With Barbarian now crossing $20 million at the box office (via Forbes), the horror flick has exceeded the audience’s expectation with the thrill factor, showing how an Airbnb reservation took a deep and scary turn in survival. Despite its brilliant concept, there were frustrating moments where the characters made questionable decisions that led to their encounter with the underground behemoth.
Unfortunately, the scenarios in Barbarian are not unusual, as many films tend to have characters making horrible choices, leaving audiences shouting at the screen for them to turn and run. Reddit users have recently shared some of their favorite examples of movies where the characters make consistently bad decisions – with many Redditors even claiming that these films would have been over much quicker if they’d made smarter choices.
Jurassic Park (1993)
In the years since the release of Spielberg’s family classic Jurassic Park, many fans of the movie have begun to question why the park didn’t have stricter security measures in place, considering how many dinosaurs it was housing. The film attributes the disaster to a power outage, but the park really should have been installed with more backup security.
“Have barriers too stronger for the dinosaurs to easily rip through, and then you don’t have to worry about escapes because of a power outage,” writes Redditor jc-ice. Once people consider the story from this perspective, it’s difficult not to hold Hammond’s decision-making accountable for the park’s destruction.
Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)
Despite being one of the biggest box office hits of 2021, No Way Home could undeniably have resolved its central issues much sooner if Peter Parker hadn’t tampered with Strange’s world-altering spell in the film’s first act. Even after several warnings, Parker continued to recklessly interfere with forces that he didn’t understand.
Reddit user antman269 also believes that Strange is partly at fault, claiming that “If Doctor Strange had taken a moment to explain to Peter how the spell had worked, they could have written down a list of who should still remember he is Spider-Man,” which would have prevented any of the multiversal villains from ever arriving.
The Mummy (1999)
The Mummy might be widely regarded as one of the greatest adventure movies of the ’90s, but the film has a fundamental problem when it comes to the protagonists’ decision-making. As Reddit user chancevance notes, the film’s story “wouldn’t have happened if Evie just didn’t read from the damn book.”
Of course, the film would have been a much less interesting one if Evie had done as she was told. Plus, any character would have been curious to uncover the ancient mysteries of a historically-rich Egyptian civilization and lore. But there’s no denying that a more intelligent character could have easily prevented the mummy from even awakening in the first place.
Star Wars: A New Hope (1977)
Many people consider the original Star Wars to be one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, but Reddit user callmemacready suggests that the entire movie would have been over much quicker if the Empire had thought a little more carefully in the film’s first scene.
The entire plot to destroy the Death Star would have been immediately squandered “if the Empire had just shot the escape pod instead of scanning for life forms” at the beginning of the film. The pod might have appeared empty, but they definitely had the resources to destroy it anyway and reduce the power of the Rebel Alliance.
The Lord Of The Rings (2001-2003)
The ‘eagle problem’ has become a hot topic of debate among Lord of the Rings fans, with many claiming that the entire journey to Mount Doom could have been prevented if Gandalf had simply “used the eagles to fly Frodo straight to Mount Doom in the first place.”
Reddit user simmion1976 suggests this, though they’re certainly not the first to do so. Most rejectors of this theory argue that the eagles would have alerted Sauron to their presence, but there must have been an easier way to get there than by foot.
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
The moment that Star Lord punches Thanos out of his unconsciousness on Titan was undoubtedly one of the worst decisions in the entire MCU – to the extent that many fans even blame Quill for Thanos’ eventual victory. If he’d been able to control his emotions for a few more seconds, the Avengers could have prevented the snap from ever happening.
Redditor apokal669624 argues that if Star Lord hadn’t been so irresponsible, it would have been easy for his friends to “steal the gauntlet from Thanos” and take it back to Earth to be destroyed. It might have made for a less exciting conclusion, but the number of lives saved would have been countless.
Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire (2005)
People often question how a talented dark wizard such as Voldemort was unable to kill a teenage boy on several occasions, and this complaint is at its most unforgivable in The Goblet of Fire. Voldemort could have killed Harry at any point throughout the year if he hadn’t waited until the most theatrical moment possible.
“If Voldemort or any of his stooges thought logically they wouldn’t have come up with such a convoluted plan,” argues Reddit user scrawling-chaos. It’s certainly unlike Voldemort to show any kind of restraint, and he even had one of his closest followers undercover in Hogwarts. Yet, they never finished the job.
Home Alone (1990)
Despite being a comedy of errors, there are several moments in Home Alone where a little common sense could have easily saved the day. Not only does Kevin’s family neglect to check that they have all their children with them, but Kevin himself opts for the most complicated plan possible to protect himself from the burglars.
Reddit user redjo52 offers a much more straightforward solution to the film’s plot: “Kevin calls the police.” Not once does Kevin think to reach out to the cops or child welfare to tell them that his family has abandoned him, but still, it’s impossible to hate Home Alone for its fresh humor and innate nostalgia.
Back To The Future (1985)
Even the biggest fans of Back to the Future have to admit that Marty’s entire journey could easily have been prevented if he’d stayed below 88mph when first using the DeLorean. He might not have known that the time circuits were activated, but it still seems way too risky to intentionally surpass 88mph.
Even Reddit user gatofleisch, who “loves Back to the Future with all the love one can have for a movie,” has to admit that Marty’s actions in this scene are completely unexplainable. The entire film could have been prevented if he just listened to his old friend’s speed warning. However, it is important to cut him some slack since he was under immense stress and under attack, which likely affected his judgment.
No Country For Old Men (2007)
The Coen brothers’ iconic neo-western No Country For Old Men is basically one bad decision after another, fueled by greed and selfishness throughout. The film’s protagonist Llewelyn could have prevented his imminent death at any point by giving up the money that he stole.
“Llewelyn shouldn’t have gone back to bring that man water who was probably already dead,” claims Redditor unodosetrays. They refer to a scene at the beginning of the movie where Llewelyn spends a little too much time exploring a recent crime scene. But, indeed, given that the protagonist managed to escape hitmen once, he knew he should have been cautious about his whereabouts and would still be alive.
