12 Pointless Subplots In Otherwise Awesome Movies

11. It Was A Setup - Predator

Predator is without question one of the best and most iconic action flicks of the 1980s, and a classic in Arnold Schwarzenegger's filmography.

However, while the first act is generally a suspenseful slow-burn towards the revelation that Dutch (Schwarzenegger) and his men are being hunted by a terrifying alien lifeform, there's also one totally unnecessary sting in the tail thrown in there for good measure.

Dutch's men are initially heading into the South American jungle to rescue a missing cabinet minister presumably kidnapped by local rebels, but Dutch soon learns that his men are in fact the second team sent into the jungle, the first having been grotesquely skinned alive by the predator while attempting to rescue the minister and destroy any sensitive evidence.

Indeed, Dutch and his team have been set up, thrown into the "meat grinder" as pawns to clean up the mess. However, considering the import this revelation is dealt during the movie, it feels like it's going to have some greater, more meaningful payoff later on.

The film could easily have been a simple rescue mission gone wrong with some of the rebels instead strung up and skinned alive, and while the setup angle isn't exactly a deal-breaker, it always feels like it belongs in a totally different movie and adds virtually nothing to the hunter vs. hunted premise.

After this, though, things truly kick into gear, and the remainder of Predator is absolute gold.