Suicide Squad - First trailer released.

[Elheru Aran]

The Suicide Squad comics were popular in their niche market back in the day (started all the way back in the 80s, IIRC). It's possible to make it work.

[Ted C]

I have to admit, I'm a bit weirded out by this premise. I enjoy a good root-for-the-anti-hero movie, but most of those seem to be flicks where the protagonist has vigilante leanings but hasn't been an actual convicted felon. Particularly folks like Blade, the Punisher, and V.

This flick seems more like letting Hannibal Lector off the leash to go eat the Mob or something, and I'm just wondering if it's possible for a general audience to sympathize with such characters, if these are psychos who should've never been let out of their hole. Is one of the ideas here to make the audience uncomfortable with feeling such a possible empathy towards these characters?

Based on the trailer, it looks like Will Smith's "Deadshot" will be the viewpoint character and rather sympathetic. The others maybe not so much.

[The Romulan Republic]

Harley's also somewhat sympathetic in that she's basically a crazy, possibly brainwashed abuse victim of the Joker.

Plus the fact that she's an attractive woman will probably get her some sympathy, at least from some male members of the audience (though it really shouldn't).

[Lord Revan]

IIRC the Suicide Squad uses villaina that aren't totally irredemeble but rather are career criminal so you can depict them in sympathetic light and you also have people like Harley Quinn or the Clock King (from the DCAU version of the Suicide Squad) who while crazy aren't no where as "evil" as the likes of the Joker or other similar villains.

[The Romulan Republic]

Joker will probably be the most evil (or insane, or both) of the characters in this film.

Which might be part of the reason for having him there. Almost anyone is going to look sympathetic next to him.

[Napoleon the Clown]

May also end up being a case of "And this is why you don't give a bunch of homicidal assholes heavy weaponry and a blank check on carnage."

[SpottedKitty]

I can buy Harley swinging a sledgehammer, perhaps even a 24-lb one; I can't quite buy a *live action* Harley swinging a hammer bigger than she is.

The answer's obvious, if you think about it — one of the tortures the Joker used to drive her round the bend must have been sitting her down (tied to the chair) in front of a bad anime movie marathon.

[Batman]

Since those hammers never seem to do any permanent damage to anybody, they're obviously made of styrofoam. There. Problem solved.

[The Romulan Republic]

Seems Harley's weapon of choice here is a baseball bat. Same idea but darker and less cartoonish, which fits what they seem to be going for in this film.

[Guardsman Bass]

The trailer was good, but what's with that somber music? Why wouldn't you have a more fun over-play of the trailer, to play up the entertainment and cheese value of this? It really jarred with some of the imagery from the trailer.

[Sinewmire]

I miss Harley's accent, but then I always did love accents.

[Ziggy Stardust]

I don't know what it is, but something about this trailer (and all of the other promotional material related to this movie I have seen so far) has really rubbed me the wrong way. There's no reason why I shouldn't like this (the trifecta of Batman, the Joker, and Harley Quinn may be my favorite of any group of comic characters), but just every time I see anything for this movie I just get the impression it is going to be downright awful. This trailer included.

All of the dialogue felt incredibly stilted and awkward and forced. Harley Quinn barely stood out; it feels like they are making her more of a generic noir femme-fatale type, which is just diminishing her character. And yeah, something about this Joker just doesn't strike a chord with me. I don't know, I can't really explain it, but I am just getting an overwhelming impression that this movie is going to just suck serious donkey-balls.

[Lagmonster]

This Joker/Harley combo seem to be a little less Saturday Morning cartoon and more Woody Harrelson/Juliette Lewis.

[Raw Shark]

Regarding audience sympathy: Ever watch The Dirty Dozen? It was somewhat popular, and probably a large part of the inspiration for this comic.

[Jub]

I really wish Will Smith wasn't in it, when you're doing an ensemble cast it's alway annoying when you see the one big name who stands out. I won't be seeing his character, I'll be seeing the actor. It also makes it unlikely we'll ever get the full cast back for a sequel if by some miracle this ends up being good.

[The Romulan Republic]

I really wish Will Smith wasn't in it, when you're doing an ensemble cast it's alway annoying when you see the one big name who stands out. I won't be seeing his character, I'll be seeing the actor.

He's a good actor.

Besides, Margot Robbie, while not as big, is certain not obscure after Wolf of Wall Street.

It also makes it unlikely we'll ever get the full cast back for a sequel if by some miracle this ends up being good.

Why not? Will Smith has done sequels for an action franchise before (Men in Black). Also, is he really that much bigger than Robert Downie Jr. over at Marvel (Granted, Downey wasn't nearly as big, as far as I recall, until he started playing Iron Man)?

Now, to be fair, its very questionable weather Suicide Squad will do well enough to warrant a sequel at all, much less one with the budget to keep paying for Will Smith. But I wouldn't rule out Smith's return. I'd guess it depends entirely on how successful this film is and weather Smith liked working on it or not.

[Jub]

He's a good actor.

He's a charismatic actor, but he's not like a Gary Oldman who transforms into his roles. Will Smith looks and acts like Will Smith in the vast majority of his roles without really transforming into his character. You could drop his role in I, Robot right in MiB and he wouldn't have to change a thing between the roles. I think that for an ensemble cast you generally want a cast off stars or a cast of nobodies rather than a mix of the two. I would be okay if Harley, the Joker, and Batman were names given that they're the leads, but give the rest of the crew to unknowns and try to make some new stars (like Marvel did with Hemsworth and, to a lesser extent Chris Evans).

This also feels like DC not being confident in the movie and trying to add a star to bring people in.

Besides, Margot Robbie, while not as big, is certain not obscure after Wolf of Wall Street.

That's not exactly the same, she's big enough that people know her but not so big that when you see her in a role you see her and not the character.

Why not? Will Smith has done sequels for an action franchise before (Men in Black).

True, but those were also movies with a smaller main cast. In MiB it was him and Tommy Lee Jones with the rest of the cast as bit parts, I'd be willing to bet that him, playing a side character, is payed better than most of the cast.

Also, is he really that much bigger than Robert Downie Jr. over at Marvel (Granted, Downey wasn't nearly as big, as far as I recall, until he started playing Iron Man)?

RDJ was a washed up has been coming back from substance abuse issues when the first IM dropped. It's a real credit to him that he did well enough in the role to become a household name.

Now, to be fair, its very questionable weather Suicide Squad will do well enough to warrant a sequel at all, much less one with the budget to keep paying for Will Smith. But I wouldn't rule out Smith's return. I'd guess it depends entirely on how successful this film is and weather Smith liked working on it or not.

We'll see, but DC hasn't really laid any groundwork for a movie franchise and I'm not confident that they can build anything even close to what Marvel has with the rushed approach they're taking to the DCU.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, if worst comes to worst and they can't get Smith back for a full sequel, there's always this way out- Have Smith's character cameo in the second film to die, and have either avenging him or stopping whoever took him out before he can get the rest of them be the main motivation for the team in the second film.

Others could be contrived, of course, if that one is not to your liking.

[Jub]

Well, if worst comes to worst and they can't get Smith back for a full sequel, there's always this way out- Have Smith's character cameo in the second film to die, and have either avenging him or stopping whoever took him out before he can get the rest of them be the main motivation for the team in the second film.

Others could be contrived, of course, if that one is not to your liking.

It just feels like an odd way to build a franchise. Let's say that this movie is a hit and DC decides they want to spin off some of the suicide squad off into stand-alone movies. It feels odd to put in an actor like Smith because either you want to make a story about Deadshot and have to work around his schedule, because there is now way you look him up like Marvel did with their main cast, or you lose continuity by having to replace him for the next movie. This worked with Mark Ruffalo and the Hulk, mainly because nobody really liked the Hulk standalone movies anyway, but given how far behind DC is this just seems like an odd choice.

[Elheru Aran]

Well... Will Smith honestly hasn't been in any stand-out roles lately. There was Men in Black 3, and that's about it IIRC. The rest of his movies in past years? Either kinda lousy (I Am Legend, 7 Pounds) or shitty feel-good Oscar bait (Pursuit of Happyness). Hancock did OK, but it was a while ago. After Earth? Shit. Haven't seen Focus.

I think that while he's certainly got name recognition out there, he's not been in any really big and successful films lately. Perhaps he's willing to be more a part of a large cast in a summer blockbuster in order to get back out there.

As for Margot Robbie... wasn't she mostly famous for showing up naked in Wolf of Wall Street? Hardly a demanding role (though granted I haven't seen that movie so don't know much about her role).

[The Romulan Republic]

I only saw the movie once and it was a while ago, but from what I recall, her performance was fine. Dismissing it as "...showing up naked..." actually comes off as fairly sexist, though maybe that wasn't your intent.

[Elheru Aran]

Like I said, I haven't seen the film, haven't seen anything written about her performance other than "she's that girl that has sex with Leonardo Dicaprio". Apparently she portrays a character that he has an affair with and later marries. Not trying to be sexist, no, but just frankly haven't heard much at all about her, aside from co-starring in Focus with Will Smith, which again, haven't watched. So as far as I'm concerned she's basically a new face in the game, don't really have any preconceptions about her acting abilities.

[The Romulan Republic]

Well, I have seen Wolf of Wall Street, and while I don't recall a great deal about the quality of the acting, I also don't recall anything particularly bad about Robbie's performance. Sure, the nudity will get a lot of attention, but that doesn't mean that's all she's capable of.

She seems okay as Harley in the teaser for Suicide Squad. A little more sombre than the cartoon version of Harley I'm used to, but perhaps that's to be expected.

[Lagmonster]

I only saw the movie once and it was a while ago, but from what I recall, her performance was fine. Dismissing it as "...showing up naked..." actually comes off as fairly sexist, though maybe that wasn't your intent.

Even for actors who try to act their guts out in every film, there are some movies which are so forgettable or lazy or boring that they're referred to only by a fickle public as "that flick that so-and-so got naked in". For me, it's Swordfish. I can't remember half the plot or any of the characters, but I remember "that one scene". See also Sam Jackson getting eaten in Deep Blue Sea or Nic Cage yelling about bees in Wicker Man.

[SpottedKitty]

or Nic Cage yelling about bees in Wicker Man.

I don't remember him ever acting with Edward Woodward...