10 Huge Recent Movie Moments That Fell Totally Flat

8. Cooper Escapes - Trap

Alien Romulus Rook Ian Holm
Universal

M. Night Shyamalan's Trap has a fantastic premise but, like so many of the filmmaker's efforts, the execution could certainly use a ton of work.

The back-half of the movie becomes increasingly, perhaps unbearably convoluted, as serial killer Cooper aka The Butcher (Josh Hartnett) attempts to escape a sting laid for him by the police.

In the climax, Cooper is finally captured by the FBI at his home, but before they load him into their transport, he stops to pick up the fallen bicycle belonging to his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue).

This of course leads to a sequel-baiting final scene where it's revealed that Cooper sneakily took a spoke from the bike's wheel while "adjusting" it, allowing him to open his cuffs and implying his escape once again.

Clearly Shyamalan thought this was an ending that'd leave the audience marvelling at Cooper's unflappable cleverness, but it's simply too ridiculous to accept that a SWAT team would ever let a serial killer stop to fiddle with a bike, let alone fail to notice that he palmed a spoke from it.

It's so insulting to the viewer's intelligence that they'd buy such sloppy storytelling, enough that it almost feels like a parody on Shyamalan's part. Almost.

 
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Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.