Plot hooks, lines and stinkers

What happened to sense in modern media production?

Think about it; how many times have you shouted at a TV programme/film/video game because the characters, world or actors do something that just isn't right. It's not sensible or intelligent, or people do something entirely out of character, and it's all just to fit in with some stupid plot.

Or, what's even worse, the writers just don't know what to do in the situation they've written themselves into, or what do with the character because they have developed so much, and so they massively reduce character's charisma, intelligence or powers in order to finish the story. Badly.

(X-men 3 spoiler, if you've not seen it)

Witness Magneto in X3; for that long combat scene where he moves the bridge onto that remote island he pointlessly sacrifices most of his mutant army for no good reason, especially considering that he could have simply bombarded the installation from a height of 100 feet with cars until all of the guards were dead. Hell, he could have dropped the damn bridge onto the building and killed the boy.

(end of X-men 3 spoiler)

There are other many other occasions where this kind of thing happens; physics is constantly abused by action and sci-fi movies, or villains will just die stupidly or suddenly, or when main/important characters just don't turn up until it's cinematic (i.e. a bad point for all of those people he was fighting with, as they will have been beaten badly by this point), for no good reason. The list just goes on.

What's the point of this rant? Well, it's mostly so that, if I ever write something that people think lacks basic sense, they have something to point out to me to make me think twice.

So, future Sean, heed your words!