Anytime someone dies in a movie pay attention to if you've actually seen them die. If you don't get a dramatic death scene or see a corpse, it is likely they only appear to be dead and will return in the final act of the movie. An example is James Gordon in The Dark Knight. He's apparently shot and killed. No final moment, he's just dead. There's no way a script so in love with its own eloquence is going to let a major character go without some back of the hand to the forehead dramatics. Of course he appears later unscathed and smiling.

You will also see this false death with important supporting characters who don't die but instead appear to abandon the hero. Han Solo at the end of Star Wars or Theoden in Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King are examples.

Labels: movie watching tip