In the past few years the unpredictability and mystery has been taken away from movies because of the amount of information given in the trailer. Movie trailers are supposed to be a preview, or a glimpse, of the movie- not a summary. For example, Batman V Superman visually shows the whole movie by showing Batman saving Superman’s mother, Wonder Woman’s appearance, and the final show down with Abomination. It would have been nice to keep some things unknown seeing as these are the major plot points of the movie.

The most recent example of a movie showing too much is Thor: Ragnarok. When I first watched it I couldn’t help but think how amazing it would have been to see Hulk as a surprise character in this movie. Also, Thor saying “He’s a friend from work!” will not be as funny as since I saw it in the trailer.

Movies showing or telling too much is not a new thing, they have done this throughout time. In the 1973 sci-fi flick Soylent Green, the trailer asks “What is the secret of soylent green?” Not only does the trailer end up showing you what “soylent green” actually is, it breaks down major plot points and shows the entire movie! When I watched the movie for the first time, it was a huge surprise because I never saw the trailer.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi released a trailer recently, and the director Rian Johnson warned fans not to watch it because it shows too much. It does show a lot visually, yet unlike the other trailers it leaves a lot of questions. For example, who is Rey and is she a Skywalker? Or will she join the Dark Side? Does a main character die? How and why did Luke get to the island? There is still so much to be seen.

Rian Johnsons philosophy of not seeing a trailer before you go see a movie is a good one. Only how are you supposed to avoid it when you will most likely see The Last Jedi trailer during the 15 minutes of trailers before the movies you see until then? It would be difficult to not see trailers if you are an avid movie goer.

The reason for movie trailers to show as much as they do could be because people are unfamiliar with the content. As a solution to this, the trailer gives away a lot to help motivate people to go see the movie. The thing that does not make sense about trailers showing too much is why studios like Marvel and DC do. With characters like Thor, Batman, and Superman people are going to see the movie since their characters are already established icons.

The only positive side to seeing too much is that it helps you determine if you want to see a movie or not. There are just some movies that by their trailer you can tell are going to be good or bad. In other words, it helps you save time and money. No matter the pros and cons, producers need to try to find a perfect balance in marketing the movie. As the cliché goes: sometimes less is more.