7. Jonathan's Death
I've already said a bit about this, but the scene is so stupid that it really needs to be examined in detail. Jonathan has an argument with Clark, sees a tornado, gets out to help people, tells his son (the guy with the superpowers) not to do anything, goes to rescue the dog, breaks his foot, again tells Clark not to save him (Even though Clark can get him to safety immediately) and lets himself get blown away - all to prove a point about restraint. I could have bought this if Clark is ever discreet about his powers throughout the movie, but in fact he's pretty reckless. He later saves an oil rig, smashes up a truck, and casually reveals his identity to Lois, all with very little regard for restraint. Kind of makes Jonathan's sacrifice a little meaningless doesn't it? And If Supes was willing to take all of those risks in being discovered, then what's the difference here? Oh nothing, except that his FATHER is the one who's about to die. The other people who saw his powers managed to forget about him after he pulled a Bigfoot. He could have done the same thing here. Superman frankly wouldn't let his father die like that. He would zoom right in and save him regardless of what Jonathan wanted. That's just what Superman does. He should have grabbed the dog from the car to begin with. He wouldn't have even had to use most of his powers. He could have walked over to the car, picked up the dog, and walked right back through the tornado. Instead he lets his father get killed. This is a completely nonsensical scene. The writers badly needed to hit home their idea about restraint, so they created a sequence that warps the characters into fitting a specific plot point. If anything, plots should be altered to fits characters, not the other way around.