Not to state the obvious, but a movie trailer's job is to sell said movie. It's a collection of footage edited in such a way that hypes people up to see the complete package. Unfortunately, some trailers are too good at this job.
Oftentimes, the final product doesn't live up to high standards. The movie in question disappoints in one or more areas. Audiences feel lied to as a result. They may even want to go back and watch the trailer again. After all, it gives them more entertainment value while wasting less of their time and money.
8 Inkheart
This is a golden premise with infinite possibility. A man can bring any literary character or object into being just by reading it from a book. The trailer definitely captures that excitement, showcasing countless scenes of fantastical wonder and action. With "Protectors of the Earth" by Two Steps From Hell pumping over all of it, the film seemed like the ultimate extravaganza of literary brilliance. Sadly, this set the standard too high.
Upon release, Inkheart turned out to be a serviceable yet uninspired family adventure. The warm, paternal relationship of the source doesn't get the focus it deserves, pushed to the background by a bland storyline and other derivative elements. Worst of all, it fails to use the numerous literary works at its disposal for anything other than sight gags. This all amounts to a film that fails to stand out from the family fantasy pack.
7 Man Of Steel
Following the grounded take on Batman in Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, Warner Bros. sought to do the same with fellow DC hero, Superman. The trailer seems indicative of that intention in the best way. It presents a cold world given hope by the man in the sky. Howard Shore's beautiful score from The Lord of the Rings plays over poignant lines emphasizing what Superman means to the people of Earth.
Little did fans know that the film itself offered nothing beyond this. Dialogue that generated intrigue and excitement in the trailer amounts to vacant platitudes and clunky speeches in the movie. The script desperately wants to seem smarter than it is, but it's undermined by both the scattershot storytelling and Zack Snyder's annoying penchant for bombastic CGI action with no rhyme or reason. That habit is more uncomfortable in this case since the fight scenes ravage entire cities. At best, it's a film that only understands Superman from a surface level. At worst, it shows a nihilistic hatred for everything the hero stands for.
6 Blade Runner 2049
The original Blade Runnerpractically defined the cyberpunk subgenre, and fans constantly hungered for more from this pioneering neo-noir world. They found their wish granted decades later with Blade Runner 2049, the trailer for which displays a perfect balance of intrigue and spectacle. Gorgeous visuals showcase a more evolved setting, utilizing peak filmmaking craft to make this engrossing neon wonderland more immersive than ever before.
The finished product destroys that interest by being a plodding, pretentious bore. Everything unfolds at a snail's pace. Nobody speaks above a whisper, which puts viewers to sleep long before they hear the clunky existential messages crammed haphazardly into the dialogue.
In the end, Blade Runner 2049 succumbs to the same trap as Denis Villeneuve's other genre films. It's so caught up with its vast world and booming presentation that it forgets to populate that world with interesting people or compellingly convey its thin narrative.
5 Iron Man 2
The first Iron Man movie kickstarted the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and many fans looked forward to seeing that universe expand in a sequel. Therein lies the problem: Iron Man 2 gets too caught up in that expansion. It's a messy comedy with several disparate plotlines unfolding at the same time. Some of these exist solely for worldbuilding, evidenced by throwing Black Widow and Nick Fury in for little reason. These distractions make the movie seem like a product: a placeholder to sell action figures until the other Marvel standalone flicks get off the ground.
Fans would never know it by watching the initial trailer. This promo promises more of Tony Stark's personal journey, moving in a darker direction as he's haunted by his family's warmongering legacy. This approach perfectly positions Ivan Vanko as a more imposing threat than the first film's Obadiah Stane. Not only is Mickey Rourke clearly devoted to the role, but he has "Razor's Edge" by AC/DC backing him up. These aspects paint a more intense and engrossing picture than what audiences got.
4 Tron: Legacy
Another neon world of the '80s saw a long-awaited return with Tron: Legacy and the trailer is great at hyping up that return. A mystery builds inside an ominous virtual space amid pumping beats by Joseph Trapanese and Daft Punk. Familiar sights then come to life with the seamless special effects wizardry of the modern age. It created a comeback oozing with style.
That style is easily the strongest aspect, but the others are somewhat lacking. Unremarkable characters populate a meandering narrative with plot holes the size of an arcade machine. The story poses some complex concepts, but it doesn't have the intelligence to do them justice. As a result, the whole project is half-baked and mediocre. Luckily for fans, the Tron: Uprising TV series has all the movie's style with stronger writing.
3 Suicide Squad
This was one of several DC films announced as part of a cinematic universe. The moody teaser--along with David Ayer at the helm--indicated more of the gritty, foreboding world promised by the higher-ups and established in Man of Steel. That illusion is soon shattered by the "Bohemian Rhapsody" trailer, which brilliantly positions the film as an adrenaline-fueled action comedy with the iconic Queen song. Ultimately, this trailer had an adverse effect on the movie it promoted.
After the dismal reception of the dour Batman v Superman, Warner Bros. hastily commissioned reshoots to make Suicide Squad more in line with its marketing. With the arrival of another upbeat trailer set to Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz," it was clear that the entire project had changed after the fact. The end result was a dull middle ground between dark and light. The sloppy writing, truncated editing, and intrusive songs all reek of studio interference, trying to please everyone while satisfying no one. At least fans got a better, more consistent flick with James Gunn's The Suicide Squad.
2 Baywatch
The hit comedy 21 Jump Street ushered in a trend of modernized action comedies based on '80s and '90s TV shows. It was only a matter of time before Baywatch got this treatment, and the initial promos looked like a blast worthy of the series' cheesy reputation. Dwayne Johnson, a charismatic comedic lead, leads a team of attractive idiots in a self-aware romp. The problem is that all the best bits are in the trailer.
The movie itself is a sophomoric slog. The dirty jokes are too immature for a fourth-grader, and the gross-out gags are cringeworthy as they last an eternity. In short, it's the same type of painfully lazy comedy that audiences have seen time and time again.
1 Avatar
After a string of hits, writer-director James Cameron spent years cooking up a revolutionary sci-fi project, one which only the latest filmmaking technology could portray with any justice. Early footage certainly seemed to match those lofty expectations, taking viewers to a colorful world where humans must commune with an uncanny race of alien warriors. These tribal felines come to life beautifully through immaculate performance capture work which previous generations only dreamed of. The stage was set for Cameron to deliver another tent pole sci-fi film like Aliens or Terminator 2.
Imagine people's disappointment when Avatar amounted to nothing but an over-produced Dances with Wolves, more artificial and with one-tenth the depth. Cartoonish characters and a predictable plot exist solely to convey paper-thin themes about colonization and environmentalism. These tired messages are rendered even more hollow when confronted with CGI which loses its convincing quality once in motion. Such shaky foundations can't even sustain one film, let alone the five entries that Cameron has planned.