MovieChat Forums > F9 (2021) Discussion > Major Plot Hole

Major Plot Hole

posted 4 years ago by FootOfDavros (8702)
21 replies | jump to latest

The biggest plot hole is at the beginning.

The gang shows up at Dom and Letty's remote off-grid location explaining they would have called ahead but no signal.

Letty then shoots off the next day to join the caper. However, just as they're getting on the plane, who's this? It's Dom, he's joining them after all...

However - who's looking after Brian Jnr?!

Dom's got no phone signal to ask anyone to help out. He's made it to the plane in time, so he couldn't have hung about waiting for a babysitter he couldn't call anyway / driven him elsewhere. Brian Jnr is literally family so he surely couldn't have left him home alone! What gives?

Plot hole.

[–] millsey72 (10939) 3 years ago

There are no plot holes in this series. Dom dropped off his kid with Brian

[–] FootOfDavros (8702) 3 years ago

It's definitely a plot hole.

As per the OP you need to consider the context. He follows straight after Letty. There is no phone signal where they live. He has left Brian Jnr alone before he could even talk to Brian to ask him to babysit.

Dom is all about family. He'd never leave the kids alone. QED it's a plot hole...

[–] millsey72 (10939) 3 years ago

I'm still not convinced its a plot hole. Lets not overuse the term plot hole

[–] FootOfDavros (8702) 3 years ago

Well, I've got to agree on that, i.e. plot hole is over played sometimes.

But come on - this is Fast & Furious, it's literally ALL about family. And yet there is no logical explanation of how Brian Jnr could not have been left alone and Dom could have caught up with Letty on time.

As far as I'm concerned this is the very definition of what a plot hole is. Although to be fair I don't have the literal definition of a plot hole - if someone had that it could probably help.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

A plot hole is a contradiction in a story's logic. For example, if Dom showed up at the airport and explained that he called Brian on his cell to come and pick up Brian Jnr, THAT would be the plot hole since it contradicts what was clearly stated earlier in the movie about cell service.

As it is, it's just sloppy writing, an implausiblity. For example, the writers could claim that Dom had a satellite phone, but they simply forgot to include an explanation of that in the movie.

Missing or incomplete information, unlikely situations, etc are not plot holes. Events contradicting earlier events or information is.

Where it can get fussy is time travel movies. EVERY time travel movie has problems with logic and contradictions. It's the nature of the genre. Usually the plot holes are overlooked in the interest of enjoying a good story.

[–] FootOfDavros (8702) 3 years ago

Thanks for this. In order to try and get some further information I just googled "What is a plot hole" and it said this:-

"In fiction, a plot hole, plothole or plot error is a gap or inconsistency in a storyline that goes against the flow of logic established by the story's plot."

Kind of similar to what you said but I think a gap / inconsistency or contradiction is certainly at play here.

I'm not sure if you've seen all the Fast & Furious films (I haven't) but in every single one of them Dom is constantly, and I mean in multiple scenes, bleating on about the importance of family, it's all about family, etc.

Yet in this film he catches up with Letty as the are boarding a plane, which means he must have left Brian Jnr almost instantly.

It's incredibly implausible if you have watched these films to believe Dom would leave the kid alone. But even if he didn't there is clearly a gap in the storyline going against that established flow of logic. I think this is literally the hole of the plot hole.

We have no means of knowing how he got from position A, i.e. with his kid alone in an isolated location miles from anywhere / anyone to being in position B, catching up with Letty on time. This is the hole. In the plot.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Yes, sometimes it can't be a little tricky discerning a true plot hole from an inconsistency/ implausibility.

Superman gets his powers from the Sun's yellow light and one of those powers is the ability to fly. In a movie, he suddenly can't fly. He explains: "Well I lose the ability to fly every Tues."

Is this a plot hole or an inconsistency? It's a bit of both.

Some people use the term plot hole in its strictest sense, but I notice that the term is being used more and more as a catch all to describe sloppy writing, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, etc.

As an example, there is much discussion about how Indy clung to the submarine for the whole ride during Raiders of the Lost Ark. Some people describe this as a plot hole. However, if the submarine didn't dive, he could have clung to the periscope for the duration of the trip. It's UNLIKELY that the submarine didn't dive, but not impossible so, strictly speaking, it's not a plot hole, but an implausibilty.

(Sidebar: In fact, on youtube, there IS a deleted scene that shows Harrison Ford/Indy clinging to the periscope with a pissed off look as it plows through the water. Sometimes, a "plot hole" comes down to a director's decision to drop minor scenes that they don't consider important.)

[–] FootOfDavros (8702) 3 years ago

Some people use the term plot hole in its strictest sense, but I notice that the term is being used more and more to as a catch all to describe sloppy writing, inconsistencies, inaccuracies, etc.

I think getting a good definition may be part of the problem.

For example, the one I gave said "gap or inconsistency" so in that case inconsistencies would be included in 'plot holes" whereas for some more traditional people it may only mean a gap.

Maybe what a plot hole is in itself a plot hole!

[–] millsey72 (10939) 3 years ago

Before anyone posts are here, it should be required by moviechat that they read the definition of a plot hole and acknowledge the check box to further proceed on these boards. This would cut back on people misusing the term

[–] FootOfDavros (8702) 3 years ago

I think some people just don't understand that a gap or inconsistency is also covered by the technical definition of a plot hole, which is fair enough.

The example in this thread is a top class example of just such a plot hole.

[–] millsey72 (10939) 3 years ago

Thanks for the definition. Sometimes I get lazy, and overuse the term plot hole

[–] CommonSense (344) 3 years ago

LMFAO, love it. No plot holes in this series.

But, what the OP is saying actually isn't a plot hole. Its just implausible bad writing.

I had a much tougher time with all the so called action. I was laughing at almost all action scenes. Action scenes, not comical scenes. I didn't really laugh at those. Maybe a very faint chuckle. Guess i used all my laughing during the wrong scenes

[–] FootOfDavros (8702) 2 years ago

Plot hole fixed by the Director's cut!

Just watched this and it includes a couple of extra scenes filling in this plot hole:-

Dom does in fact have a mobile phone (and therefore reception) but they must just be choosing not to use it - We see him spinning through his contacts to get Mia's number. She then turns up at the farm and they have a chat before Dom leaves!

So great news - Brian Jnr was not left alone and the plot hole disappears. Once again everything which happens within the F&F series of films makes perfect logical sense...

[–] millsey72 (10939) 2 years ago

Thanks for this info.

[–] FootOfDavros (8702) 2 years ago

Actually, just re-reading this important thread and now I'm not so sure - As per the OP, the rest of the gang show up claiming they couldn't call ahead due to the lack of signal in the backwater location. Therefore how does Dom pull his mobile out and then get reception to call Mia?

[–] xergan (1084) a month ago

The idea of a burner phone is that no one has your phone number, so even if they get your friends, they can't track you. Furthermore you can put the phone in a metal cage and sim card out to get extra sure. So Dom can have signal, but can't be reachable. Simplified just as "no signal".
I am quite sure the movie has one or another more serious plot hole.

[–] FootOfDavros (8702) a month ago

I don't think you're supposed to put all your contacts on a burner phone...

Plus, I'm pretty sure when the gang all roll up in theatrical cut they're all holding the phones up to reinforce the idea for us, the viewers, that there literally is no signal.

I don't think we see this in the director's cut but could Dom have his own mobile signal tower, which he had hidden and activated prior to making that call to Mia?

That could fix the plot hole again but unless we actually saw that, it would probably still stand...

[–] FootOfDavros (8702) a month ago

Plus, I'm pretty sure when the gang all roll up in theatrical cut they're all holding the phones up to reinforce the idea for us, the viewers, that there literally is no signal.

Actually no! I just went to check this as it's been so long now since I saw this and no, they don't hold up phones, moaning about the lack of signal. They just say they need phones to receive phone calls!

So no secret mobile tower required and the director's cut does indeed remove the plot hole...

[–] xergan (1084) a month ago

Ah good to know, I watched in another language, they were talking clearly about a landline in the dub.

[–] millsey72 (10939) a month ago

I'm surprised. This franchise has been very well written and hard to believe a detail like this went unnoticed

[–] FootOfDavros (8702) a month ago

That's interesting - If they said something like "Brotha you need to get youself a landline because yo shoe as hell aint gettin' no cell signal way out hea..." then the plot hole would be back in the theatrical version in that language. Because the phone Dom pulls out is definitely a mobile (cell) phone.