13. Perry White Outruns Gravity And The Grim Reaper - Man Of Steel
In Man Of Steel, Superman is not the only super-powered hero - the other comes in the unlikely shape of Perry White, who has so little importance in the overall storyline, other than as a big regal bear sort of figure who appears with all the patriarchal majesty that Laurence Fishburne can muster, that Snyder and Goyer invented some unnecessary drama to justify his inclusion at all. When Zod and Superman's battle destroys Metropolis and the sky begins to rain heavy masonry and twisted metal, Perry and a select group of co-workers who we are insistently told we should care about, despite the over-riding urge not to give even a single tiny hoot, flee towards safety. They do so with a skyscraper hot on their tails, as it falls suspiciously slowly above their heads. After an agonising delay, White starts to run away from the collapse, with all the grace and speed of a tug boat, and far slower than gravity would usually make a multi-ton building fall out of the sky. And yet, thanks to the fundamental laws of Hero Shots, White manages to escape with barely a scratch. The whole scene is set up to manipulate the audience's expectations of White for future appearances in sequels, as well as to justify hiring Laurence Fishburne for such a minor supporting role, but that doesn't hide the fact that the sequence is idiotic and insistent and shouldn't have any place in the film.