I always hear people say, why review a trailer? They don’t mean much. It’s only 2-2 1/2 minutes of a 2 hour long movie. For most movies, this statement is true. But for Suicide Squad, every piece of media Warner Bros. puts out will be analyzed. The main reason is the lackluster performance of Batman v. Superman. It was their first entrance into their new DC Movie Universe. Marvel has exploded in popular culture since their first entrance (Iron Man, 2008) and Fox has seen a resurgence in the X-men franchise that started with X-Men: First Class and the fantastic movie X Men: Days of Future Past last year. DC wants a piece of that action too. Unfortunately, Batman v. Superman felt rushed, slow, and uninteresting (see my review of this movie for more details). August will mark the second entry into this universe with Suicide Squad. This review will cover the two trailers that have released so far. The first one was released at/during Comic-Con last year and the other one was released a couple of months ago.
TRAILER #1
The only reason this “trailer” was released is because someone who was at comic-con recorded it and put it up on the internet. I don’t agree with people doing that, because I believe it ruins the entire point of going to an event like comic-con. Still, it came out and Warner Bros. was forced to release a higher quality version soon after. I posted the trailer above. There isn’t much going on in the trailer, since they’d only been filming for a couple of months at this point. What is important in this trailer is the tone. The movie has this dark and gritty feel to it. As we see the villains, each time they appear, they look more menacing. I’m assuming the type of story they’re going for in this movie will be based on the story of the DC animated movie, Assault on Arkham. A trailer of that movie is posted below.
I won’t go into spoilers about this movie, but the story is kind of similar to what looks like may be happening in Suicide Squad, especially how Batman and Joker tie into the story. This first trailer has the feel of one of those animated movies. DC focuses on story first. Their stories in their comics are almost flawless. This trailer looks like it has the appropriate kind of feel for a movie about villains. Joker at the end looks insane. I’m not a huge fan of him having metal teeth and tattoos, but DC has shown their universe will be modern and edgy (having a Batman who kills people is a good indicator). Still, all that can be forgiven if the movie is amazing.
TRAILER #2
People weren’t too thrilled about the first look at the Suicide Squad. So Warner Bros. showcased their second trailer about a couple of months ago. I first thought this movie may be a rare rater R superhero film. After this trailer, I don’t think that’s going to happen. They try to approach this with comedy. The only problem I have with that is there isn’t really anything funny about all of these characters. They’re hardened killers that will kill anyone who doesn’t agree with them or gets in the way of their plans. It seems as if Warner Bros. is going to try and develop these characters before we get into the depths of the story. That’s fine, but in Batman v. Superman all we got was a messy story. There wasn’t much background on Batman. Why does he kill people now? How did Robin die? Why does he brand people? Those questions could have easily been answered through flashbacks. It would have given us depth into Batman’s new character and we might have understood him more.
The same goes for Superman. Everything was happening to the Man of Steel. There wasn’t a moment in the movie, where we truly understand how good of a person Superman is. His death at the end felt rushed, and the man didn’t say two words the whole movie. But with this Suicide Squad trailer, it looks as if they will give these villains backstories and clear motives. I just think it should be the other way around. I don’t mind knowing and understanding a movie’s villains (Avengers struggled trying to convey Ultron’s motives) but I want to understand my heroes more.
All that being said, if they do that and the story is immaculate, all will be forgotten. Except they could fall into the trap of this becoming a Joker and Batman movie. If this movie is like Assault on Arkham, then those two will have a prominent role in the movie. They could easily steal the show, leaving the other characters in the dust. That could lead to audiences rejecting this idea of an expanded universe. It’s tricky because Batman doesn’t need anyone in a movie for it to be good. The Marvel movies have been big because they’ve taken characters who weren’t popular in mainstream (Iron Man, Cap, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Falcon, Winter Soldier, and Black Panther) and have made them enormous figures in pop culture now. The X-men, Hulk, Spiderman, and Thor don’t need anyone else in their movies, because people know and love them already. People already are in agreement that Ben Affleck’s Batman was solid. If he and Jared Leto steal the show with their chemistry, you can forget a Harley Quinn solo movie or Suicide Squad 2. All anyone is going to want to see is Batman: A New Knight or something like that. I think this is the main reason Warner Bros. cast Margot Robbie and Will Smith. They are two powerhouse actors who have no problem stealing the show.
Overall, I’m nervous for this movie. The first trailer seemed to set the tone, but the second one flipped the first trailer upside down on its head. They might be settling for comedy because it works for Marvel or because they want to avoid another snooze fest like Batman v. Superman. I think it’s going to be good, but I’m not a huge Harley Quinn fan by any means, and it looks as though they’re going to push her and Deadshot hard. I’m excited to see the new Joker. I think he’ll be another great Joker. I’m excited for DC to do a reset of their universe with this movie. It seems as though they’re working hard on it. Hopefully, that work shows on screen.
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Peace, Love, and Comics 