they say that ain’t broke don’t fix it
but would it kill Hollywood to mix
things up every now and then are you
talking about welcome to watchmojo.com
and today we’re counting down our picks
for the top 10 overused movie ideas
before we begin we publish new videos
every day so be sure to subscribe for
more great content for this list we’ll
be looking at plot related elements that
we’ve seen again and again on the silver
screen while there are many outstanding
movies with these ideas in them they’ve
overstayed their welcome in some way or
another
also our focus is on elements of the
story so studio decisions like remakes
and reboots will not be considered just
couldn’t happen number 10
gangs mafia organized crime the problem
what identity a good gangster flick is a
guilty pleasure with no equal with
gratuitous violence sex and drug abuse
typically in the mix you can be sure to
have a ball with your run-of-the-mill
mafia movie on top of that the best ones
are incredible of funny how I mean funny
like I’m a clown I am you we are very
thankful for Goodfellas Pulp Fiction and
The Godfather but these icons have been
copied again and again I brought myself
enough cops about is every gangster
movie have to take place in New York do
all of the mob bosses on the planet use
the f-word every four seconds and what’s
with all the eating scene mm-hmm or have
the same characters and plot points and
repackage with varying degrees of
success on countless occasions
I’m sure the officer didn’t stop us by
accident you wouldn’t happen to be
carrying a message now would you
number 9 talking animals fill heroic a
handsome animation is undoubtedly the
perfect medium for a wisecracking animal
with the ability to talk while familiar
some of these animated features are
actually a lot of fun live-action movies
with talking animals however are usually
a recipe for single-digit rating on
Rotten Tomatoes and bafflingly hide box
office earnings
the latter is the unfortunate result of
these movies being highly watchable for
young children why did dr. Dolittle
warrant multiple sequels how on earth
was Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey
convinced to play a talking cat get me
out of here and what is the Squeakquel
anyway these are just a few questions
surrounding this overused movie setup
turn number eight sword and sandal
movies I’m Spartacus I’m Spartacus this
shara largely encompasses biblical Greek
and Roman epic like Spartacus and the 10
commandments making a much-deserved
comeback in 2000 thanks to the
critically and commercially acclaimed
hit gladiator this new generation of
sword and sandal films came with
emotional weight and superb acting to
back up their appealing looks perhaps
studio executives saw this is an easy
cash grab with each year we’ve been
given one or two new installments in the
genre
typically with noticeably diminishing
quality charcoal-broiled today sword and
sandal movies are frequently plagued by
bad acting cringe-worthy accents and
2-dimensional characters no amount of
bronze six packs will salvage this genre
but that doesn’t stop people from trying
number seven
cowboy cops do I feel lucky
well I’m doing it um there seems to be
no shortage of damn good cops that
police chief’s constantly urge to play
by the rules
okay mother more often than not these
cops are forced off the case and instead
they impulsively decide to quit the
screenwriting team behind cowboy cops is
cliched practically to the point of
parody some notable bad boys and cowboy
cop lore include Dirty Harry diehard and
Beverly Hills top government there’s no
denying how cool these guys are that’s
sadly we may very well be out of cool
capital for this overused trope at least
for the time being
your victim bullshit cowboy cop don’t do
it in somebody else’s briefing number
six time travel if you’re going to build
a time machine into a car why not do it
some style for the foreseeable future
time travel is strictly a sci-fi plot
point and not a reality this theme has
been utilized for comedy and back to the
future and Groundhog Day action in the
Terminator and somewhere in between in
Donnie Darko do you know anything about
a time travel the list of time travel
flicks goes on and on and there are a
few commonalities that nearly everyone
would include in particular it seems as
if no movie character can go back in
time without screwing up the present in
some way perhaps this plot device needs
to be put to rest or given a new spin
what’s the story searchin number five
post apocalypse why only me
what company thank you for one reason or
another we as a society love using film
to explore the idea of life after the
apocalypse the stark contrast between
our busy lives and increasingly
ubiquitous technology and the bare-bones
way of life and post-apocalyptic times
is palpable in each of these films and
mankind’s inherent good is questioned
time and time again in a typical
post-apocalyptic movie the dust we shall
return a close cousin of the overused
zombie apocalypse trope this genre
frequently utilizes dreary landscape
grotesque mutations and pillaging bands
of thieves to get its message across
some of the best entries in the genre
include children of men and the Mad Max
franchise but of course they’ve seen
their fair share of copycat we have here
number 4 alien invasion this genre can
be separated into two distinct subgenres
the heady thought-provoking contact
films like a rival which open up
discussion and warrant critical acclaim
and mindless destructive invasion movies
that typically come out at the peak of
blockbuster season and rake in millions
welcome to earth the latter has seen
success notably with the fun-filled
independence day and disappointment as
with the anticlimactic Independence Day
sequel the computer-generated
destruction of cities has been done so
frequently they might as well use stock
footage to save money and plot structure
and character development continued to
be paper-thin in most alien invasion
flicks the only thing this will not do
anything to make it off you I promise
you can hold number three disaster I
really haven’t got caring about this
plane that’s going to crash land an
earthquake that will destroy a city or a
storm felt round the world your typical
disaster film may have a different spin
on it but really it’s the same premise
in a different outfit perfect well a
group of protagonists must survive the
night or get out of a doomed area not
everyone will make it and the best
looking characters will share a
passionate kiss at the end this idea is
so overplayed it’s been spoofed several
times successfully in some and quite
unsuccessfully in others surely there’s
got to be a better way to entertain the
masses right I am serious and don’t call
me Shirley
number two the chosen one was a chosen
one it stands to reason this list will
step on some toes as some of the most
beloved movies have these tropes written
all over them she came back to me
because she thinks you’re the chosen one
the idea of the chosen one is no
exception
Harry Potter Anakin Skywalker and neo
have all had their lives changed
overnight due to some prophecy or twist
of fate that’s destined them to save the
world that being said the argument can
certainly be made that this opens the
door for some lazy screenwriting instead
of well-thought-out cause-and-effect a
protagonist can be thrust into the
action because of fate and nothing else
and don’t even get us started on the
cliched Christ figure imagery that
chosen ones loved to utilize
before we unveil our number one pick
here are some honorable or in this case
dishonorable mentions a prince
shut up number one superheroes I am Iron
Man the modern era of non-stop superhero
movies was kicked off when Robert Downey
jr. showed us how badass Iron Man could
be since then we’ve collectively drooled
over the MCU as breathtaking
blockbusters rock our world year after
year I’m telling the suit up I’m
bringing the party to you we’ve also
held our breath with each DC installment
hoping this will be the one there have
been high points and low points but
ultimately the minds behind superhero
movies seem to have found a formula that
works but it’s a formula nonetheless
Deadpool might have subverted that
formula but the fact is the superhero
genre is living on borrowed time by Lisa
stove one just like eating cake for
breakfast every day superhero flicks
will get old eventually and the magic of
that well-advertised superhero
blockbuster loses a little of its luster
each time around I can’t tell if you’re
joking or not they’re polar serious do
you agree with our picks check out these
other great clips from WatchMojo and
subscribe for new videos every day
but would it kill Hollywood to mix
things up every now and then are you
talking about welcome to watchmojo.com
and today we’re counting down our picks
for the top 10 overused movie ideas
before we begin we publish new videos
every day so be sure to subscribe for
more great content for this list we’ll
be looking at plot related elements that
we’ve seen again and again on the silver
screen while there are many outstanding
movies with these ideas in them they’ve
overstayed their welcome in some way or
another
also our focus is on elements of the
story so studio decisions like remakes
and reboots will not be considered just
couldn’t happen number 10
gangs mafia organized crime the problem
what identity a good gangster flick is a
guilty pleasure with no equal with
gratuitous violence sex and drug abuse
typically in the mix you can be sure to
have a ball with your run-of-the-mill
mafia movie on top of that the best ones
are incredible of funny how I mean funny
like I’m a clown I am you we are very
thankful for Goodfellas Pulp Fiction and
The Godfather but these icons have been
copied again and again I brought myself
enough cops about is every gangster
movie have to take place in New York do
all of the mob bosses on the planet use
the f-word every four seconds and what’s
with all the eating scene mm-hmm or have
the same characters and plot points and
repackage with varying degrees of
success on countless occasions
I’m sure the officer didn’t stop us by
accident you wouldn’t happen to be
carrying a message now would you
number 9 talking animals fill heroic a
handsome animation is undoubtedly the
perfect medium for a wisecracking animal
with the ability to talk while familiar
some of these animated features are
actually a lot of fun live-action movies
with talking animals however are usually
a recipe for single-digit rating on
Rotten Tomatoes and bafflingly hide box
office earnings
the latter is the unfortunate result of
these movies being highly watchable for
young children why did dr. Dolittle
warrant multiple sequels how on earth
was Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey
convinced to play a talking cat get me
out of here and what is the Squeakquel
anyway these are just a few questions
surrounding this overused movie setup
turn number eight sword and sandal
movies I’m Spartacus I’m Spartacus this
shara largely encompasses biblical Greek
and Roman epic like Spartacus and the 10
commandments making a much-deserved
comeback in 2000 thanks to the
critically and commercially acclaimed
hit gladiator this new generation of
sword and sandal films came with
emotional weight and superb acting to
back up their appealing looks perhaps
studio executives saw this is an easy
cash grab with each year we’ve been
given one or two new installments in the
genre
typically with noticeably diminishing
quality charcoal-broiled today sword and
sandal movies are frequently plagued by
bad acting cringe-worthy accents and
2-dimensional characters no amount of
bronze six packs will salvage this genre
but that doesn’t stop people from trying
number seven
cowboy cops do I feel lucky
well I’m doing it um there seems to be
no shortage of damn good cops that
police chief’s constantly urge to play
by the rules
okay mother more often than not these
cops are forced off the case and instead
they impulsively decide to quit the
screenwriting team behind cowboy cops is
cliched practically to the point of
parody some notable bad boys and cowboy
cop lore include Dirty Harry diehard and
Beverly Hills top government there’s no
denying how cool these guys are that’s
sadly we may very well be out of cool
capital for this overused trope at least
for the time being
your victim bullshit cowboy cop don’t do
it in somebody else’s briefing number
six time travel if you’re going to build
a time machine into a car why not do it
some style for the foreseeable future
time travel is strictly a sci-fi plot
point and not a reality this theme has
been utilized for comedy and back to the
future and Groundhog Day action in the
Terminator and somewhere in between in
Donnie Darko do you know anything about
a time travel the list of time travel
flicks goes on and on and there are a
few commonalities that nearly everyone
would include in particular it seems as
if no movie character can go back in
time without screwing up the present in
some way perhaps this plot device needs
to be put to rest or given a new spin
what’s the story searchin number five
post apocalypse why only me
what company thank you for one reason or
another we as a society love using film
to explore the idea of life after the
apocalypse the stark contrast between
our busy lives and increasingly
ubiquitous technology and the bare-bones
way of life and post-apocalyptic times
is palpable in each of these films and
mankind’s inherent good is questioned
time and time again in a typical
post-apocalyptic movie the dust we shall
return a close cousin of the overused
zombie apocalypse trope this genre
frequently utilizes dreary landscape
grotesque mutations and pillaging bands
of thieves to get its message across
some of the best entries in the genre
include children of men and the Mad Max
franchise but of course they’ve seen
their fair share of copycat we have here
number 4 alien invasion this genre can
be separated into two distinct subgenres
the heady thought-provoking contact
films like a rival which open up
discussion and warrant critical acclaim
and mindless destructive invasion movies
that typically come out at the peak of
blockbuster season and rake in millions
welcome to earth the latter has seen
success notably with the fun-filled
independence day and disappointment as
with the anticlimactic Independence Day
sequel the computer-generated
destruction of cities has been done so
frequently they might as well use stock
footage to save money and plot structure
and character development continued to
be paper-thin in most alien invasion
flicks the only thing this will not do
anything to make it off you I promise
you can hold number three disaster I
really haven’t got caring about this
plane that’s going to crash land an
earthquake that will destroy a city or a
storm felt round the world your typical
disaster film may have a different spin
on it but really it’s the same premise
in a different outfit perfect well a
group of protagonists must survive the
night or get out of a doomed area not
everyone will make it and the best
looking characters will share a
passionate kiss at the end this idea is
so overplayed it’s been spoofed several
times successfully in some and quite
unsuccessfully in others surely there’s
got to be a better way to entertain the
masses right I am serious and don’t call
me Shirley
number two the chosen one was a chosen
one it stands to reason this list will
step on some toes as some of the most
beloved movies have these tropes written
all over them she came back to me
because she thinks you’re the chosen one
the idea of the chosen one is no
exception
Harry Potter Anakin Skywalker and neo
have all had their lives changed
overnight due to some prophecy or twist
of fate that’s destined them to save the
world that being said the argument can
certainly be made that this opens the
door for some lazy screenwriting instead
of well-thought-out cause-and-effect a
protagonist can be thrust into the
action because of fate and nothing else
and don’t even get us started on the
cliched Christ figure imagery that
chosen ones loved to utilize
before we unveil our number one pick
here are some honorable or in this case
dishonorable mentions a prince
shut up number one superheroes I am Iron
Man the modern era of non-stop superhero
movies was kicked off when Robert Downey
jr. showed us how badass Iron Man could
be since then we’ve collectively drooled
over the MCU as breathtaking
blockbusters rock our world year after
year I’m telling the suit up I’m
bringing the party to you we’ve also
held our breath with each DC installment
hoping this will be the one there have
been high points and low points but
ultimately the minds behind superhero
movies seem to have found a formula that
works but it’s a formula nonetheless
Deadpool might have subverted that
formula but the fact is the superhero
genre is living on borrowed time by Lisa
stove one just like eating cake for
breakfast every day superhero flicks
will get old eventually and the magic of
that well-advertised superhero
blockbuster loses a little of its luster
each time around I can’t tell if you’re
joking or not they’re polar serious do
you agree with our picks check out these
other great clips from WatchMojo and
subscribe for new videos every day
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