Written by Logan J. Fowler & Justin Matchick
Release Date: August 5th, 2016
Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman.
Director: David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch, Training Day)
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: DC’s capitalization of the cinema scene (along with trying to mimic the Marvel formula) tosses out a curveball and focuses on the bad guys. Not a bad idea. -LJF
Pre-Trailer Thoughts: My investment in Suicide Squad has fluctuated a lot ever since they first announced it last year. I’m not completely on board with the DC Comics Movie Universe yet (I did not enjoy Man of Steel at all), and the whole enterprise seems like DC rushing through the planning process just to try and catch up with the highly successful Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the Suicide Squad has always been one of the better DC Comics properties, turning villains into anti-heroes and giving them added depth and backstory. The casting so far has been a series of ups and downs, from Viola Davis fitting in nicely as Amanda Waller down to the usually awful Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. And I still haven’t mentioned that terrible promotional photo of Jared Leto as the Joker, complete with eye-rollingly awful tattoos. I’m not saying all of my hopes for this movie are riding on this trailer but…all of my hopes for this movie are riding on this trailer. – JTM
Rate the Trailer: 3 out of 5. The trailer is interesting, not going to lie. It paints an interesting picture and its awesome that Harley Quinn FINALLY makes an appearance in a DC comic-book movie. We don’t learn much from what we see, except that the bad guys are meant to save the world and if they don’t they take the fall. As far as the trailers go for the DC movies that came out of San Diego Comic-Con, Batman V. Superman totally owned. This one (I feel) is being hyped up way too much; maybe I’m not seeing what everyone else is. Also, the Joker? I’m not feeling Jared Leto. He looks like a young punk who just left a rave. I got a bad feeling about this on that front. -LJF
Rate the Trailer: 3 out of 5. Right off the bat, that use of a slow, creepy version of the Bee Gee’s “I Started A Joke” is almost a complete rip of the Age of Ultron trailer using a slow version of “I Got No Strings.” Yes it was effective, but the entire time I kept on thinking of how derivative it was. The darker tone of the DC Movie Universe is front an center here, but at least it makes much more sense with these characters. It’s clear the main focus of the film will be on Will Smith as Deadshot and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, but the trailer does at least try and feature as much of the rest of the team as possible. Jai Courtney is thankfully playing an Australian and will be using his natural accent, which could actually help in making him tolerable. Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) looks to have some sort of…sewer/dumpster diving vibe going on that I’m not quite understanding. Killer Croc, Katana, El Diablo, Slipknot, and Rick Flag get a few fleeting moments as well, but its clear that they wanted to save the last moments of this trailer to fully debut Leto as The Joker. Everything about this interpretation is turned up to 11, from the laugh to the tattoos to the teeth to the hair and skin that are far brighter than anything else in the film. He has a sinister quality that manages to even outdo the Heath Ledger version of the character, but it still feels like they made the character more edgy for the sake of being edgy. To be fair, the internet’s reaction when Ledger was cast as the Joker was also almost universally negative, only for those sentiments to do a complete 180 when the film actually came out. It’s possible the same could happen with Leto’s version, but I’m not holding my breath. – JTM
Theater, Rent, No Thanks, Undecided? Undecided. I can’t see every comic-book movie out there. Financially, it’s ridiculous. This is coming out in a year where Captain America: Civil War, Deadpool, and Batman V. Superman are all coming out. Those three are definitely getting my money. Suicide Squad needs to prove itself more if it needs to get my interest. -LJF
Theater, Rent, Undecided, No Thanks? Undecided. So even after all that I’m still on the fence about the film. I enjoy David Ayer as a director, and his experience in making End of Watch and Fury is perfect for capturing the look and feel of a Suicide Squad movie. This is the perfect material for an R-rated, violent comic book film and they’re nailing that part so far. But the interpretations of the characters is what will make up the bulk of the film, and I still don’t think I’ve seen enough to make a true judgement call yet. So while this trailer didn’t completely get me on the hype train, I was at least happy to see that they’re moving in a good direction (iffy Joker notwithstanding) and could help solidify the world-building of the DC Movie Universe. – JTM
Suicide Squad teams up August 5th, 2016
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