12 Giant Plot Holes In Successful Films

8. Watchmen - Watch Out! The 'Smartest Man In The World' Has A Dynamite Plan!

Doctor Manhattan... invulnerable, teleporting, nuclear-armed, immortal, qualified doctor, all around blue man with killer eye-liner. That's one hell of a C.V.

It is precisely Ozymandias' plan to unite the USSR and USA against the overarching power of Doctor Manhattan that is inherently flawed in Watchmen.

A common theme throughout comics, sci-fi and fantasy-fiction is the inevitability of global unification in the face of a cosmic threat, subsequently ushering an era of peace and forgiveness in the aftermath. A similar narrative takes place in Watchmen, as the USSR and the US lie upon the brink of nuclear warfare, with Ozymandias seeking to exploit Doctor Manhattan's god-like status to unite the two global superpowers.

However, Ozymandias' logic is flawed. Consider Doctor Manhattan's history of cooperation and loyalty to the US government. He helped the US prevail through successive wars with Russia and Vietnam, whilst producing vast amounts of resources to reinforce the US' status as an economic superpower (this ultimately has the effect of securing President Nixon's hold in office, continuing the aggressive foreign policy towards the Soviets).

Since Doctor Manhattan has no history of going rogue and defying governmental orders, there is no coherent basis as to why the US and USSR would unite behind the need to dispose of him.

Doctor Manhattan posed no overarching threat to the welfare of the US. His threat exists in potential, but there lacks any convincing argument as to why he would betray the Nixon regime, or why the Soviets would suddenly trust the Nixon administration after so many years of antagonism.

So much for the smartest man in the world. As Doc himself says: "The world's smartest man poses no more threat to me than does its smartest termite."