It was the beginning of Winter Break when I went excitedly to the theater for the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). It was Theatre Room 3, large and empty for the most part. It was me and one other college student, hypothesizing and warming up for the epic adventure. Soon more arrived and the theatre darkened, and the best part of any cinematic experience began: Movie Trailers.
These are the small snippets of future films that get your excitement going or aggravates you endlessly. I am one who was always excited about movie trailers, and always tried to reach the theatre earlier to make sure I do not miss them. However, it was this fateful day that everything changed. The newest trailer for the film Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) played. There I witnessed the rule that no film trailer should ever break: spoiling the film.
Film trailers are a very delicate piece of advertisement consisting of careful editing and sound work that does one thing: sells the film. It is this reason that producers must be wary of trailers as they can completely destroy a film’s reputation before it even releases. Everything from the song and sound choice to the scenes of the film to the acting must be able to sell the film without totally selling out the plot film.
This leads us back to Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). DC Comic fans have been waiting patiently to see what this new entry into the DC Comics movie universe has to offer. The first theatrical trailer showed promised, demonstrating the overall conflict, without showing too much of the fun or details. The entire conflict of this film is that of Batman and Superman with Batman acting out as an unchecked vigilante and Superman becoming more of a god than just a heroic figure. Their ideals clash as Gotham is mysteriously attacked by someone matching Superman’s powers. Intensity grows as the two will duke it out to see who the superhero that the world needs is. However, it was the theatrical trailer that came out several months ago that has destroyed any tension in the film.
The trailer played out similarly to the first one. But then sequences like Batman being unmasked and young Lex Luthor recovering the body of the previous villain, Zod, that things were derailing. Already too much was being shown, but the climax of this trailer is what really aggravated this young comic book fan. Batman and Superman’s fight is interrupted by a super powered monster and Wonder Woman. In an instant, Batman and Superman settle their differences and fight the new threat. It is devastating to watch a trailer and see not only crucial plot points, but the entire conflict of the film resolved by a mutual enemy and a new ally. This is the worst travesty any film trailer can commit. Showing too much will leave the audience without reason to go and see this film as they already know how it will end.
Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) will be coming out this Friday. I cannot say that I can walk into this film without a heavy heart. I love Batman and his universe and it sad to see that so little care was given to this film. A bad trailer shows more than just bad editing, it shows a lack of love or passion in a film. It shows that the film is trying to make money as fast as possible without any care for a messy product.
A bad trailer can turn on a film so quickly, such as the recent trailer for Ghostbusters (2016), garnering an astounding 464, 251 down votes on YouTube and overall internet hatred. Batman VS Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) might actually end up being a good film, but this trailer gives audiences a reason to root against the success of the film, and that, my dear readers, is the biggest failure of any film trailer.
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