10 Recent Movies Let Down By Predictable Twists

Who saw that coming? Everyone.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Professor X Charles Xavier Patrick Stewart Illuminati MCU
Disney

Who doesn't enjoy a twist that blows your mind? No matter how good the action, special effects, or performances are in a movie, there is nothing that leaves you with the same impact as an unexpected revelation. After watching The Sixth Sense, The Usual Suspects, Planet of the Apes, or The Empire Strikes Back, you probably laid awake at night for hours, with a single thought on your mind. "How did I not see that coming?"

But there's one problem with twists - they're REALLY hard to pull off. To really catch the viewer by surprise, the twist can't be too predictable or unexpected. It needs to be right in the middle.

But when a movie ends with the curtain being pulled or the killer unmasked, it usually come across as forced, convoluted, or non-sensical.

And yet, "gotcha" moments are on the rise recently, to the point where every modern movie feels like it's designed to subvert expectations rather than being... y'know... entertaining. Even though there have been a lot of dumb twists in recent years, this bunch are the absolute worst.

10. Cole Is Scorpion's Descendant - Mortal Kombat

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Professor X Charles Xavier Patrick Stewart Illuminati MCU
Warner Bros.

The Mortal Kombat reboot could've chosen any of the game's iconic kombatants to serve as the hero. Liu Kang. Johnny Cage. RoboCop.

Instead, the writers cooked up a brand-new character called Cole. Fans of the blood-and-guts beat 'em up immediately found this decision suspicious, believing Cole must have a deeper connection with one of the fighters.

Sadly, the trailer practically confirmed this by revealing way too much. In Mortal Kombat's teaser, we see Cole having visions of his ancestor, Hanzo Hasashi AKA Scorpion. This shot may be brief, but it was enough for entertainment sites to deduce Cole was a descendant of the gold-armoured ninja months before the movie came out!

What's annoying about this twist is it wouldn't have been so obvious if this single shot was removed from the trailer. We understand that the promos need to pump in as much action as possible to sell the movie but, c'mon! Mortal Kombat probably had the coolest trailer of the year! It already looked so awesome, why did the filmmakers have to insert this one moment and ruin the whole surprise?

Contributor

James Egan has been with Whatculture for five years and prominently works on Horror, Film, and Video Games. He's written over 80 books including 1000 Facts about Horror Movies Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about The Greatest Films Ever Made Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts about Video Games Vol. 1-3 1000 Facts About James Bond 1000 Facts About TV Shows