For those of you who were unaware (like myself), the MTV Movie Awards were held last night, and along with the premiere of many new clips and trailers for upcoming films, a new full-length trailer for Warner Bros. and DC’s Suicide Squad also debuted at the award show. Much like the film’s second trailer that was released back in January, Suicide Squad appears to be making a tremendous effort to separate itself from Zack Snyder’s laborious super-hero slugfest, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
Directed by David Ayer (End of Watch), Suicide Squad follows a secret government task force led by the infamous Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). Featuring Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and other DC super-villains, Waller’s squad of ne’er do wells is tasked with completing highly dangerous black-ops missions in exchange for reduced prison sentences.
Although I and many of my fellow writers and critics have expressed our various levels of dissatisfaction at how Warner Bros. has been handling the cinematic adaptations of DC’s heroes and villains, I still remain interested in Ayer’s take on the Suicide Squad. Much like the last trailer, this particular teaser is firmly focused on showcasing the film’s chaotic and dark sense of humor. Accompanied by The Sweet’s “Ballroom Blitz,” we get to see a little more of the interpersonal dynamic between all of the squad’s various members. Some of the best bits include Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) explaining that he’ll happily kill any member of the Suicide Squad that disobeys his order or vexes his patience, only then to be politely told by Harley Quinn that she can be “quite vexing.” Another great moment features a few members of the team (or at least the ones that still appear to be alive) being served drinks by Quinn in an abandoned bar. It’s during this brief clip that El Diablo (Jay Hernandez) finally gets a small moment to shine, revealing that he may be the most “sensitive” member of the Suicide Squad. We also get a nice look at Ben Affleck’s Batman, and from what I can tell, he doesn’t appear to be brutally murdering anyone in the few seconds that he appears in the trailer. I’m guessing the Suicide Squad are well aware of his safe-word.
While there’s definitely a lot to appreciate about the trailer, I can’t help but feel worried about a few things, particularly Robbie’s hyper-sexualized take on Harley Quinn. While the Joker’s longtime “girlfriend” has always been a rather sexual character, even when she was first introduced in Bruce Timm’s Batman: The Animated Series, the degree to which the film appears to be focusing so much on her body feels a little awkward and misplaced, especially in a PG-13 super-hero film. Outside of the Robbie’s scantily-clad Quinn, I’m still struggling to get a sense of Jared Leto’s Joker. In terms of his appearance, this is by far the biggest departure from the characters that we’ve seen in quite some time, and while I can certainly understand why Ayer and Leto want to separate themselves from Heath Ledger’s critically acclaimed performance as The Joker in The Dark Knight, modeling the Clown Prince of Crime off a cartel drug lord might not be to everyone’s liking.
Suicide Squad will make its way to theaters on August 5, 2016.
What about you reader? Do you like the new trailer for Suicide Squad? Let us know in the comments below!
