So, I may have missed a day unfortunately and even a post last week, but this week, I’ll make up for it! This choice was a bit of an odd one though, as it’s only a trailer that BARELY any news as of recently. But I caught this trailer yesterday and I had to ABSOLUTELY talk about it. The fantastic animation, the build up to what the story could be, all of it was executed way too perfectly for me to ignore. Alright, so let’s get into it. Here’s the trailer:
Starting off, this is a trailer for a video game. When I had first come across this trailer, I had been confused on whether or not this was a sequel to that interesting mediocre movie from 2016. Gladly, I was indubitably surprised to hear that it was a game, and even moreover, it was a game being made by Rocksteady. For anyone unfamiliar with them, Rocksteady is a video game company that’s been profoundly successful, especially due to the Batman Arkham series.
Regardless, the quality of the animation is astounding, just because at first glance, you can’t really tell if it’s a live action film or not. Everyone moves realistically and fluently, and lighting and tone really matter in this setting, as it’s first set in Metropolis. So it’s really fun to see them move, but I really want to talk about how they act. The characters are Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, and Deadshot. The casting of the actors is perfect, as the actors themselves do a REALLY good job with giving a feel for the characters they play. Tara Strong as Harley will never be a bad cast, and while Captain Boomer and Deadshot don’t have confirmed actors yet, King Shark is voiced by Samoa Joe, who is a WWE superstar.
But the part I’m most concerned about is the story. There is PLENTY of foreshadowing going on within the trailer, even if the title is “Kill the Justice League”. Amanda Waller, director of the Suicide Squad tells Harley that “Air support is being cut to pieces” implying that the threat is in the air. The entire group does not want to do whatever Waller is telling them to, despite the seriousness of the situation, and this is entirely portrayed with how they act. Boomerang just sitting down, Harley playing around with Waller, and Deadshot gearing up for the next battle. King Shark finding interest in balloons…? They joke around with one another, giving us some very great character interactions, and then Waller demands them to pursue their target. they start fighting together. All of them are killing foes left and right as if it were nothing, while music is bumping in the background, and they fight all in sync.
Then, as the music fades out, they come to a building where Harley begs the question of who it is they should be fighting. A helicopter is destroyed right before them and when all the smoke is cleared, you see Superman holding a pilot. At this part, the trailer takes advantage of what you know about him and portrays his stance to be heroic and noble. King Shark even exclaims that the “mighty Superman saved” the pilot. But after the fanfare, there’s a tonal shift, and Superman KILLS the pilot. My favorite detail is that if you look back before the crash, you’d actually SEE the silhouette of Superman zooming through helicopters, just like a missile.
There’s SO MUCH more I’d love to get into about this trailer, but this is already WAY too long of an article. But THIS is how you present a trailer. Great setup, and wonderful build-up, while also world building in between, for a fantastic pay off in the end. Game trailers have been done for years and some serve as homages to the games they are for, others do not do what this one has. So I very much appreciate this one and look forward to what the game has in store!
GREENSBORO COLLEGE ART COLUMN 