I’m a spoiler junkie – and I hate it. There are two elements of movie going that I love are Anticipation and Surprise. They both give me a rush - often can fight each other. Movies are about two hours long. Not much in the scale of your whole life. But the Anticipation – knowing it’s coming and anticipating how great it is can really extend the value of a movie in your life. On the other hand not knowing, and being surprised, makes the two hours much more enjoyable when they come. Is it a quantity vs quality issue? Here’s what I’m talking about.
There’s no greater way for a Spoiler Junkie to spend a weekend in July than sitting through back-to-back panels at San Diego Comic-Con. The movie studios roll out new previews, the directors, stars etc for their upcoming films to generate buzz. Being a Spoiler Junkie, last Comic-Con (2007) I made sure to attend panels featuring the directors and cast members of Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk. Jon Favreau spoke of Iron Man with such appreciation and detail that you just knew it was going to be great. And Ed Norton talked about the Hulk, both the comic books and tv series with such respect that you knew it was going to be the Hulk movie we should have gotten the first time. Oh, they didn’t give away story details. They hinted, they glossed, but the spoilers were there – and it was GREAT! That was July 2007 – 9 months before Iron Man and 10 months before the Incredible Hulk hit theaters. Delicious months of anticipation. And they paid off by being great movies – very entertaining and incredibly satisfying to long time Marvel Comics readers like myself. The Anticipation really stretched the whole movie experience beyond those two hours.
On the other hand, when you go in cold, not knowing much, you get a much bigger WOW from surprising quality, twists, and originality. If someone told you the ending of The Sixth Sense you wouldn’t have left the theater with your mind inside out like the rest of us. And it’s difficult to surprise too much when the source material is well known (as in 30 years of Iron Man and Hulk Comic books). That’s why it’s important that those associated with a movie do their best to keep the actual film a secret. If the trailer reveals too much, if the action figures come out a month before the movie and give away a plot point, or if a reviewer can’t help but ooh and ahh over a particularly pivotal scene – you get your surprise spoiled. But they can’t help revealing stuff – it’s their job to hype the movie. That’s why, with only a few weeks to go, I’m keeping away from all reviews of the Dark Knight. No Spoilers Please! It’s enough that I’ve seen the trailers, the Batman -shirt and the Joker bobblehead… I want to wait until the theater lights darken, be transported back to Gotham City and be surprised.
Oh, and if you are a spoiler addict like myself, but can’t make it to Comic-Con, be sure to scour YouTube the week after the con (July 23-27) for unofficial, cel phone recorded videos of panels that will get you psyched for next year’s big movies (Star Trek, Watchmen...)
I’m going to try to resist. Try. (yeah, right)
