When Hollywood Lost the Plot: 10 Pointless Movie Subplots That Wasted Everyone’s Time

While some movies are flawlessly written, where the narratives flow in a definitive direction, and the characters have meaningful growth, others flail a little bit. One way you can tell the writing is a little off is when you see a certain portion, a subplot, of the narrative that seems to be wandering, or even seems like an unwanted guest at a party.

Sometimes, such misplaced, misguided subplots are the product of writing inertia. Writing is a temperamental art; you never know when you will be hit with a creative block or when you will start losing interest in your own story. Then a writer may end up writing certain portions just to fill the gaps.

Sometimes, a writer may create a subplot with a creative focus. Such subplots start with a promise. They hint at new angles, emotional stakes, and character perspectives, and they seamlessly merge with the central narrative thread. But while writing, their purpose can simply dissipate.

This list looks at 10 such narrative detours that don’t flourish; they just thaw and disappear. And quite a few of them are from big productions. So, it’s safe to say such unwanted guests can show up at any party, big or small.

10 Unnecessary Movie Subplots

1. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984)

Subplot: The forced romance with Willie Scott

Written by: Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz | Directed by: Steven Spielberg

The movie traces Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), who is accidentally stranded in an Indian village and agrees to retrieve the sacred Shiva Lingam that’s important to the villagers. One of his sidekicks is Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), a nightclub performer. They have no shared goal, and have no emotional foundation to fall in love, yet we keep seeing romantic sparks between them.

This romance adds absolutely nothing to Indy’s character and never even brushes the movie’s main plot. It simply serves as a distraction that is not needed in the first place.

2. The Godfather: Part III (1990)

Subplot: The incestuous love story between the cousins

Written by: Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola | Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola

In this last chapter of The Godfather saga, we see Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), in his twilight years, trying to legitimize his mafia business and train his nephew, Vincent (Andy Garcia), to take over. Somewhere in and around the time when Michael’s business dealings spiral, romance starts brewing between Vincent and Michael’s daughter, Mary (Sofia Coppola). It doesn’t amount to anything. Vincent agrees to break up with her in exchange for being made the new don of the Corleone family, but before that can happen, Mary is killed.

The romance has a little shock value, but then, which incest doesn’t? It doesn’t create any larger story arc, characters don’t evolve, but most importantly, it distracts from Michael’s internal struggle. One could argue that this subplot was one of the outcomes of the infamous nepotism charge against Coppola’s casting.

3. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Subplot: The romance between Phillip, the missionary, and Syrena, the mermaid

Written by: Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio | Directed by: Rob Marshall

At the centre of the movie is Jack Sparrow’s (Johnny Depp) adventure to search for the Fountain of Youth. As this drama unfolds, suddenly Phillip (Sam Claflin) and Syrena (Astrid Bergès-Frisbey) develop an emotional bond. In a movie where the narrative is propelled by quests and betrayals, the emergence of this mismatched arc seems misguided.

But the movie, anyway, treats all its relationships as side stories that have nothing to do with or don’t impact the main story arc at all. This subplot, in particular, adds no emotional weight because the audience has nothing to invest emotionally in these two characters.

4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Subplot: Sam’s job hunt meltdown

Written by: Ehren Kruger | Directed by: Michael Bay

Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) has literally saved the world twice, but he is still struggling to get a job. This foundation is enough to make this subplot irrelevant. The director, for whatever reason, tries to portray Sam as “the man on the street” grappling for purpose. But that just doesn’t sit. The movie has much bigger stakes, and Sam doesn’t need to be trivialised. The subplot comes with its equally pointless comedic meltdowns that achieve nothing except slowing down the movie’s pace.

Even when he lands a job with Bruce Brazos (John Malkovich), it goes nowhere. His job leaves no influence either on his decision-making or on the Autobot-Decepticon arc. It doesn’t cause any character growth in Sam.

5. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Subplot: The conspiracy regarding Peter Parker’s parents

Written by: James Vanderbilt, Alvin Sargent, Steve Kloves | Directed by: Marc Webb

The second wave of the Spider-Man movies came with fresh faces and also tried to add more twists and dimensions to the Spider-Man we already knew. One of those attempts was to create an enigma around Peter Parker’s (Andrew Garfield) parents. The movie introduced the mystery, dropped some clues, hinted at a larger conspiracy tied to Oscorp—and then that’s it. It didn’t really follow through.

The big revelations promised in the beginning never landed. This subplot could have been a good opportunity to add emotional depth to the story, but it was ultimately wasted. It was left looking like a cliffhanger for a spin-off, which was never made.

6. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

Subplot: The love triangle between Tauriel, Kili, and Legolas

Written by: Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Guillermo del Toro | Directed by: Peter Jackson

The story’s main arc follows Bilbo’s (Martin Freeman) adventures with the dwarves to help them reclaim their homeland. The elves are an integral part of Middle-earth, so it’s obvious they will somehow end up on their journey. While the quest continues, we see romance blossoming between Tauriel (Evangeline Lilly) and Kili (Aidan Turner), while Legolas (Orlando Bloom) broods over his unrequited love.

This love triangle seemed troublesome for two reasons: First, it doesn’t exist in Tolkien’s version, but neither does the character of Tauriel, so we can ignore that. Secondly, and more importantly, it has nothing to offer to the movie’s main quest. The arc simply shows up and fizzles out just like that.

7. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014)

Subplot: Haymitch’s secret letters

Written by: Peter Craig, Danny Strong | Directed by: Francis Lawrence

The movie follows Katniss’ (Jennifer Lawrence) journey through the war-torn Panem, where she has become the leader of the resistance—headquartered in a secret, underground District 13—against the totalitarian government. The subplot, in context, shows Haymitch (Woody Harrelson) managing his secret correspondence with all 12 districts. This implies the existence of a parallel communication network that District 13 is not aware of.

The subplot has meat, but it never grows into anything. The letters never impact the resistance, rescue missions, propaganda strategy, or Katniss’ decisions. There is no certain character change for Haymitch. He stays the same.

8. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

Subplot: Lex Luthor’s jar of urine

Written by: Chris Terrio, David S. Goyer | Directed by: Zack Snyder

As the movie title implies, the movie is about the rising conflict between Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill). In Lex Luthor’s (Jesse Eisenberg) subplot, June Finch (Holly Hunter), a U.S. senator, declines his request to import kryptonite. In this conversation, she mockingly references a “bucket of piss.” Lex, as a callback to this conversation, follows through by sending her a jar of his urine, labeled as “Granny’s Peach Tea,” at the congressional hearing, before detonating the entire building.

In this sense, it’s not a “subplot” per se; it’s just a moment in it, but still, it feels unnecessary. It leads nowhere, doesn’t make any larger, deeper commentary on Lex Luthor, nor gives us any insight into his motivations. It’s just a trivial, meaningless story point that adds a bit of weirdness to the narrative.

9. Valerian and the City of the Thousand Planets (2017)

Subplot: The Rihanna shapeshifter interlude

Written by: Luc Besson | Directed by: Luc Besson

Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) try to look for the truth behind a destroyed planet. Midway through their quest, Valerian bumps into Bubble (Rihanna), a shapeshifting performer. They even develop an almost instantaneous emotional connection. And then, before you realize, this arc ends as abruptly as it began.

Bubble’s presence has no real relevance to the main story, the story’s mystery, or to the main romantic arc between Valerian and Laureline. It feels like a brief interval added just for spectacle.

10. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (2018)

Subplot: Dumbledore’s blood pact with Grindelwald

Written by: J. K. Rowling | Directed by: David Yates

The film follows Newt Scamander’s (Eddie Redmayne) involvement with the rising wizarding world chaos. The story reveals the blood pact between Dumbledore (Jude Law) and Grindelwald (Johnny Depp), which is said to be at the root of their complicated relationship. But it goes nowhere and doesn’t ever link with the story’s main conflict.

The pact is mentioned but is never developed enough to actually matter. It feels like a narrative drop that can be used in a sequel or any of the future instalments, but adds nothing to the existing movie.