I love watching movies at the movie theaters. The screens are big, the sound is louder and better, and I get to immerse myself more into the world created by the movie than is usually possible if I watched the same movie on a DVD at home. I also get to experience the reaction of others around me, which tells me how the movie appeals or does not appeal to certain people and their specific personality traits.
It seems, however, that as I watch more movies, the more bored I am with most of them. The surprising element in many movies has gone; majority of the movies depend on loud and sudden terror sounds in order to surprise you, and that is the only part of the movie where you will feel impressed by anything.
Following are 5 reasons many movies are boring. Please note that I decided to choose movies as they came to mind, so I may not have talked about movies that I usually talk about in person.
Beware! Some very basic movie spoilers ahead, and also my Amazon links.
5 Reasons Most Movies Are Not Impressive
- You know what will happen
What is the point of seeing a movie with enthusiasm when you know what will happen through the movie? Movie sequels usually end up being boring because of this exact reason. For example, take Mission Impossible Series. By the time Mission Impossible III came out, one knew that no matter what happens, Tom Cruise, the main character of the movie, will not die in the end.
On the other hand, take The Last King of Scotland. Neither from the trailer, nor from the first 99% of the movie itself do you realize what will happen in the end. You simply do not know who will die, who will live, etc. That is a good movie, even if many people know a bit about the actual story it was based on. - You know what will not happen
Similar to knowing what will happen, you can know what will not happen and thus not be watching a movie with a 100% surprised interest. Typical date movies and many sequels depend on this reason to market themselves: if you saw XXX: State Of The Union, you probably knew all along that the new XXX will not allow the rebels to take over the government. Period. It’s XXX, and there is a franchise to be made with more sequels, thus XXX can never be wrong and XXX can never lose.
In contrast, take the movie “1408.” You have no idea what will not happen as the movie progresses, and at some points almost everyone in the theater thought John Cusack was going to die, and those same people later in the movie started wondering if he will hopefully survive. That is what a movie should do; make you wonder, as the movie goes around, about the exact thing the main character is wondering about in a good, intelligent horror movie: surviving! - The trailer tells you most of the story
I love teaser trailers. They are different than the full trailers that tell you the whole story. Teaser trailers are usually half the length of full trailers. I love teaser trailers as they show some glimpse of an upcoming movie without being specific on the exact storyline. The regular trailers, however, tell you a lot about what will happen. Take the new Die Hard 4 trailer. The trailer tells you John Mcclane daughter gets kidnapped by internet terrorists, he saves the country and his daughter, and that along the way some kid ends up being with him the way Samuel L. Jackson was with him. You also get an idea that John Mcclane will not die in the end.
In contrast to this, consider the current teaser trailer for “I am Legend.” I wish they could keep that trailer and never release any other trailer for the movie. The trailer has me hooked, and I simply cannot wait for the movie to come out. Would you rather see a trailer which tells you that the last human being on this earth is not alone, like Will Smith in the movie, or would you watch a trailer which tells you the whole storyline, that some events caused Will Smith to be the last human in this world, and that the rest of the human beings have all turned into vampires? I would prefer the teaser trailer, whether it is 1 minute long or 5 minutes, which tells me absolutely nothing about the actual storyline other than hints of what I can expect in the movie. - The storyline is typical
How many date movies do you know which have the lead actors and actresses not getting the person they love? How many action movies do you know in which the action hero will save the day? How many big budget action movies these days only have lead actresses as the main character? Halloween
On the other hand, The Descent is not a typical movie, and has an unusual and one of the best storyline of any horror movie in the last 10 years. Similarly, Cast Away was a good movie where in the end, Tom Hanks does not end up with the love of his life, as she has married someone else. Is it not nice to know that a character could still value life even if, unlike typical movie plot lines, the main character ends up being alone? - Special Effects are more prioritized than the actual reality of the movie
Almost every other action movie today wants to use computerized special effects. Even simple car crash scenes are being digitized, and more and more movies are looking crappier instead of looking cooler. Take the movie “Next“, from this year, 2007, which uses special effects in many places and you can notice them. The scene in the first few minutes of the movie, where Nicolas Cage is running away from the cops and crashing into the train, is something that even a 10 year will look at and probably say “Cartoon!”
On the other hand, take the Mad Max
Another example could be the 4th, 5th and 6th Star Wars episodes, and the first 3. Episodes IV, V and VI were made in the late 70′s and 80′s, while the first three episodes were made in the last 10 years. Episodes 4, 5 and 6 used a lot of effects, and yet, when you saw those movies, you thought “AAAAAH! RUN RUN, GET DOWN!! YEAAAH!!” Why? Because everything in the movie had a realistic look: the flying ships had dents and scratches, creatures had fighting marks and bruises on their faces and bodies, and even buildings showed signs of tear and wear. 
The first, second and third Star Wars Episodes
These reasons are also points you can use to analyze the effectiveness of a movie as a whole and decide whether or not it was a good movie in your opinion.
Consider this: I can guarantee a lot of things in the movies that have not come out yet. Harry Potter and his 2 close friends will not die in the new movie. John Mcclane’s daughter will not die in the new movie, and John will succeed in stopping the internet terrorists.
What is your opinion on this? Can you think of more ways and reasons many movies may not be effective us at all?
I agree with you. Sometimes, it's the technical aspect of the movie that receives greater attention and the substance of the story suffers.
You should watch The Fountain, I have seen it and I'm still not sure what happened.
Casablanca Travel, thanks. True, technical aspect can gain more attention. In your view, should one prefer technical details, the storyline or the "substance", or all of them combined?
Andrew, thanks! I haven't seen The Fountain yet, so I'll have to watch it soon to understand what you went through. Was it entertaining, even if it was not easy to understand?
I would certainly recommend it, I enjoyed it a lot.
Thanks Andrew. I'm going to watch it soon.
Gaahhh! The descent… it scared me for a month. Now I'm over it, cause I have finally come to terms that those things were humans and just evolved and it's okay, it's not scary… but I keep thinking about that ghost thing at the end, OH MY GOSH SCARED THE HELL OUT OF ME. Braithe lost skin over that, I scratched him that hard lol.
Anyway. Yes, most movies are very stereotypical/easy to figure out. In my mind I (unintentionally) categories movies… let my try to unravel my mind and see what kind of categories there are.
Non-fiction movie: (Bwahaha I see what live preview is for now) There are interesting ones, and boring ones. The stuff that's based on something real situations, I think they are generally pretty good though (at least more entertainment than a history book).
Black action movie: It's not as much about the action, it's all the black tough talk thats the entertainment. I can only think of one movie like this – Bad boys 1&2. I must admit I do quite like that movie though lol.
Typical action movie: Doesn't matter what its about, the good guys win, bad guys lose. Or, theres some rebel or organization who has the determination and resources and always wins.
Bad love movies: Well, maybe they're not so bad, I just never watched them. But it's always something along the lines of X likes Y, something happens. X ends up with Y. Some have good twists, like that Adam Sandler + Drew Barrymoore one… um. What's it called? She loses her memory… oh man. I forgot it's name. I hope you know what I'm talking about. But a lot of the movies coming out now seem very eehh….
Fantasy: Its hard to say, but to generalise… as long as the graphics doesn't look super-fake and the plot isn't full whack and even in the fantasy world doesn't make sense… I think their okay. Not my thing, I like real life stuff, but okay.
Oh, I must add this. The Departed… so long and boring x__x I understood what it was about, but it was just so… uninteresting. For a full three hours. A cat and mouse type of movie (I love using this analogy for this movie, I think it's the smartest thing I've ever thought of), with a cat on the mouses side, and a mouse on the cat's side. In the end they all die. Or most of them. Bad ending =
I like the article. Raises a lot of points that I've been saying for years. If the author hasn't already read George R.R. Martin's series A Song of Ice and Fire they should start ASAP. A lot of what you're saying about breaking convention and not knowing what is going to happen next is what makes that series so great.
Jess, this is wonderful!
I sent you a message about this comment too.
The Descent was an amazing movie! Yes, those things were scary. The notion that they were evolved humans is probably something we can not easily figure out, though the movie does hint they have been around for centuries.
Yes, that is what the live-preview is for.
Non-fiction movie, yes, usually it's a drama related to typical things like gender stereotypes or someone falling in love.
Black action movie, well, XXX went from being normal in XXX to being more rap-style "I'm a gangsta type", and same is the case with many "White action movies." Maybe we need to eliminate any kind of color all together by mixing everyone all the time?
Typical action movie, yes, so typical! Being good or some determination always enables you to win. The Departed was not typical because Caprio died, but was typical because Matt died too because he was evil.
Bad love movies, yes, and the guy always gets the girl, whether he is rich, poor, ugly, good looking, etc. The girl is also always good looking! Why can we not have something realistic where the guy and girl do not end up together, but are still happy? For example, Forces of Nature had a little bit untypical twist, with Sandra Bullock and Ben Affleck not ending up together, even though, like a typical movie, the other character Maura ends up with Ben.
Fantasy, so many movies use graphics so weirdly, even normal things like car crashes or tables falling from one floor to another are being computerized. If it looks bad and costs more, why do it? Can you think of some Fantasy movies which have bad graphics or typical things?
The departed was indeed long. I have seen the original Hong Kong "Infernal Affairs", which is what The Departed is based on, and it was much simpler and easier to grasp. I am guessing Martin, the director, wanted to copy and make it a bit more complicated for the American audience. Yes, it got complicated. You should see the original Hong Kong version, if possible, as it is very beautiful and sad [what a way to use those 2 key words together]!
Doug, thanks for coming and for commenting. I really appreciate it.
I have not yet read George R.R. Martin's series, so I am going to check them soon, thank you for recommending those. From what you describe, the series does sound interesting. I just read its Wikipedia entry and was wondering: is the series aimed at children or at no specific age group?
Thanks again.
I had not heard of I Am Legend until I read this, after watching the trailer, I sticking that on my must see list!
I just finished watching DOA (Dead or Alive), but I'm not sure exactly where that fits on your list!
swollenpickles, thanks for the comment. "I Am Legend" does look very promising because of the teaser trailer. I hope it turns out to be good too.
I saw DOA, and it is very, very typical on many levels. Maybe I should review it soon.
Did you like it?
In my view, DOA can fall into points 1, 2, 4 and 5 above. I do not remember its trailer, so I am not sure how it fits into # 3 above. Have you seen its trailer?
it is so true, if there is nothing new then i don't like movie. I always watch movies what offers me something new. Not typical effect. Good post.
Thanks for the comment, Newlife25. So for you, if I understand your comment correctly, any movie should contain something new?
Is there any specific category of movies that you prefer?
I like your article because i usually think the same about most movies… but I know that there are also movies that are worth watching. I usually don't watch movies that are very popular because they usually are made only for the public, no art, no imagination, just movies that will attract audience…:( Some months ago I tried to create a place to share only good movies, i thought that if people will add they're favorite movies in the database of my website i could help people to find other good movies by searching for users that have same tastes.. users that vote for the same movies that you do… and i hope i will succeed with this project because i want to have a place where i can find some good movies that are worth watching:) …… fav-mov(dot)com
I think you should watch The Godfather (Part One) probably it will open your eyes
Agree with you. If you know about it's you will not excite.
i stick to documentary's these days or certain independent movies , some of these still provide a new and refresh look at how movies can be viewed
This seems to be quite a true …….. Because the points wriitten are the important aspects for any movie….
You have a point there with the predictability of all movies. I also hate most horror movies where you know the main character will die right at the end. Every single time!! hate those movies. I can't even be bothered going to movies anymore. I make sure I read the summary and just rent movies online at bigpond.
the more and the more movies you watch the more and more predictable the movies seems to become
I just want to make u clear that movies are meant for entertainment u have to concentrate only on that, if u start thinking on that logic u cont enjoy movies. But i agree with you because i also gone trough some of those movies listed out there let me watch the remaining movies and get back to u.
i am legend the best of the best!
But i have to remind you that many people want it simple. They want a simple story line, a non dying hero and a clichee love story.
And when you buy a DVD/Bluray, you certainly have already seen the movie before. So you already know the story.
In the end, it's all a matter of taste, even if it's a bad one
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I totally agree. I enjoy movies were the bad guy wins at the end. There are a few out there. They should start switching it up. I guess most people are comfortable with the same ol story line and it might be what a lot of people want.
i think above reasons are enough sufficient to decide movie guality
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It definitely seems that Hollywood are struggling for new great ideas. Foreign cinema is miles ahead these days.