The year is 2012. I'm in a movie theater watching Chronicle. I'm enjoying it — a lot, actually — when, partway through, a main character unceremoniously gets killed off (I won't say who, even though it's been eight years). Immediately I was like, "Eh, I don't really care about how this plays out anymore."
A similar thing happened when I watched 2008's Burn After Reading and they unexpectedly killed a certain someone with a whole lot of movie to go — which I couldn't get back into.
It even happens with big-budget movies. For example, The Dark Knight Rises built up the villain, making him seem like a strong, unconquerable force, only to get rid of him in one of the weakest, most forgettable ways.
We all understand that character deaths are necessary in some stories, but sometimes they're done at the wrong time or in the wrong manner, and it leaves you sitting there shaking your head.
