BATMAN v SUPERMAN
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice saw a third, official trailer released last weekend at the San Diego Comic Con, clocking in at a glorious 3 minutes and 40 seconds. The trailer is quick to deal with the consequences of Man of Steel, mainly Superman’s battle over Metropolis with General Zod and all its destruction. The trailer shows Superman on trial, standing before the Supreme Court, with a voice over from actress Holly Hunter expressing in a very political tone how dangerous someone like Superman can be. You have to wonder if this was the road the DC cinematic universe was always going to take or are they just reacting to the audience and critic outcry to all the wanton destruction in Man of Steel. We’re even shown the same fight from Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck’s) point-of-view as he watches one of his towers collapse, killing many inside. Then we see old Bruce Wayne being reflective and cranky, giving us a shot of an empty, incased Robin suit with what is clearly the Joker’s child-like handwriting displaying a taunting message.
So, Robin’s dead. But is it Jason Todd’s Robin or Dick Grayson’s? The trailer continues with voice overs from Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor (Jesse Eisenberg) chiming in on their view of this god-like alien being called Superman. Spliced together are action scenes pitting Batman against Superman, and some awkward appearances by Gal Godot’s Wonder Woman. Her inclusion doesn’t seem to serve a purpose other than assuring audiences that Wonder Woman will be in the movie. There are various shots of her at a ball, getting out of a car, looking pretty and mysterious in a fitting gown. And then suddenly she’s banging bangles together and causing explosions. Okay. Sure. Whatever. Wonder Woman’s in this. We have no idea why, but we know she’s there. To me, however, the money shot was Superman busting open the batmobile and Batman standing up to greet him with a sneer.
There are some curiosities sprinkled about the trailer. For starters, seeing Batman in desert gear taking on soldiers dressed in all black (like the Omen) and sporting a Superman insignia raises an eyebrow. Are these zealots that worship Superman? Leftover Kryptonians from Zod’s invasion? We’re also given a glimpse of kryptonite as Lex Luther stares at its boxed, crystalized contents. There’s a shot of General Zod’s corpse being zipped up, which gives weight to some rumors that (SPOILER, SPOILER, SPOILER) he might be turned into Doomsday.
Noticeably absent was Aquaman, who will be played by Jason Mamoa. But there was enough in the trailer to grab your attention, pull an audience in, and have DC declare that they are ready to roll into the second installment of their cinematic universe. At least, after a bit of a shaky start with their first. Batman versus Superman: Dawn of Justice hits theaters March 25, 2016.
[…] Batman versus Superman wasn’t all DC had to offer audiences when it came to giving a sneak peek to their connected, cinematic venture. A pleasant surprise at Comic Con was the debut of the Suicide Squad trailer. It first leaked online via smartphone capture, and it was enough to prompt Warner Bros. heads to release the 3 minute spot officially. Suicide Squad is a mixed bag of marbles, and its choice to convert the comic into a movie is can probably be seen as DC’s dark and moody answer to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. To be fair, in comic terms, Suicide Squad predates Guardians by ten years. But it’s all the same. A ragtag team of the worst criminals are assembled to go after someone worserererer then them. Instead of light humor and classic pop music from yesteryear, we’re greeted with moody harmonics and prophetic lyrics talking about “the joke was on me…” I bet we’ll see the Joker in this trailer. Because Suicide Squad isn’t as well-known as other DC titles the trailer spends a considerable amount of time with expository dialogue from Viola Davis as her character Amanda Waller. Viola is a strong actor, and she exudes authority, but the exposition spilling from her mouth dulls that a bit. The trailer’s next stumble comes with Will Smith as the assassin Deadshot. “We’re the patsies. I guess we’re some sort of Suicide Squad.” Really? Thanks. But the bigger problem is Smith himself as part of the ensemble. He has such a presence it’s too hard to ignore, and kind of takes you out of the experience the trailer is trying to sell as a collective. It’s not a Will Smith movie, and shouldn’t be thought of as such. That wouldn’t be fair, but…there’s Will Smith…in a movie…Another downer for me was Killer Croc looking like something out of 1993’s Super Mario Bros. movie. But the highlight of the trailer is Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Once the trailer focuses on her, you forget the first half’s clunkiness. And just in case you forgot that Batman was created under the DC umbrella, we see he’ll be here in this movie as well. To what capacity, who knows? But there he is, on a car steered by the Joker with Harley Quinn laughing all the way. It all climax’s with the Joker’s sinister laugh, a great welcoming to Jared Leto into the role. A few quick speaking lines and I was sold. I might be a little wary of the look, all ‘tatted up and what not, but it’s good to see the Joker…joking…having fun rather than rolling his eyes and being cynical. Despite my critiques, I’m looking forward to the film and getting more tidbits of the plot beyond the obvious. My take, however, was that it was meant to be a private trailer to only those in attendance, but it was strong enough for release when it got leaked. There was also some really good buzz with its leak, so nothing was hurt in the matters of enticing an audience. Suicide Squad is set to create havoc August 5, 2016. […]