Happy August, dear readers. We’re in the last month of the summer movie season, and the big releases are starting to taper off. But there are always big movies to look forward to, and this week’s Trailer Trashin’ brings you my thoughts on our first look at the second of next year’s DC Comics movies – David Ayer’s Suicide Squad.
Premise: A secret government agency run by high-ranking official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) creates the “Suicide Squad,” a task force comprised of imprisoned supervillains. The squad is assigned to carry out dangerous missions in exchange for shorter prison sentences.
My take: No preamble this time, let’s just dive in.
0:01-0:22: Our first look at Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, the ruthless, high-ranking government official who created and commands the Suicide Squad. Davis is a great actress, and I think she’s going to knock this role out of the park. Interestingly, this will be the fourth live-action depiction of Waller in the last six years; she has previously been played by Pam Grier on the series Smallville, Angela Bassett in Green Lantern (2011), and Cynthia Addai-Robinson in the series Arrow.
0:29-0:35: The female archeologist here is June Moon (Cara Delevingne), who will become the Enchantress, described in casting notes as “a powerful sorceress.” Note the collection of human skulls on the floor of the cave in the right of frame. We can probably assume that this cave is where June finds whatever it is that gives her her powers.
Also, the song that starts here is a cover of “I Started a Joke” by the Bee Gees, from their 1968 album Idea. Yes, this is a blatant case of stealing from the Marvel playbook, who famously used a creepy cover of “I’ve Got No Strings” from Pinocchio (1940) in the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailers. But you know what? It works.
1:07-1:09: This fellow is Chato Santana/El Diablo, who has the power to create and control fire. Although that does raise the question of why he would be allowed to have candles and matches in his cell.
1:13-1:15: Will Smith as Floyd Lawton (aka Deadshot), shirtless and working out with a punching bag in his cell. In the comics, Deadshot is an assassin and the world’s deadliest marksman; he has traditionally been a villain, but has been depicted as more of an antihero in recent years, which I suspect is the approach this film will take. Smith’s star has fallen in recent years, but he is still a talented actor, and I trust director David Ayer to get a good performance from him.
1:19-1:22: Another fun nod to The Silence of the Lambs, as Waylon Jones (aka Killer Croc), played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, is transported on a sort of vertical gurney with his limbs strapped down and a mask over his mouth. Croc is another member of Batman’s rogues gallery, a man born with a condition that caused him to develop reptilian traits, making him superhumanly strong and tough.
1:27-1:28: Quick shot of two guys wearing weird masks – one an eyeball, the other an ugly baby – firing submachine guns. We’ll see more of these guys later, and it’s a safe bet that they’re some of the Joker’s goons.
1:28-1:30: Deadshot in his civilian clothes, walking down the street with a little girl. In the more recent comics, Deadshot has a daughter named Zoe, and he uses all the money he earns from his mercenary work to support Zoe and her mother. That clearly seems to be the angle they’re taking with Deadshot for the movie. I also have to imagine that Amanda Waller will use this as leverage to get Deadshot to follow her orders.
1:34-1:36: As Joker’s thugs shoot up the place, Dr. Harleen Quinzel is slammed down onto an operating table by a guy in a dark suit. We’ll see more of this scene later in the trailer, and we can assume this is Harley Quinn’s origin.
1:37-1:40: June Moon sitting in a pool of murky water, with a huge pentagram drawn on the wall behind her. It’s hard to tell at first glance, but she’s actually in a normal bathroom; you can see a radiator to the left of frame, and if you look behind her head in the close-up, she’s sitting inside a bathtub. Presumably, this is her during her transformation into Enchantress, and as part of her breakdown, she put all this grass and dirt in there with her.
1:41-1:43: Our first look at part of the Suicide Squad together in costume. From left to right: Killer Croc; Digger Harkness (aka Captain Boomerang) played by Jai Courtney, as Australian assassin who uses deadly boomerangs; El Diablo; Harley Quinn; and Tatsu Yamashiro (aka Katana) played by Karen Fukuhara, an expert martial artist and swordswoman.
1:44: Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, a military officer who is part of the Suicide Squad.
1:57-1:58: An intimate moment between Rick Flag and June Moon, presumably before she becomes Enchantress. These two characters have no such relationship in the comics, so this could be something new and interesting. On the other hand, it could end up being like the Duke/Baroness love story from G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009).
1:58-1:59: Harley in a 1920s flapper dress, inside what looks like a nightclub. This is part of a scene we’ll see more of later, which seems to be a flashback to Harley’s “glory days” with the Joker.
2:03-2:04: Awesome close-up of Killer Croc’s face. He is being created through practical make-up effects instead of CGI, which was definitely the right choice. I generally prefer the more monstrous-looking versions of Croc, like how he was depicted in the Hush storyline or the Batman: Arkham video games, but I still think he looks cool here.
2:07-2:09: More of the Joker’s costumed goons, including a guy in a panda suit and one in a cartoony Batman mask. Judging from the conveyer belt with what look like missiles or rockets on it, it looks like the goons are attacking some kind of weapons factory.
2:14-2:15: Seen through the windows, we get our first look at the Joker (Jared Leto). The guy in front of Joker in the dark suit, who I’m pretty sure is the same guy we saw slamming Harleen Quinzel onto the table earlier, is actor Jim Parrack, who is believed to be playing Johnny Frost, a character from Brian Azzarello’s Joker graphic novel who became Joker’s right-hand man.
2:18: Quick shot of Enchantress in her full costume, which appears to be a mish-mash of pieces and symbols from various cultures around the world. The decor behind her looks like a domestic setting, so this must be not long after the “mud bath” we saw earlier.
2:21-2:23: More of the “glory days” flashback for Joker and Harley. Joker is driving his metallic purple sports car through what I assume are the streets of Gotham, with Harley riding shotgun, and Batman himself hanging on to the roof. We can assume this scene ends with either Joker and Harley or just Harley being arrested.
2:24: El Diablo sitting under a heavy stream of water inside what looks like a confined space. This is presumably what needs to be done to combat his powers and keep him contained, which again raises the question of why he was allowed to have candles and matches in his cell.
2:27: Our first look at Adam Beach as Christopher Weiss (aka Slipknot), an assassin who uses ropes as his weapon of choice. Given that he doesn’t seem to be in any of the group shots in this trailer, I’m guessing he has a fairly small role and will get killed pretty early on. The movie is called Suicide Squad after all, so we shouldn’t expect everyone to make it through in one piece.
2:30-2:36: Deadshot, Harley, and Boomerang all in some sort of hallway, looking worse for wear. Deadshot’s chest armor is pitted and marked up. Harley’s makeup is smeared and she has several cuts on her face. Boomerang has a huge cut above his left eye. Clearly, the three of them have been through something serious.
2:38-2:44: More of Harley’s origin, as we get our first proper look at the Joker. Much hay had been made about the look of Jared Leto as Joker. But overall, I’m okay with it. Although I do think that the tattoos feel unnecessary, as long as it doesn’t detract from Leto’s performance, it’ll be fine.
However, the changes they’re clearly making to Harley’s origin are my one big problem with the film so far. In Batman: The Animated Series and the original comics, Harleen Quinzel was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who became obsessed with the Joker while analyzing him, eventually falling in love with him over the course of their sessions, as he is subtly manipulating her into trusting him more and more. After seeing Joker badly injured from a fight with Batman, Harleen loses her grip on reality, quits her job, and becomes Joker’s sidekick Harley Quinn. Here, it looks like Harleen becomes Harley after being violently beaten up and tortured by the Joker, which just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. This is an unnecessary change, it feels like darkness for the sake of being dark, and if it’s not handled with extreme care, it could come off very badly.
2:45-2:51: Nice group shot of pretty much the whole Suicide Squad walking together. From left to right, we have Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Katana, Rick Flag, Killer Croc, and El Diablo. In the background, if you look between Deadshot and Katana, you can see Scott Eastwood’s character, whose identity is still unknown.
2:52-2:58: One last shot of the Joker, a good close-up of his face this time. We get a good look at his metal teeth, which he presumably has because his real ones have been knocked out by Batman’s fists over the years.
It’s been a long, tortured journey to get a shared DC Comics universe on our movie screens. Man of Steel certainly wasn’t the complete home run that we were hoping for, but it is nice that were finally getting some characters besides Batman and Superman in these movies. At this point, Suicide Squad is the DC movie I’m most excited for, even with my misgivings about the new Harley Quinn back-story. When the beginning of August rolls around next year, I’ll definitely be checking out Suicide Squad.
ANTICIPATION: I think it’s gonna feel good to watch these bad guys.
Starring: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Cara Delevingne, Viola Davis, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Karen Fukuhara, Jay Hernandez, Adam Beach, Jim Parrack, and Scott Eastwood
Director: David Ayer
Writer: David Ayer, based on the comic book Suicide Squad created by John Ostrander
Timothy Monforton