New 'Elysium' trailer gives away too much

Posted Friday, June 14, 2013 at 5:12 PM Central
Last updated Friday, June 21, 2013 at 4:20 PM Central

by John Couture

Usually, I'm a guy who says that there can never be too much. There's never too much whipped cream on a piece of chocolate pie. And there's never too many good times to fit into a weekend.

However, there is a disturbing trend that I'm noticing in trailers these days and that has to do with giving away too much. It seems that the studios have gotten to the point where it's no longer acceptable to simply whet your appetite. No, it's not enough until you're choking on the excess.

Take the latest trailer for Elysium below. It's a beautiful trailer and my immediate take away from it is that I really want to see the movie. This is good. This is exactly how Sony wants me to feel.

Of course, then it dawns on me that I feel like I've already seen the film. I can pretty accurately describe the plot and action up until the last maybe 30 minutes. Given my penchant for happy endings and the studio's general reluctance to kill off Matt Damon, especially when there's sequel potential, I'm pretty sure I can fill in the ending too.

The sad thing is that I didn't need this trailer. I was already sold on Neill Blomkamp's film from the earlier trailer. As his follow-up film to District 9 (not a sequel - but they both would feel at home in the same universe), the audience is already primed.

So, why go ahead and give away too much? I liked not knowing why Matt Damon's character was willing to risk his life to get to Elysium. I wanted to experience these things in the theater as the movie unfolded, much as I'm sure Neill Blomkamp intended. Instead, I'm left with a feeling that I've already seen the film.

And this isn't the first time this has happened. As studios become more desperate to make sure you go out and see their films, this sort of overkill will only expand in the near future.

Elysium hits theaters on August 9, but if you watch the trailer below, you will probably already feel as though you've seen it already.