Trailers are one of the most important parts of a films marketing strategy but boy, can studios get it wrong sometimes. Its an art in itself: not only must a trailer reveal enough of the plot to get people interested, theres also the challenge of not giving away too much and effectively ruining the film. Get it right and people will be talking about a film months ahead of its premiere, get it wrong and audiences wont give a film a second look. Weve seen several amazing trailers in 2015 from the blistering, visually brilliant final trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is already so hyped it could probably get arses in cinema seats even without an effective marketing campaign. But weve also seen some pretty dire trailers too. Whether its over-reliance on CGI, a misconceived plot twist reveal or simply a crappy film that even studio marketing couldnt make look good these trailers from hotly anticipated movies to predictable flops and a special mention for the best worst trailer all fell way short of their purpose.
10. Alice Through The Looking Glass
It used to be a universal truth that any film involving both Tim Burton and Johnny Depp has the Midas touch, but judging by the trailers for Alice Through the Looking Glass its looks like their usual winning formula has floundered this time around. Absolutely dripping in CGI, it feels like the punchline to a how many special effects can you fit into a two minute trailer joke as Alan Rickman as the Blue Caterpillar attempts to narrate in between its annoying chiming clocks, tick-tocking and dramatic orchestral screeches. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiEG3Zr_Jxs We know Johnny Depp returns as the bug-eyed Mad Hatter and Helena Bonham Carter is back as the Queen of Hearts and the trailer introduces us to a new villain, Time, played by a heavily accented and moustachioed Sacha Baron Cohen. Sadly, with all the booming sound and CGI fluttering about its really quite hard to keep track of whats going on.
