10 Most Shamefully Lazy Plot Resolutions In Movie History
10. Superman Gets A Mulligan - Superman (1978)
The question facing all Superman writers since 1938 is how can you give a story believable stakes when your protagonist is a God-like being with near limitless powers? It seems that the team of screenwriters tasked with bringing Superman to the big screen for 1978's Superman failed to find a solution to this conundrum.
In the finale, Superman's arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor plans to create some prime Californian real estate by detonating a nuclear warhead along the San Andreas Fault line. Knowing Supes will take issue his plans for remodelling the west coast, Luthor traps Superman with the aid of Kryptonite before launching the missile. Supes manages to free himself but not before the warhead hits its target and uses his powers to clean up the nuclear fallout and repair the damage caused by the missile strike. While he has his hands full saving a bunch of innocent people, his love interest, Lois Lane, ends up dying.
It seems that even The Man of Steel can't win them all. Or can he? In a move that seems like a particularly lazy attempt to give the feature a happy ending, Superman reverses the rotation of the earth, turning back time, taking a mulligan to save his lady love. Supes' time traveling hijinks raise a bunch of questions that the film never answers like if Superman chose to save Lois did everyone else he saved before end up dying? Instead of answering these questions, the film ends with Superman depositing Luthor in prison and riding off into the sunset. The whole movie is such a grand old time it's hard to let niggling concerns like the half-cooked resolution ruin the fun.