2. Plot Holes And Inconsistencies
Quickening After Earth's downward spiral is a script which pays its holes and inconsistencies no heed. When I wasn't questioning the narrative's shortcomings with "why?" I was begging the question "how?". Beyond the frail logic of M. Night's Earth, other uglies raise their head. Why do the Ranger's trap and then ravel with an Ursa when it's their most feared adversary. Was it for training? If so, that still doesn't make sense considering Cypher was the only Ranger capable of ever besting one. How does it make sense to preserve something that nearly committed genocide for the sake of training? And speaking of Ursa, why didn't anyone of Nova Prime shoot the damn crawlers? Why do they relegate all combat to a shape-shifting blade? Personally, if I fought a fifteen-foot tall enemy skilled in close-quarter combat, I'd prefer something long-range. It's like being given a knife to fight a rabies-fueled bear riding atop a ravenous lion. . . That also spits tar-acid for some reason. The stakes aren't in your favor. During the climax, how was Kitai able to manage a vertical, superhuman jump atop his enemy? I know he had the aid of CG, but in a movie about the strength and determination of the human spirit, I would have hoped for something more grounded in reality, rather than a fight-deciding move that isn't practical whatsoever. During one scene which finds an impassioned Kitai arguing with his father over a waterfall impeding his progress, Kitai reveals that his suit can actually perform a flying squirrel maneuver... Why did they need to argue about "stopping his quest" if he could just float down to the base of the cliff? Outside of the hyperbolic references, why was Moby Dick the book of Nova Primes choice? Of all things to safeguard from Earth in 1000 years, it was Call me, Ishmael? Did authors die out during the move to Nova Prime 1000 years ago? After a slimy slug sinks its invertebrate mouth into our young hero's hand, we quickly learn that he only has seconds to administer two serums which will save him. Transmitting via Kitai's backpack, Cypher informs him to "Take the clear vial first". Okay, that's well and good, but Kitai has now been rendered blind by the slug's chemical assault. How does he know which vial is the clear one? He can feel color--or lack thereof? During a spastic chase scene, Kitai runs from a multitude of ravenous baboons. Despite the fact that the camera he uses to communicate with his father is located on his backpack--facing the red-assed brutes, the POV Cypher witnesses is the path in front of Kitai. . . So, now the camera can not only flip itself around but can see through obstacles? Like a human body? In one of a handful of flashbacks, a young Kitai survives an Ursa attack by, get this, hiding in a small, clear dome. What? Despite oozing fear (which the Ursa literally see and smell), it just leaves him alone? Again, not only is this insanely idiotic, but if clear, plastic domes were enough to outsmart the Ursa, why didn't anyone use it? Especially the militaristic Rangers? These are just a few issues in a film rife with them. I understand some might view this as nitpicky and I would agree. However, they're completely unjustified problems which should have been caught well before the film's release; y'know, like, during preproduction. When crafting a film--or any story--for that matter, every piece is as important as the whole. For someone as grossly overpaid as the filmmakers herein to casually push all of these obvious mistakes out of the way because they didn't care to develop something important beyond a paycheck is just shameful. Even with the assistance of Gary Whitta (I loved The Book of Eli), the script is plagued with events and plot points that simply can't defend themselves and only exist to conveniently usher the film as quickly as it can from one point to the next.