It’s all been happening at San Diego Comic Convention this last weekend, and one of the biggest talking points was the debut of the DC supervillain teamup Suicide Squad. More a sizzle reel than a proper trailer, it’s the first look at the highly anticipated film but gave the more informed team plenty to consider and discuss.
Written and directed by End of Watch and Fury’s David Ayer, the top of the line ensemble includes Will Smith (After Earth) as Deadshot, Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) as the Joker, Margot Robbie (Z for Zachariah) as Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman (RoboCop) as Rick Flagg, Jai Courtney (Terminator Genisys) as Boomerang, Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina) as Enchantress, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (The Thing) as Killer Croc and Viola Davis (Ender’s Game) as Amanda Waller alongside Karen Fukuhara, Adam Beach, Jay Hernandez, Scott Eastwood and Jim Parrack.
Wes May – DC/Warner Brothers came out of Comic Con 2015 very strong with two fantastic trailers for highly anticipated films. Batman vs Superman absolutely blew me away (I literally cannot stop watching it) and now Suicide Squad. The comic book series from 1987 was one of the first books I really got into as a kid, drawn to its pitch black concept of super villains forced under threat of death into black ops work for the US government.
When I heard DC was planning a film adaptation, I was understandably sceptical, and the casting notices weren’t helping. Leto as a sort of punk rock Joker? Will Smith as a now African American Deadshot?
I guess I shouldn’t really have worried about Leto. He’s always going to do his thing and do it well, as seen in this trailer. He looks to be absolutely terrifying. Will Smith shouldn’t have gotten this role. His star wattage throws the entire thing off, and he can only really play Will Smith apparently. Margot Robbie looks like she’s all in as Harley Quinn, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller? ‘Nuff said!
This really looks to be pretty fantastic. The trailer does a great job of generating interest, adequately outlining the concept and the stakes, and makes me a lot more at ease that the whole thing isn’t going to just collapse like a flan in a cupboard.
Stephen Sutherland – Now this looks promising, and lends texture and depth to the world they’re building between Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman. Harley and joker look spot on, which was always my main concern. I’m in!
Matthew Rutland – Oh. This is not what I was expecting after all the hype building it up. Are people aware the Suicide Squad are meant to be villains? Will Smith seems to be playing Will Smith as always, and this really doesn’t fit the Deadshot persona at all.
When a trailer starts off well with Waller discussing her pet project, I am cautiously optimistic, but by the trailers end that has soon gone. Margot Robie may be a very talented actress, but she is no Harley, no one can come close, and without the voice of Tara Strong she doesn’t feel or look right.
And when they rely on the Joker so heavily from this short clip, it doesn’t bode well considering he was never in SS. Now give me Joker’s Daughter, yes please I would love that, and to see the in-fighting with her and Quinn, that would be great. But it appears this is too watered down by DC, too desperate to ease in on the back of Bats and the Joker rather than letting it stand on its own legs.
Killer croc looks terrible, to the point I would actually rather see a CGI version and everyone appears to be getting way too hyped on Jared Leto’s Keith Flint impersonation though I’m not impressed, but like with Harley, there will never be a better embodiment of Mistah J than Mark Hamill.
I’m dubious to be honest. Bats vs Supes looks fantastic, Gotham and Arrow/Flash are all great, but this needs work. Even in an out of focus bootleg, Deadpool looks better for sure.
Dario Persechino – Well that takes itself very seriously. Always a risk.
Suicide Squad has to be on the darker end of the spectrum but they seem to be aiming for “gritty real world feel.” I’m not convinced that was the right play though they have done a lot of work creating a specific look and feel to this that will match the wider universe they are building, and I appreciate the effort.
I was worried about Joker being part of this but Leto was the most promising part of the trailer and looks interesting as a new interpretation of the character for this world. More importantly, as a relief to me, he doesn’t actually seem to be part of the squad from the brief clips we see. A possibly antagonist or spanner in the works of their mission, perhaps?
I was always going to see it for Harley, but I’m not sold on the movie or her from the trailer. I remain mildly curious rather than excited, and the trailer certainly hasn’t lit my Batsignal.
Owen Williams – Sadly, Suicide Squad has a bit of an uphill battle. The main focus of attention regarding the film has been, and will continue to be, on the newest incarnation, with people decrying that Heath Ledger’s version was definitive and that no one could possibly live up to that portrayal. This puts DC in an uncomfortable position. Do they never use the character again, or do they attempt to create a carbon copy of Ledger’s Joker?
It’s a lose/lose situation. In the former they would be abandoning a known, popular and excellent character, whilst in the latter they’d simply be accused of unoriginality. The fact that they’ve gone for a completely different and alien interpretation, one that has divided fans on the basis of a single picture, is a brave move on the part of this growing DC Cinematic Universe. Personally, I think the Joker looks great, and I can’t wait to see him in action.
On to the actual trailer, though. We have clunky exposition to explain the group to people who have never heard of the Suicide Squad. We have annoyingly slow music because it worked for Age of Ultron. We have no real idea of who the characters are, other than that they look a bit scary. With such an ensemble cast they could hardly hope to delve much into them in a mere three minutes, and sensibly pick Harley as the focal point.
It looks like the film will be as much about her origin story as it is about a team of villains “saving the world.” With shots of her in her prior, more sane, persona of Dr. Quinzel, getting strapped to a table by Mr. J and the final image of Joker about to hurt someone “real bad,” one would assume that this movie’s going to take DC to a whole new level of dark, with Harley being tortured into loving the Clown Prince of Crime.
Will Smith looks like Will Smith and, as for everyone else I guess we’ll have to wait to find out who the hell they are. The trailer has piqued my interest in the film and the concept itself certainly makes a change from the usual line up of heroes. Mostly, however, I want to find out which gun toting thug wins the “most original disguise” competition. Will it be Eyeball-man, goat-head man, Batman-man or the guy dressed as a panda? The betting starts now.
Michael Flett – So, these are “the worst of the worst.” I come to this with only peripheral knowledge as I’m not a comic person, but my feeling is this should be DC’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the quirky ensemble piece which turns into a heap of fun, but oh, look, doom and gloom while those upstairs live in privilege.
“I want to assemble a taskforce of the most dangerous people on the planet, see if they can do some good.” Ma’am, are you as crazy as your charges? You just know this is going to go badly, but isn’t that the whole point?
Obviously, Heath Ledger is going to leave a huge gap to be filled and rather than following him they have to go a completely different way to obviate direct comparisons, but in all honesty he’s closest to Cesar Romero on acid, and I’m not sure that’s a compliment.
I hadn’t been all that excited about either this or Batman vs Superman until the San Diego trailers came out; now Dawn of Justice is looking a lot better, but this still feels dispensible.
Suicide Squad is scheduled for release on 5th August, 2016
Suicide Squad trailer – reaction
Written and directed by End of Watch and Fury’s David Ayer, the top of the line ensemble includes Will Smith (After Earth) as Deadshot, Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club) as the Joker, Margot Robbie (Z for Zachariah) as Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman (RoboCop) as Rick Flagg, Jai Courtney (Terminator Genisys) as Boomerang, Cara Delevingne (Anna Karenina) as Enchantress, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (The Thing) as Killer Croc and Viola Davis (Ender’s Game) as Amanda Waller alongside Karen Fukuhara, Adam Beach, Jay Hernandez, Scott Eastwood and Jim Parrack.
When I heard DC was planning a film adaptation, I was understandably sceptical, and the casting notices weren’t helping. Leto as a sort of punk rock Joker? Will Smith as a now African American Deadshot?
This really looks to be pretty fantastic. The trailer does a great job of generating interest, adequately outlining the concept and the stakes, and makes me a lot more at ease that the whole thing isn’t going to just collapse like a flan in a cupboard.
Matthew Rutland – Oh. This is not what I was expecting after all the hype building it up. Are people aware the Suicide Squad are meant to be villains? Will Smith seems to be playing Will Smith as always, and this really doesn’t fit the Deadshot persona at all.
And when they rely on the Joker so heavily from this short clip, it doesn’t bode well considering he was never in SS. Now give me Joker’s Daughter, yes please I would love that, and to see the in-fighting with her and Quinn, that would be great. But it appears this is too watered down by DC, too desperate to ease in on the back of Bats and the Joker rather than letting it stand on its own legs.
I’m dubious to be honest. Bats vs Supes looks fantastic, Gotham and Arrow/Flash are all great, but this needs work. Even in an out of focus bootleg, Deadpool looks better for sure.
Dario Persechino – Well that takes itself very seriously. Always a risk.
I was worried about Joker being part of this but Leto was the most promising part of the trailer and looks interesting as a new interpretation of the character for this world. More importantly, as a relief to me, he doesn’t actually seem to be part of the squad from the brief clips we see. A possibly antagonist or spanner in the works of their mission, perhaps?
I was always going to see it for Harley, but I’m not sold on the movie or her from the trailer. I remain mildly curious rather than excited, and the trailer certainly hasn’t lit my Batsignal.
It’s a lose/lose situation. In the former they would be abandoning a known, popular and excellent character, whilst in the latter they’d simply be accused of unoriginality. The fact that they’ve gone for a completely different and alien interpretation, one that has divided fans on the basis of a single picture, is a brave move on the part of this growing DC Cinematic Universe. Personally, I think the Joker looks great, and I can’t wait to see him in action.
It looks like the film will be as much about her origin story as it is about a team of villains “saving the world.” With shots of her in her prior, more sane, persona of Dr. Quinzel, getting strapped to a table by Mr. J and the final image of Joker about to hurt someone “real bad,” one would assume that this movie’s going to take DC to a whole new level of dark, with Harley being tortured into loving the Clown Prince of Crime.
Michael Flett – So, these are “the worst of the worst.” I come to this with only peripheral knowledge as I’m not a comic person, but my feeling is this should be DC’s Guardians of the Galaxy, the quirky ensemble piece which turns into a heap of fun, but oh, look, doom and gloom while those upstairs live in privilege.
Obviously, Heath Ledger is going to leave a huge gap to be filled and rather than following him they have to go a completely different way to obviate direct comparisons, but in all honesty he’s closest to Cesar Romero on acid, and I’m not sure that’s a compliment.
I hadn’t been all that excited about either this or Batman vs Superman until the San Diego trailers came out; now Dawn of Justice is looking a lot better, but this still feels dispensible.
Suicide Squad is scheduled for release on 5th August, 2016
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