8 Ways Modern Blockbusters Trick You Into Ignoring Plot Holes

5. Gaps Between Prequels/Sequels

In continuing franchises, baffling inconsistencies can arise as we jump from film to film. It has been suggested that X-Men Origins: Wolverine is so rubbish that it isn't considered canon, but that doesn't explain Origins' post-credits scene clearly showing Hugh Jackman's man-beast Logan swigging sake in a Japanese bar, obviously leading into James Mangold's Japan-set The Wolverine. So if we are to assume they're both following the same timeline, it makes zero sense that the adamantium bullet that smashes Logan's mind in Origins doesn't seem to be having the same effect in The Wolverine. In Mangold's film, Logan remembers his World War II experiences clear as day, even though in Origins his memory was wiped pre-the 1970s. In a more extreme example, so much about the Star Wars prequels fails to neatly match up with George Lucas' original trilogy. However, with a gap of 16 years between episode six, Return of the Jedi (1983), and episode one, The Phantom Menace (1999), inconsistencies don't register as well when the collective memory is generally hazy. By the time episode three, Revenge of the Sith, rolled around in 2005, there was added scrutiny, especially as it was the Star Wars prequel to finally link up with the original trilogy. And yet, by being the most entertaining of the prequel trilogy, it nonetheless received the most critical acclaim of any Star Wars prequel, down in no small part to the fact that the film was so exhilaratingly action-packed. Speaking of which...