
• John Wick series:
  • John Wick:
    • Mafiya member Iosef Tarasov takes a fancy to the title character's Ford Mustang Mach 1 and tries to buy it from him, but John - a recently retired hitman - refuses to sell.
      You'd Expect: Iosef to just find out the model of the car and buy one of his own. Sure, he's a mob boss's son, but this man is obviously going to know who it was that robbed and assaulted him. Even though Iosef doesn't know that John is a master hitman, it's clear that John has the bucks to hire high-priced investigators and lawyers to ensure he gets justice.
      Instead: Iosef steals the car from John, and kills his beloved pet dog in the process. This causes John to go on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge against Iosef. ^note Oh
    • Iosef's father Viggo realizes what, or rather, who, his son has brought on himself. He's able to get in contact with Wick by phone, though. He offers to pay John off, but John refuses.
      You'd Expect: Viggo would get a little more creative in negotiating with Wick:
      A) Offer to allow John to turn Iosef over to the police on charges of assault, grand theft auto and break-and-enter so that, with his high priced lawyers and two accomplices who could take the fall for the more serious crimes, his son could spend a few years in protective custody (judging by how Viggo treats his son, he feels he could use such a lesson in consequences.)
      B) Viggo is a mob boss, after all, and presumably knows that John strictly follows Never Hurt an Innocent. He could threaten to have his men start killing homeless people or anyone else they could get away with if John retaliates.
      C) Bite the bullet, have Iosef executed suddenly and painlessly and present his body to John as a peace offering.
      Instead: He apparently forgets everything being an experienced crime lord had taught him about aggressive negotiation, and offers no other deals, deciding to take Wick head on.
  • John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum: John and Charon and a few Red Shirts are facing the High Table agents, who have advanced body armor. Team Wick has access to a well-stocked armory/safe room.
    You'd Expect: Team Wick grabs some of the many, many armor-piercing weapons on the wall that are suitable for close-quarters battle^note For example, the FN P90, which is semi-armor-piercing, and has a higher capacity than the carbine Wick uses. It's also shorter and more maneuverable..
    Instead: Team Wick goes out with Product Placement handguns and Product Placement pistol-calibre carbines, which are both ineffective against normal body armor.
    The Result: All of Charon's men die, and John and Charon struggle to take down a few bad guys. Then they retreat to the armory/safe room, and switch to Product Placement armor-piercing shotguns. ^note This is especially weird when John used a Product Placement AR-15 during a similar CQC battle in the previous movie, and 5.56 NATO would do better against body armor than pistols. Which has it's own issues, but at least it's better.
• Joker (2019):
  • After Arthur Fleck has been fired from his job for bringing a gun into a Kid's hospital, he takes the subway home at night, sitting alone dressed in full clown makeup and regalia. On the same carriage are three Wall Street bankers, who decide to harass a woman sitting opposite of them. Suddenly, Arthur starts laughing uncontrollably, distracting them.
    You'd Expect: The bankers to consider a guy sitting alone in the subway dressed as a clown who starts psychotically laughing for no reason to be a creep and leave him alone.
    Instead: They turn their focus to them, and start relentlessly beating him up. Unfortunately for them, Arthur still has the gun that got him fired on him, and so they all get shot dead.
  • Later in the movie, Arthur (now almost fully transformed into Joker) is invited onto Live! With Murray Franklin, a late-night talk show run by the eponymous Murray Franklin. At the same time, there are riots breaking out throughout the city perpetrated by people dressed like clowns. Murray and his gofer meet Arthur backstage, where he's once again dressed in full clown makeup and regalia, and has scrawled "PUT ON A HAPPY FACE" on a mirror. Arthur also asks for Murray to introduce him as "the Joker", since Murray had previously called him a "joker" while making fun of his botched comedy routine.
    You'd Expect: The obviously-unstable Arthur to be sent home. If nothing else, he should be asked to change his outfit on account of the tense political climate.
    Instead: Arthur says that he's dressed as a clown just because he feels like it, and it's nothing to do with the riots. Murray takes him at his word. Arthur isn't checked for weapons and gets to go on the show.
  • Arthur then comes out and tells some tasteless jokes. When he's called on it, he claims that comedy is subjective, much like the lines between good and evil, and that he's sick of having to pretend his views line up with everyone else. Halfway through the interview, Arthur freely admits he was responsible for the murder of the three bankers on the subway (which was what caused the riots in the first place), and that it didn't matter because the bankers were "awful", and Murray's awful too.
    You'd Expect: After Arthur literally confessed to murder, someone on the set (even if it wasn't Murray himself) should make a move to either call the police or have him restrained. The live broadcast should be shut off. Murray should recognize the fact that he's wronged a murderer who says worrying things like "I've got nothing left to lose. Nobody can hurt me anymore."
    Instead: Murray angrily drags the interview out and tries to get Arthur to explain, and only says someone should call the police when Arthur starts screaming about the evils of society. A few seconds later, Arthur shoots Murray in the head, and when he's signing off to the cameras someone finally restrains him. By then, his views have had enough airtime that it's started the biggest riot yet.
• In Jumanji, the protagonist Alan Parrish has just gotten the shit beaten out of him from some bullies because his father refused to drive him home, insisting he instead fend for himself, unaware that he is outnumbered five to one. Upon hearing this news, while guilty about what happened, he is impressed that his son attempted to take them on like a man, and decides along with his wife that he is ready to go to an elite boarding school that all males in his family attend. Alan however is not into the idea.
  You'd Expect: Alan to just calmly tell his parents that he's just not interested in going. Even if they initially refuse to relent, going about it politely would more likely guarantee them to possibly reconsider.
  Instead: Alan is completely rude and snappy about it, even stating that he's not interested in being a success like his father...or even a Parrish. This ends up with his father telling him he's going on Sunday whether he likes it or not, and that's the end of it and Alan telling him that he's never speaking to him again and plans to run away. But that supernatural board game he found in a construction site and brought home has other plans for him.
• In Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Bethany’s Establishing Character Moment is that she loves her phone so much that she is constantly on it, eventually getting to the point where she actually makes a phone call to her friend during class, during a test no less. Naturally, her teacher calls her out on this and tells her to put the phone away.
  You'd Expect: Bethany to do what the teacher says and hang up the phone in order to avoid getting into any more trouble.
  Instead: She refuses and insists on ending the phone call, which naturally earns her a trip to detention.
• Jumper: The main character's a freaking moron. After living it up with his teleportation ability, he encounters a guy who knows what he is and has been following him since a locked-door bank robbery he pulled years ago.
  You'd Expect: After escaping, he'd flee far far away. Hide. Keep a low profile. Anything but...
  Instead: He returns to his hometown, immediately visits his father, then looks up an old flame. And then picks a fight with a guy who has a vendetta against him, teleports him to THE VAULT FROM THE SAME BANK ROBBERY THAT TIPPED OFF THE BIG BAD IN THE FIRST PLACE and leaves him there. And then is angry when he squeals.
• Justice League (2017):
  • Batman, realizing that the League is no match for Steppenwolf in its current state, decides to revive Superman, using a Motherbox, knowing that he'll be heavily distorted, possibly a case of Came Back Wrong.
    You'd Expect: Batman to have either Martha Kent or Lois Lane (or both) be the first person Superman sees upon being resurrected. He knows both people know Superman's real identity, and doing so would help Superman adjust to being resurrected, and have the rest of the Justice League wait in reserve in case Superman doesn't immediately adjust to being resurrected (plus, if he felt that he owed them any debts for his unintentional role in Clark's death, surely doing so would make them consider said debt repaid).
    Instead: He doesn't even consider bringing Martha along, and only brings Lois along as a backup, instead making the first people Superman sees be Wonder Woman (who he barely knows), Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash (3 people who he's never met). To the surprise of no-one, Superman's distorted state causes Cyborg's armor to go haywire and attack the former, resulting in a fight between Supes and the Justice League. Batman only brings out Lois as a last resort.
  • Prior to that scene, there's Batman attempting to recruit 2 additional members, Aquaman and Cyborg.
    You'd Expect: Given that Batman knows that Cyborg likely feels isolated because of his condition of being half machine, for the normal human Batman to be the one to recruit Cyborg (thus showing him You Are Not Alone), while Wonder Woman goes to recruit Aquaman (while Wonder Woman and Aquaman themselves don't have any ties, their respective civilizations - Amazons and Atlanteans - do).
    Instead: Bruce attempts to recruit Aquaman, who doesn't trust him because of the events of the last film, and Wonder Woman attempts to recruit Cyborg (who has no idea who she is).
• The Karate Kid Part III:
  • John Kreese and Terry Silver have made plans to open a chain of Cobra Kai dojos. To attract new students, they hire "karate's bad boy" Mike Barnes to compete for them at the All Valley Tournament. Meanwhile, Daniel LaRusso has decided not to compete in this year's tournament.
    You'd Expect: Since Daniel is the only fighter in the Valley that could possibly stand a chance against Barnes, they would leave him alone and let Barnes cruise to an easy victory.
    Instead: They have Barnes harass and bully Daniel until he agrees to compete.
    Even Worse: This year's tournament has a rule stating that the defending champion only has to compete in the final round, meaning that Mike Barnes will be facing a fresh Daniel after going through an entire tournament, putting him at a huge disadvantage. All because Kreese wants to humiliate Daniel for beating Johnny Lawrence the previous year.
  • Barnes is facing off against Daniel in the final.
    You'd Expect: Silver would tell Barnes to win quickly and decisively, recognizing that Daniel is a dangerous opponent and the defending champ, even if (thanks to Silver's machinations) he hasn't been acting like it recently. If they really want to hurt him badly, they could always just beat him up in the parking lot after the tournament is over...like Kreese did to Johnny last year.
    Instead: Silver tells Barnes to deliberately get point penalties to draw the fight out as long as possible and take it to sudden death.
    The Result: Daniel finally gets his act together and defeats Barnes despite having been outclassed for the entire match. Barnes also comes perilously close to a disqualification on several occasions...and definitely would have been disqualified by a competent referee.
    Furthermore: The shenangians of Silver, Kreese, and Barnes get Cobra Kai blacklisted from tournament participation for the next 33 years.
• Kid Detective (2020): Abe grows up and decides to turn his childhood hobby into a full-time job.
  You'd Expect: He takes at least a Correspondence Course of the genuine PI work, not to mention getting a license now that it's his day-job
  Instead: He continues with his Amateur Sleuth antics well into adulthood
  As A Result: Nobody takes him serious anymore and the few people that do are in turn bitter victims of his snooping. Since he's also so bad at it, he can barely afford to pay his bills.
  While at least part of it is implied to be the result of being traumatised after Gracie's disappearance and the unsolved case, Abe should still at least try to take his own job more seriously.
• Kick-Ass 2: It's been several years according to the narration since Kickass and Hit Girl took down Chris D'Amico's father, a huge mob boss. As heir to his father's enterprises, and an orphan after accidentally killing his mother, Chris uses her bondage equipment to become The Motherfucker and avenge the older D'Amico. Javier, his guardian, is doing all he can to keep Chris on a tight leash so he doesn't go further than petty robbery. His uncle Ralph in jail doesn't like the Motherfucker antics for Pragmatic Villainy and Pet the Dog reasons: Chris is drawing unwanted attention in disguise and should have the chance for a normal life before he does something he regrets.
  You'd Expect: If Chris isn't listening, then find a way to incentivize him to retire the Motherfucker. Such as implicitly threatening Javier's life or even Chris if he goes too far. Accidents happen all the time.
  Instead: Ralph thinks the trick is to demonstrate to Chris what real evil is to scare him straight. While they're talking in prison, Ralph uses his contacts to get Javier killed, and for Chris to listen over the phone.
  The Result: Sanity Slippage ensues, as Chris gains a bone-chilling Death Glare when the last person he cares about dies. He thanks his uncle for the lesson and goes to teach it to Kickass, killing his mentor Colonel Stars and Stripes as well as attempting to rape his girlfriend and causing a massacre of police officers arriving to address the situation, thanks to his new team of villains. While corrupt officers kill Kickass's father in custody after one of his friends stupidly reveals the information, they don't go as far as interfering in the subsequent melee of villains and Kickass's team. This creates bad publicity for Chris D'Amico, as Kickass reveals who he is to everyone. Oh, and Chris proceeds to lose his legs and penis when he refuses to let Kickass save him from falling into his pet shark tank.
• In Kingdom of Heaven, Guy becomes King of Jerusalem, and decides to get rid of all of the Muslims in the holy land alongside his ally, Raynald of Châtillon.
  You'd Expect: That if Guy and Raynald insist on going to war with Saladin, they would at least do so competently.
  Instead: They have most of Jerusalem's army march through a hot desert, which severely weakens it. As a result, Saladin wipes them all out, kills Raynald and later takes Jerusalem.
  Making It Worse: This actually happened in real life.
• Killer Klowns from Outer Space:
  • Mooney keeps getting calls about disturbances, murders and kidnappings in the neighborhood caused by clowns.
    You'd Expect: Mooney to call for back-up to intervene.
    Instead: He dismisses every single one of those calls as a web of lies the Terenzi Brothers spun up to sell their ice cream. And in the result, Jumbo kills him and makes a "Dummy" out of him.
  • The only surviving citizen of the Klown parade hides under a car while the Klowns march on and collect cotton candy cocoons.
    You'd Expect: For the guy to wait there until the Klowns are out of sight before coming out of the hiding spot and getting out of town.
    Instead: He tries to make a run for it while a Klown is a few feet away from him, getting cocooned on the spot.
  • At the end, Klownzilla is coming. Mike, Debbie, and Dave run out of the ice cream truck having given up on it because the rubble from their Car Fu got stuck underneath the truck.
    You'd Expect: The Terenzi brothers to also join them and flee the truck, as Klownzilla is charging towards the truck.
    Instead: "WE CAN'T, IT'S RENTED!"
• King Kong (2005): Carl Denham has brought Kong back to New York City to put on display and make tons of money.
  You'd Expect: Denham to remember what all Kong can do and restrain or enclose him properly, and/or keep him properly sedated.
  Instead: Denham puts Kong on a Broadway stage in Times Square, of all places, with just a few steel restraints. Kong is annoyed by the song and dance routine, and is enraged by the fake Ann Darrow used in the act. He promptly escapes and rampages. People are injured and killed, and much property is damaged. And Kong dies. And Denham's name is attached to the whole fiasco.
• Knives Out
  • Towards the beginning of the film, Harlan is regretting that all of his surviving kids, in-laws and grandkids have ended up as entitled jerks. Linda, his oldest daughter, is the only one with whom he gets along with up to his death. While Joni and Richard are horrible as in-laws, Walt for his racist behavior wants to do his job as company head.
    You'd Expect: Harlan would sit down all of the kids and confront them for how they turned out, maybe with a counselor in tow. He has the money for it.
    Instead: He thinks Tough Love is the solution. Namely, by firing his son Walt from Harlan's publishing company and disinheriting everyone from the will. His nurse Marta receives all of his fortunes and the house.
    Predictably: Rather than learn anything, the family turns on Marta, who had no idea about the changed will and has her reasons to not want the money. Also, if this movie were following real life about inheritance wills, his handwritten one is invalid since it has no witnesses and holographic wills are not legal in Massachusetts.
  • So Harlan has revealed this to Ransom. The man gets disgusted that Harlan would leave everything to his nurse and storms out.
    You'd Expect: Ransom would tell his parents. Then they could put up a united front against Harlan.
    Instead: He plots Harlan's murder and frames Marta for it.
    The Result: He underestimates Harlan's determination to make sure Marta is never caught, and it turns out she ensured Harlan never overdosed.
  • After Harlan makes this decision, he and Marta settle down for the night to play Go and get his medicines. Marta freaks out when she realizes she injected him with a morphine overdose and starts to call 911. Harlan worries that Marta will be arrested for manslaughter, which will lead to her mother getting deported, and he's dead in ten minutes anyway.
    You'd Expect: He would listen to his nurse. That's why he hired her, after all.
    Instead: Harlan forcibly makes her hang up and instructs her to create an alibi for herself after he slits his throat. Marta reluctantly goes along to honor his wishes.
    The Result: It turns out Marta was right; Benoit Blanc reveals that his medicines were switched ahead of time by Ransom, meaning that she instinctively gave him the right one thanks to her nurse's training. The paramedics would have realized that Harlan was not dying and found that Marta's medical bag was tampered with; Marta's actions made her look more suspicious to Benoit.
  • Meanwhile, we have Fran, the housekeeper. She is friends with Meg and Marta and loves murder mystery movies. It turns out that she saw Ransom tampering with Marta's medical bag the day of Harlan's funeral. On a hunch, she gets a copy of Harlan's toxicology report from a cousin who works in the medical examiner's office. Fran assumes that Ransom overdosed Harlan and would frame Marta for it. It turns out she doesn't know what the numbers mean but Benoit reads a copy and learns that Marta never overdosed Harlan.
    You'd Expect: She would either tell Marta, showing her the toxicology report, or notify the police about what she found and witnessed. From a pragmatic standpoint, Marta could reward her financially and keep her employed. And from a moral standpoint, she never liked Ransom who was "Hugh" the asshole, and liked her boss Harlan.
    Instead: She sends a copy of the report to Ransom asking him to meet in an abandoned laundromat, to either blackmail him or confront him like a great detective heroine. Note that Ransom has no money thanks to Marta inheriting Harlan's fortune and he was already willing to murder once.
    Predictably: Ransom knocks her out and overdoses her with heroin, while "passing on" the blackmail letter to Marta so that the lady finds Fran's corpse and will be accused of her murder. It's only because of Ransom being detained that he can't call 911 to set the frameup, and because Marta immediately calls for an ambulance when she finds Fran that she isn't accused of killing her as well. The only sensible thing Fran does is store a backup copy in her marijuana stash, and try to tell Marta about it as well as who killed her while dying; that copy exonerates Marta to Benoit and the police. Marta is horrified to realize that Fran wasn't accusing her but rather Hugh, which she pronounces like you, and that Fran died for nothing.
• Glass Onion
  • Alpha CEO Miles Bron just realised that his ousted partner Andi Brand is threatening to expose his perjury at court.
    You'd Expect: He will disguise himself and walk it (or get something less noticeable on the road) to Andi's house to murder her.
    Instead: He drives his signature baby blue Porsche to Andi's house.
    The Result: One of Bron's other Disruptors, MRA streamer Duke Cody, recognizes the car while he himself is also heading to Andi's house and deduces that Miles killed her when he gets a Google Alert about Andi's death. With that in mind, it gets to be Duke's turn with the Idiot Ball.
  • After Miles became hooked on the idea of Klear, he and Andi begin struggling over Alpha, with Miles wanting to devote the whole company to pursuing the fuel source regardless of risk and Andi urging caution.
    • You'd Expect: Cassandra to be very cautious about any legal documents Miles sends her way. The only way he can pursue Klear to the extent he wants is if he takes complete control of Alpha, which can only be done if Cassandra voluntarily accepts signing over her half of the company.
    • Instead: She refuses to take any sort of basic precautions whatsoever.
    • The Result: Miles seizes control of Alpha from her and cuts her out of the company entirely.
  • ...which leads to Andi suing Miles over intellectual property rights to try and reclaim her stake in the company.
    • You'd Expect: Andi would base her claim on a legally binding patent procured in advance, proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that her ideas created Alpha and Miles unfairly forced her out.
    • Instead: She bases her whole case on the Glass Onion pub handkerchief she wrote the mind map for Alpha's founding ideas on....which she can't find when she later looks for it (the first time, anyway).
    • The Result: Thanks to her inability to produce her key evidence, Miles replicating the handkerchief and convincing the other Disruptors to back him as Alpha's true founder, Andi loses the case, with Miles taking everything she had left in the company and being free to pursue his ambitions without her to stop him.
  • After trashing her home in a rage, Andi does find the key handkerchief she was hoping to use against Miles, giving her the evidence she needs to re-try the case and win this time.
    • You'd Expect: She'd immediately file to sue Miles again. She has everything she needs to win and there's no need to do anything else until after the new trial is over.
    • Instead: She decides it's a good idea to message the other Disruptors bar Miles warning them she has the handkerchief and proclaiming her intent to "burn his (Miles') empire to the ground", offering them a Last-Second Chance to come clean and even telling them "you know where to find me"...despite knowing that all the Disruptors' successes are tied to Miles intricately at this point and all of them might be willing to backstab her again for his sake, considering they've already done so before.
    • The Result: One of the Disruptors faxes Miles Andi's message, warning him in advance what Andi intends to do. Leading to...
  • Miles turns up at Andi's front door, asking to come in and talk with her.
    • You'd Expect: Andi to turn him away immediately. This is, after all, the man whose life she's threatening to ruin and who's already proved willing to ruin hers to get what he wants.
    • Instead: She lets Miles in for a chat over drinks.
    • The Result: Miles kills Andi by poisoning her drink while her back is turned.
  • Duke realizes that Miles murdered Andi. He sees this as his ticket onto Miles' news program Alpha News, a position he desperately needs as he's been banned from Twitch for peddling All-Natural Snake Oil.
    You'd Expect: Duke to remember that by this action alone, Miles has proven he's willing to kill to solve his problems, and could very easily do so since they're on a private island, a.k.a Miles' home turf. Duke would instead wait until the party is over and while he's leaving before blackmailing Miles, or give him a call or an email afterwards. In the latter situation, Duke can claim that he set up a Dead Man's Switch that would expose Miles if he is killed.
    Instead: Duke goes full steam ahead with blackmailing Miles.
    Then You'd Expect: Duke to avoid taking any drinks from Miles, and preferably leave the island immediately.
    Instead: Miles gives Duke a glass of whiskey spiked with pineapple juice, something Duke is deadly allergic to. Duke downs it without as much as smelling it.
    The Result: Duke is sent to that place where so many other murder mystery characters who tried to blackmail a murderer have gone: in the ground.
    • Oh, and one more note on Duke:
      You'd Expect: Duke to carry an Epi-pen on him considering he has a life-threatening allergy.
      Instead: He does not, in order to be macho.
      The Result: See above.
• The Lawnmower Man features a triple-whammy of idiocy from all three protagonists during the finale:
  • Dr. Angelo finds out that his test subject, Jobe, has successfully transformed himself into a being of pure energy and uploaded his mind into the main computer at Angelo's former employers, VSI. Fortunately, Angelo has brought enough C4 to level the building.
    You'd Expect: Angelo to set the timer for the bare minimum time for him required to haul ass out of there. Alternatively, since he's apparently willing to go out in a Heroic Sacrifice, just bypass the timer and manually detonate the charge; he'll die immediately, but so will Jobe.
    Instead: He sets the timer for fifteen minutes, then enters the virtual reality world inside the mainframe in order to trash-talk Jobe. Jobe's response is to Mind Rape Angelo, which lets him know about the bombs, in turn causing him to speed up his efforts to transfer out of the mainframe, which he eventually does successfully. The only thing saving Angelo from being guilty from one of the biggest cases of Nice Job Breaking It, Hero in the history of any film was that Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace completely ignored the first film's ending.
  • As this is going on, Angelo's friend Carla Parkette and her son Peter are waiting in a car outside, with Angelo having warned them to be ready to escape in case anything bad happens.
    You'd Expect: Carla to stay alert and remember that they're dealing with a man who has demonstrated both severe emotional instability and the ability to disintegrate people from a distance.
    Instead: She decides that now would be the perfect time to catch a nap and falls asleep.
  • With his mother snoozing away, Peter desperately wants to do something to help Jobe, who he was friends with before meeting Angelo and undergoing his treatments.
    You'd Expect: Peter to realize that he's out of his league, that Jobe is dangerous and unpredictable, and that Peter doesn't know the layout of the VSI building. Ultimately, there's nothing he can do but hope Angelo can deal with Jobe.
    Instead: Peter runs into the building and immediately gets lost. It's only the fact that Jobe has a Pet the Dog moment that prevents Peter from being blown to shreds with the rest of the building.
• In The Last Airbender:
  • Sokka (who has supposedly spent his entire life on ice) sees a shape in the water underneath the ice.
    You'd Expect: Sokka to realize that if the ice is so thin that he can see the water it is too dangerous to even consider breaking it on his own, and to return to the village for help or at least to try to break after he's moved off that ice. At the very least you would expect him to realize that it's dangerous to have Katara on the same patch of ice and to send her a safe distance away.
    Instead: He decides to break the ice (which is so thin that he can see the water) near his own feet and for some reason is surprised when he and his sister (who had no reason to be there) nearly fall into the freezing water.
  • Later on, the Northern Water Tribe learns that the Fire Nation is about to launch a massive attack. Note that all but the most powerful firebenders are helpless if there is no nearby fire to bend. Logically, the order is given to douse every fire in the city that they can.
    You'd Expect: The order to be carried out quickly and with minimal fuss.
    Instead: When the Fire Nation attacks we can clearly see that there are at least dozens of torches clearly lit with no apparent need for them to be lit. Worse, no apparent effort is ever made to put them or any of the Fire Nation's flaming boulders out! You'd think people able to control water would be good at putting out fires.
  • Heck this applies to countering Firebenders in general considering that they require a living source of fire such as a torch to Firebend.
    You'd Expect: That they simply not put any torches whatsoever and if they bring out a torch to Firebend? Just put them out with any bending with any means necessary.
    Instead: They have torches all over the place for no reason other than decoration where the Firebenders can easily exploit. No wonder they ended up losing against them. It's because they are completely oblivious to the fact that their torches are used against them.
  • What really takes the cake is the scene with the Fire Nation prison camp holding the Earthbenders.
    You'd Expect: The Fire Nation to lock their captured earthbenders - people who can freely manipulate earth - up somewhere with little earth nearby. Such as, say, a metal ship in the middle of the ocean (which is what they did in the original show).
    Instead: The earthbenders are imprisoned in some sort of natural valley that's entirely made up of earth. The only reason the place works as a prison is due to the Earthbenders having their own idiot moment.
    You'd Expect: The earthbenders to escape as soon as they were "imprisoned". It would've required minimal effort.
    Instead: The earthbenders stay imprisoned for months (maybe longer, it's never made clear) until the Mighty Whitey heroes come along and give them the most generic and lazy motivational speech in the world.
• Law Abiding Citizen
  • When Darby and Ames were on trial, the evidence against Darby was rendered inadmissible due to unexplained reasons, therefore Nick has to cut a deal to get a conviction.
  You'd Expect: He'd cut a deal with Ames against Darby. Ames is clearly the lesser of two evils, and was outright disgusted by Darby's actions. He'd be more than happy to testify against Darby, and Shelton might still be satisfied as long as Darby goes to death row.
  Instead: He cuts a deal with Darby of all people, so that Ames would go to death row instead.
  The Result: The plot of the movie.
• Legally Blonde
  • Elle Woods, a sorority leader and college senior, is seriously in love with her boyfriend Warner. Warner, as we learn, is an ambitious Jerkass who believes he has to marry someone "serious" to become a senator and follow in his family's footsteps. Elle really wants to marry Warner because it's expected of her.
    You'd Expect: Warner wouldn't have dated Elle in the first place if he believed such a thing or led her on to believe their relationship was serious.
    Instead: He keeps "dicking around" with Elle as he tactlessly puts it to her.
    You'd Then Expect: If he were going to break up with her, he'd do it in a private place where she can cry and they can have a serious talk.
    Instead: He invites her out to dinner at a nice restaurant, breaks up with her, and explains he was looking for an ambitious Gold Digger with a status symbol, not merely a pretty one.
    The Result: Elle is horrified because she reasonable thought that a nice dinner out meant that he was going to pop the question. Then she calls him out, asking Was It All a Lie? about how he just thought she was someone to "dick around" with, and storms out of the restaurant in tears. Warner can't explain the scene away to the watching crowd, has to hastily pay the bill and catch Elle before she walks all the way back to her dorm in heels.
• In Leprechaun 2, Morty traps Leprechaun in an iron-built safe and demands three wishes. Leprechaun relents, and Morty first wishes for gold. Though he doesn't specifically wishes for cash in his hand or just any gold, he wants specifically the Leprechaun's pot of gold. Leprechaun twists those words into making his pot of gold materialize inside Morty's intestines with the first wish. Morty starts begging for the gold to be extracted immediately out of extreme pain and discomfort. Leprechaun refuses to grant the next wish until he's let out.
  You'd Expect: Morty to simply open the safe to release the Leprechaun and use the next wishes to extract the gold and restore his health.
  Instead: Morty uses his second wish to wish Leprechaun out of the safe (then having to do it manually anyways) and uses up his last wish to extract the gold out of his belly, which Leprechaun does by violently ripping it out with his fingernails. With no more wishes left, Leprechaun leaves him to perish.
• In the 2012 film adaptation of Les Miserables, Fantine has received a letter from the innkeepers taking care of her daughter born out of wedlock, requesting money to pay for her care. This is during a time when people who had illegitimate children were not looked upon well by the rest of society.
  You'd Expect: Fantine to keep the letter hidden and out of sight, or even just destroy it once she knows what it says.
  Instead: She takes it with her to work, and doesn't make any attempt to keep it hidden when her shift's over. As a result, the letter is discovered but it only says her child is being cared for by another woman. Fantine's boss confronts her about it.
  You'd Expect: She'd claim her husband died and she's a widow, to appeal to his sympathy, rather than tell him the truth that her husband ran out and thus have to fight against his prejudices.
  Instead: She tells him her husband left her and begs to keep her job. Her boss think she's a liar and a whore, and thus fires her. It only goes downhill from there.
• In Liar Liar, Fletcher Reede finds that he's subject to a curse which compels him to tell the truth for a whole day — a big problem considering he's representing Samantha Cole, a woman very obviously guilty of adultery, in a divorce case. He asks for a continuance, but the judge refuses to delay the case without good cause. Then, the attorney for Samantha's husband Richard reveals that he's offered her 10% of his estate to settle out of court, rather than the 50% that she wants.
  You'd Expect: Fletcher to make another request for a continuance, pointing out that Samantha never told him about the settlement that had been on offer, and that it would be premature for the case to go to trial without proper negotiations. Even if he only uses it as a delaying tactic to let the curse wear off, it wouldn't be an untruthful or unreasonable request — at worst, Samantha might over-rule him and insist on going ahead with the case, but he'd have nothing to lose by trying it.
  Instead: He tries to unilaterally accept the settlement, and is immediately smacked down by both Samantha and the judge, forcing him to go into the trial.
• Life (2017):
  • So, the alien named Calvin escapes the confinement after severely wounding one of the astronauts and is now loose. One of the crewmembers, Rory, attempts to hunt him down with a blowtorch.
    You'd Expect: That, knowing that Calvin has shown resistance, Rory would make sure to ensure his own safety in case the creature attacks him.
    Instead: He doesn't bother putting any protection gear on.
    Result: Calvin eventually outwits and kills him through Orifice Invasion.
    You'd Then Expect: The rest of the scientists to jettison Rory into space or torch his body posthaste while the alien is still inside of him.
    Instead: They just act like dumb, scared children and don't do it. Calvin not just escapes, but also becomes MUCH bigger and more dangerous.
  • By the end of the film, Calvin has killed all the remaining crew members with only David Jordan and Miranda North remaining. They plan to leave the station with the escape pods.
    You'd Expect: David and Miranda to leave Calvin on the station as it enters reentry (so that he gets completley burned to the point that there is nothing left of him), and just take the 2 remaining pods without luring him. After all, the incinerator Rory used against him earlier (which was obviously harmful enough to make Calvin retreat form it) is nothing compared to the heat, friction, and other effects Calvin would encounter during reentry, or the fact that he would inevitably impact the surface at terminal velocity (Comparing the two is like comparing a BB-gun to a howitzer.).
    Instead(!!!): David lures Calvin to one of the escape pods in an effort to take him into deep space while Miranda escapes to the surface of Earth in the other pod. Unfortunately, it goes wrong and the pods collide with debris during the reentry.
    End Result: Miranda's pod (which doesn't have Calvin) ends up sent careening into the blackness of space with its navigation systems broken, sending her to spend the rest of her life in space, while David's pod (with Calvin) lands somewhere in the ocean in Asia, and despite David being covered in Calvin gunk, and his screaming protests to not wanting his pod opened by two Asian fishermen who don't know or understand English or the word "No", they open the pod, leaving Calvin free to possibly cause The End of the World as We Know It. The end.
  • The fishermen themselves get some of this.
    You'd Expect: Them seeing a man who just came from space, is covered in some kind of nondescript gunk and screaming no at the top of his lungs, would persuade them to stay very far away from the pod.
    Instead: They seem to actually hasten their efforts to open the pod.
    End Result: We don't know! But now Calvin is free to attack the Earth, possibly with spawn depending on whatever the hell it was doing with Calvin's body.
• In the 1994 film adaptation of The Little Rascals, Alfalfa and Spanky disguise themselves as ballerinas whilst running from Butch and Woim. Unfortunately, before they can make a clean getaway, the ballet instructor, named Miss Roberts, shows up to collect her students for a recital.
  • You'd Expect: Miss Roberts to do a quick head count to make sure all her students are present, which would allow her to take notice of Alfalfa and Spanky.
  • Instead: She herds them all out, the two boys included, without double-checking. The recital begins, forcing Alfalfa and Spanky to try and work their way through it despite their lack of skill. To make matters worse, the two boys try to dispose of a frog they were hiding.
  • You'd Then Expect: Miss Roberts to finally notice two kids she doesn't recognize on stage, quickly halt the recital and deal with them somehow. If so, then she could redo the recital afterward without further trouble.
  • Instead: She sees the two "students"' not dancing in sync but doesn't stop the recital and instead urges them to continue on anyway. As a result, it is ruined and the audience ends up laughing, humiliating her in the process.
  • You'd Then Expect: Miss Roberts to question the two "students" for their poor dancing, giving them an opportunity to explain their situation. After all, she was seen physically shooing their bullies out earlier, so she should be able to connect the dots, let them off with a warning and allow them to escort themselves from the premises... right?
  • Instead: Infuriated, Miss Roberts starts to admonish them for their interference but upon seeing Alfalfa in underwear trying to change out of the disguise, she quite rudely kicks them out and demands they not return.
  • Later, Waldo and Darla compete against Alfalfa and Spanky and Butch and Woim in a go-cart race. Waldo throws Alfalfa and Spanky off track, but they catch up.
  • You'd Expect: Waldo to not do or say anything that would make Darla turn against him and realize that Cheaters Never Prosper.
  • Instead: He cheats by using spikes to slow down Alfalfa and Spanky. Darla then calls him out that he could have killed them.
  • You'd Expect: Waldo to be more careful about the moves he makes to win the race and not do anything else that would make Darla call him out.
  • Instead: He tells Darla to forget about the "soap-sucking nincompoop". This makes Darla realize he sabotaged Alfalfa's performance at the talent show by putting bubbles in his water.
  • As a Result: Darla sees how much of a jerk Waldo truly is, breaks up with him, and kicks him out of his go-cart.
• Little Shop of Horrors
  • On Skid Row, Seymour Krelborne finds a "strange and interesting plant" that brings customers to the flower shop where he and his crush work. It keeps growing and wilting, which makes him fret. He finds out by accident that the plant, that he names Audrey II, wants to drink his blood.
    You'd Expect: That Seymour wouldn't give his blood to the plant the minute it tries to bite him. In the musical he seems to think it's a one-time deal, but in the movie not so much. You'd also expect that he would experiment with other types of blood and meat, so that he doesn't have to cut his fingers every time little Audrey II gets hungry.
    Instead: Seymour doesn't. He keeps feeding Audrey II his own blood, without attempting substitutes while the little flytrap grows. When the plant starts talking, "Twoey" insists that he needs fresh blood, from humans and persuades Seymour to murder the dentist Orin Scrivello. Things get From Bad to Worse from there.
  • This only applies to the Director's Cut of the film. Towards the end, Twoey is getting too big for Seymour to feed. Seymour, wracked with guilt about allowing Twoey to murder his boss and father figure Mushnik, decides he needs to run away with his Audrey and let the plant starve. Twoey gets wise of this plan and lures Audrey to the shop, to swallow her and drink her blood. Seymour gets her out of Twoey's mouth but finds that Audrey has lost a lot of blood and she is dying. Audrey as a last request tells Seymour to feed her to the plant so that he can have all the promised riches and fame.
    You'd Expect: That Seymour wouldn't. Towey just tried to kill the woman he loves! Why give the plant that final satisfaction?
    Instead: Seymour feeds Audrey to Twoey and prepares to kill himself in turn. Then when he decides to stop the plant on realizing that Twoey's plan is to spread across America, the plant reveals it can break out of its pot, move around, and succeeds in murdering Seymour. Towey gloats that by Seymour feeding him Audrey, he has the lash push of strength. Then Twoey's descendants spread across the States and cause a plant apocalypse. Nice going, Seymour.
• In Looper, the Loopers have their contracts closed by being sent back in time to be killed by themselves. But, as one might expect, this doesn't always go as planned. Not wanting to die, the old version bolts, and the young version is then hunted to be tortured so as to affect the older version and bring them back to die.
  You'd expect: The older version to make every effort to get their past selves on board with the idea. After all, the fate they suffer is far and away worse than what their older self will face.
  Instead: The older self inevitably ditches the young one, expecting them to take care of themselves. The first time this happens, the young one is caught and mutilated until the older one surrenders. The second time, with the protagonist Joe, he's dead set on closing the contract. To his credit, at least Old!Joe tried to talk down his younger self after his younger self was nearly caught.
• In the Lost in Space movie, the hotshot pilot feels the best course of action was to activate the self-destruct mechanism in order to destroy the alien-infested ship.
  You'd expect: He'd get clear of the blast radius first.
  Instead he sets off the destruction of the ship while they're right next to it, and rather than fly up and away from the exploding ship, he travels along it. This cripples the ship and leaves them stranded on a planet. Nice job Joey. To add insult to injury, he self-righteously justifies it to the father despite the screw up being his fault.

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