One glaring inconsistency that tripped me up for most of the "climax" of the movie was the amount of time Arthur had in "Level 2" while the van was falling...
The bridge looked to be about 100 feet up when the van started falling. It takes 2.5 seconds to fall 100 feet. So Arthur, who was one "level" down, would have had 2.5x20 seconds to figure out what's going on... come up with a plan... go back to the floor below to retrieve the charges... get back to the floor where the team is... get them wrapped up and moved to the elevator... set the charges... and finally detonate them. That took _way_ longer than 50 seconds.
Sadly, I actually did a little more research after the movie and found my estimate was even a little generous. The bridge the van was falling off was the Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge in LA. Combining the published stats on the bridge with a clip from the movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_4qc-JYZPo#t=17s) makes it look like the van only had ~80 feet to fall...
Your explanation reminds me of an experience I had watching Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure with an old girlfriend's roomate.
About halfway through, he started making these little dismissive groans and mumbling "no way" under his breath. They gained volume as the plot progressed until finally he couldn't take it anymore:
"No way. There's just no way they could fit that many people into a phone booth."
The bridge looked to be about 100 feet up when the van started falling. It takes 2.5 seconds to fall 100 feet. So Arthur, who was one "level" down, would have had 2.5x20 seconds to figure out what's going on... come up with a plan... go back to the floor below to retrieve the charges... get back to the floor where the team is... get them wrapped up and moved to the elevator... set the charges... and finally detonate them. That took _way_ longer than 50 seconds.
Sadly, I actually did a little more research after the movie and found my estimate was even a little generous. The bridge the van was falling off was the Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge in LA. Combining the published stats on the bridge with a clip from the movie (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_4qc-JYZPo#t=17s) makes it look like the van only had ~80 feet to fall...