Question: How did Palpatine come back? Cloned? Or somehow survived the Death Star explosion, which seems unlikely.
Answer: It is not said exactly how he came back. He says that he had died before which presumably is him dying in ROTJ. The most we get is the reference to Sith ability that some consider unnatural.
It is not said how he came back, but I get the idea that he was using the Force to keep himself alive. At least that's the message I was getting when I saw that Palpatine's fingers were wilted away. And I thought that the power he was using was urging his life to go on, but his physical appearence was being dragged behind.
Answer: The line "The dark side is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural" is a direct reference to Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, in which Palpatine says the same line verbatim to Anakin. Recall that a major plot point to that prequel is that the Sith have long been rumored to have found a method to cheat death. This film strongly suggests that Palpatine had indeed discovered this method. The film doesn't go into specifics. My understanding is the novelization says his body is a clone. Going by his appearance in the film (blank eyes; body manipulated by machine), it suggests to me that he is a reanimated corpse.
Question: What is the actual reason given why the police couldn't find Billy's mom? Just the fact his mom didn't want to find him and left doesn't mean the cops would stop looking. It's hard to imagine a 5 year old isn't able to tell the cops his address, where he goes to school or where he lives in general. Teachers, neighbours, his physician or dentist, classmates, all can tell where the mom is. Next to that isn't his dad in prison and thus easy to find?
Answer: He was a baby when he was abandoned - all he knew about his mother was her name, not her birth date or social security number. He didn't know anything about his father and his mother went back to her maiden name. In case you're wondering not everybody has their DNA taken.
He knew his full name. He's a legitimate son born in wedlock. They would have easily tracked down the father who is an inmate: that is on top of what the original poster mentioned, such as his home address or other minimal information. Lionhead, I believe this belongs in the Plot Holes section rather than simply the Questions section: I am not informed about Pennsylvania's laws for child abandonment, but I think it's rather unlikely that someone could just drop their kid in the middle of a crowd and get away with it entirely, especially when the kid knows his own full name.
I'm not too eager to put it in the plot holes section, because it is plausible I suppose that she disappeared willingly and they couldn't find her specifically. But you address the right point I was trying to make that the cops won't simply stop looking for his mother. It's a crime to abandon your child and they will look up and question a lot of people. And I mean a lot of people to find her. Even if there is literally no family besides mom and dad, the dad will be found since he is in prison. He won't be able to help much but contact will be maintained, even if he doesn't want it.
The thing is, they don't even have to question a lot of people since the kid is not a newborn left on the steps of a church or something: he was able to provide his own full name to the authorities. So it's absolutely straightforward for the police to see who his parents are - although it should be noted that he was born in a different state, I don't think it should be a particularly complicated research for the authorities.
Question: At the end of the movie, Will Smith (the older one) has a present for his son/brother/younger self; his official documents he apparently did not have. Passport, driving license and birth certificate; he congratulates him on his name choice. And he gives those to him as Junior is walking out of the college campus, which he obviously is already frequenting and where he made many friends. I know the US system allows undocumented students, but can you even enroll without the most basic ID? In particular since he is in Georgia, which reportedly is one of the strictest states about it.
Question: Why doesn't JJJ look like himself? True he's being played by JK Simmons but here he's bald without the trademark Jameson hairstyle.
Answer: The general movie-going audience doesn't always know the difference between MCU movies and movies that are based on Marvel properties made by other studios. Jameson's different look might have been done to avoid confusing fans into thinking that this iteration of Spider-Man is somehow connected to the Sam Raimi films.
Question: Some valid reason Mystique dies early? Did Jennifer Lawrence get tired of playing her and wanted out?
Answer: Your guess is correct. Lawrence stated she was done with the franchise after "X-Men: Apocalypse." She jokingly told Simon Kinberg she would return for this film if he directed it, and to her surprise, he was serious about it and held her to it. Fans weren't very keen on her appearances either, because she was definitely phoning it in for the third film, so that may have factored into killing her off early as well.
More than one actress had played Mystique. Just because Jennifer Lawrence did not want to continue playing that role is not a reason the character would be killed off. They could easily recast another notable actress in the part. I would not be surprised if Mystique is miraculously "resurrected" in a future X-Men film with a new actress.
Aside from Deadpool, any new X-Men film would be a complete overhaul of the franchise since the characters will be part of the MCU now. You're not wrong about an actor wanting out to not really be a reason to kill off a character, but it doesn't preclude them from doing so either. They might have decided it wouldn't be worth the hassle of recasting the role with all the negative baggage that would come with it.
Here are some candidates I think could do it: Amanda Seyfried, Shailene Woodley, Chloe Grace Moretz. Heck maybe even Milla Jovovich-Anderson should be given an audition, what say you guys?
Question: How did the monkeys get onto the space ship and why were they so aggressive?
Answer: On the way from the Moon to Mars, the Cepheus interplanetary vessel receives an automated distress signal from a Norwegian bio-medical space station (that studies and conducts experiments on Earth animals in the deep-space environment). Apparently, a couple of very powerful and temperamental adult baboons escaped from their cages and killed everyone aboard the space station, feeding on their bodies. When the Cepheus answers the distress signal and arrives at the space station, the baboons attack and try to eat Captain Tanner and Roy McBride, also.
Question: This is a two part question: firstly if Crazy Carl was onto Sonic why didn't he find any of Sonic's quills when Tom found one without even looking for one? Secondly: what happened to the ring that Sonic threw and bounced of the robot, did he get it back, or will it play a part in getting Robotnick back in the possible sequel?
Question: What happened to Loki? Does this mean he's now alive?
Answer: The Loki who escaped is in a different timeline, so he will not encounter the "main" versions of the characters. This version of Loki will appear in the new series.
Question: Why is Las Vegas left abandoned for five years as shown on the screen by Dr Emma Russell when it was damaged by the MUTO? Why can't everyone just fix the damage to the city so the tourists can go there again or even repopulate it?
Answer: I don't remember if either Godzilla 2014 or Godzilla: King of the Monsters directly said that this was the case, but the MUTOs were feasting on nuclear radiation and warheads, meaning that their presence and deaths in the area would most likely unleash a ton of radiation. Radiation can make entire areas uninhabitable for years.
Question: How was Elijah getting out of his room in the first place? I know he has free roam of the facility after killing the guard and taking his keycard, but I don't recall the movie explaining how he was getting out earlier in the movie?
Answer: He's picking the locks on the doors, bypassing the keycards.
Answer: At one point, Elijah's mother mentions that he caught a glimpse of and instantly memorized a blueprint of the psychiatric hospital when he was first committed, and he used that knowledge to short-out the hospital's electrical system one time (before they started heavily sedating him). It seems likely that Elijah was able to somehow hotwire electronic door locks, using his knowledge of the hospital's electrical system. Later, he used a master keycard taken from the guard.
Answer: Not only that but, it was shown in the first movie that Elijah was very good at manipulating people so he could have convinced somebody to let him out.
Answer: The movie doesn't explain. But given what we know about Elijah from "Unbreakable" and this film, it's really no surprise he managed to find a way out - he's psychotic, but he's also a genius.
Question: When Dani and Grace are in the vehicle that drops out the back of the plane...how then is it possible that the plane is able to nearly come down upon them if it was moving in a forward motion at a great speed in opposite direction? The plane would naturally have gone down miles away from them and not nearly collided with them.
Answer: The simplest answer is, this is a movie, and movies often exaggerate, change, or fabricate details that logically could never occur in real-life. This is a perfect example of a deliberately faked action sequence that is contrived solely to entertain the audience by employing a 'suspension of disbelief.' It's more exciting and suspenseful to be able to see the plane crash, even though, as you point out, it realistically would be miles away by that time.
Chosen answer: According to the novelization, Palpatine sensed Vader's internal conflict and created a clone as a backup in the event that Vader betrayed him. When Vader threw him down the shaft, Palpatine transferred his consciousness into the clone's body.