I'm no native English speaker, I've never understood the fun part of "even followed the directions". Does it means he had a user guide explaining how to set up a bomb somewhere ?
It's probably a cultural thing. In America, the stereotypical "hotshot pilot" or "awesome spy" will never need to read the instructions. (Witness James Bond when he tosses the instruction manual in front of the car with automatic turrets, and the car shreds it.) Sometimes movies will play with this trope, and will show the device malfunctioning or backfiring the first time it's used, requiring the hero to read the instructions before it will work.
In Snipes's case, this trope was played with still further. The devices malfunctioned
even though he followed the instructions.
