Coolest Trailers for Disappointing Movies

The reviews are in, and Transcendence is bad. Like, 12% on RottenTomatoes bad. It's getting the kind of criticism that will make you feel sorry for everyone involved (until you remember that everyone involved is getting a hefty payday out of this big steaming pile of technoscrap). I guess Transcendence's transcendent terribleness shouldn't be a surprise- after all, Johnny Depp is the new Nicolas Cage- but it is kind of disappointing. The trailer was so good!

Don't you hate it when that happens? A really fun trailer comes out, all your Tweet about it/post it on Facebook, you get all excited and make plans to see it opening night... and then the movie sucks. Not that I'm saying anyone got THAT psyched for Transcendence, but man, that's the story of almost every superhero movie of the past decade.

Trailer editors know exactly what they're doing. Remember Cameron Diaz's sweet L.A. pad in The Holiday ? It had remote controlled everything and an adorable old man living next door. You don't get that for cobbling together a piece of mediocre marketing. So it's no surprise that some of the biggest flops in recent memory also happened to have the coolest trailers.

Here are 9 other trailers that were way better than the films they advertised.

Prometheus

A cast and a premise like this should be pretty hard to screw up, but somehow Prometheus turned what should have been a suitable heir to Alien into a confusing mess.

Sucker Punch

The trailer made it look like a live-action anime, which might have been fun, if it weren't also boring and anti-feminist.

Watchmen

Maybe every Zack Snyder movie should be on this list. He knows how to make a good trailer, but Watchmen seriously missed the mark.

Nine

From the trailer, you'd think Nine would be as sleek and sexy as its obvious spiritual predecessor, Chicago, but the film itself was so overwrought not even Daniel Day Lewis could save it.

Escape From Tomorrow

If you've never heard of Escape From Tomorrow and when I tell you that it's a horror movie shot guerrilla-style at DisneyWorld without permission, I'm sure you'll be as bummed as me that it wasn't very good.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

It's a shame The Secret Life of Walter Mitty wasn't as funny as Kristen Wiig or as charming as Ben Stiller. Instead, it was as aimless and bland as Walter Mitty himself.

Man of Steel

I was never too hopeful for Man of Steel, but I know I was in the minority. Even if the idea of a gritty Superman film didn't excite you, the trailer is still flawlessly executed- just as gripping as Man of Steel should have been.

Winter's Tale

Fans of the book were generally pretty excited to see Winter's Tale come to life on the big screen, and non-fans were pretty excited for what looked like a solid- if weepy- romance. People who actually saw the movie were excited for it to be over.

Snow White and the Huntsman

Okay, weird milk bath aside, you have to admit that looks like it could be a good time- you know, if you're into Charleze Theron, Chris Hemsworth, and romantic fairytales. The movie, unfortunately, proved to be more about unnecessary action scenes and close-ups on Kristen Stewart's... um... expressions? Sure, expressions!

Image: Warner Bros Pictures