10 Movie Cliches That Need To Stop
6. Murder Misdirection How many action films have we sat through where it seems like the hero is in dire circumstances, held hostage by the villain. A gunshot is heard as we cut away, with the obvious implication being that the good guy has died by the villain's hand; we're supposed to be shocked and upset, only to realise afterwards that, in fact, the villain has been shot by an intervening character. This is largely a case of filmmakers thinking that they're much more clever than they actually are, because given how over-used and trite this tactic is, a small child could probably see through it. It was used recently at the end of Skyfall with a knife instead of a gun - we won't dabble in spoilers, but those who've seen it will know the scene - and another famous example is in Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil, where it seems that Kaplan is going to shoot himself. We hear a gunshot, but moments later it cuts back and we see that he shot a zombie instead. Oh, you totally fooled us. Not.