Cloning really isn't that hard. It is just politically incorrect. Some of the black genetic engineering is weapons based as is much of the technology is weapons based. The common flu has been "rumored" to have been modified years ago and probably is still being fine tuned. It is an easy, fast growing virus to work with. The only qualities that need to be weaponized are the infection rate (high) and the inflammation response (high). You then develop a vaccine for "your" side and spread it to the other. You have a low cost method of killing ninety percent of the enemy... and hope it doesn't mutate.

Oddly, the same science that allows us to measure the seismic disturbances of the sun were used by the military in secret for a long time. Doppler laser measurements of the sun are the same as the Doppler laser measurements of a pane of glass that gave spies the ability to listen to conversations in buildings from far away with no electronic gear present. The movies showed spies planting bugs and attaching mikes to phones while in reality, some guy sat in a van a block away and pointed a laser at a window and heard every word.

Dramatic effect, or the filmmakers just don't know.

Could be. But maybe they just don't want criminals to know how easy it is to trace their phone call and their advisors, advised them not to let the public know. Since it added to the drama, they complied.

Could be, but I wouldn't go that far with it. After all, shows like CSI exaggerate how easily a criminal can be caught, so why would movies tell them the opposite?