Independence Day: Resurgence 2nd Trailer Breakdown

Edited by Robert Beach 

One of the weird trends of the 2010s has been a, let us say, complicated relationship with the pop cultural touchstones of the 1990s. To be clear, I don’t think anyone really has complicated feelings about revisiting the actual content produced in the ‘90s.  Ask any given 20-something and they’ll undoubtedly talk your ear off about how amazing Animaniacs or Power Rangers was. Even today’s subject, Independence Day, still commands a tidal wave of affection from the ‘90s kids who grew up watching it on TNT. I know because I’m one of them. 

No, when I say complicated, I mean in terms of how much we’d like to actually recreate or continue the various elements of our collective misspent ‘90s youth. Sometimes attempts to perpetuate ‘90s mythos are met with love and success like the ongoing Pokemon phenomena or the massive success of Jurassic World, while other times the only response is disgust and derision like last year’s twin flops of Goosebumps and Terminator Genisys or the X-Files revival. This year seems set to make what could be the definitive statement on the question of audience reaction to ‘90s revivals with the upcoming sequel to Independence Day, which now has a new trailer. 

Suicide Squad Trailer 3

Edited By Robert Beach

As I write this, it’s been a little over three weeks since Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice came out, and the overall response has been different than what was expected. This was intended to be the NEW start to the DC movie universe, much like Man of Steel before it and Green Lantern before that. Obviously, that doesn’t seem to be happening.  Critics spent a week or so savaging the film while general audiences reacted with a resounding “meh?” What’s more, the movie struggled to make a major box office impact and failed to open as large as it should’ve in China. 

Finally, upon being knocked out of the #1 spot by Melissa McCarthy’s new comedy The Boss, the writing is more or less on the wall for Batman v. Superman. Obviously, this doesn’t mean the end of the entire DCEU as more films are already in various stages of production now, but it does mean DC is in damage control and course correction mode as all eyes turn to Suicide Squad, just in time for a brand new trailer.

Panel Vision - Suicide Squad Guide

So, Suicide Squad is on the way and we’re starting to get a pretty good idea of what to expect.  After the unmitigated disaster that was Batman v. Superman following up a 2 year silence in the wake of Man of Steel’s soft landing with audiences, DC/WB really need a big hit with Suicide Squad if they’re to remain a solvent business going into the tail end of this decade.  

As such, Suicide Squad seems to be trying to pull off an incredibly tricky double act of existing within/expanding the established DC cinematic universe of Man of Steel/Batman v. Superman while also trying to add serious amounts of personality and levity to one of the grimmest worlds in cinema today. 

We’ll see if it actually pulls that ambitious goal off in the end but for now I figured I’d give you a guide to the various members of this cinematic Suicide Squad, owing to how little we’ve learned about them from the trailers.  The only folks I won’t be covering are Harley Quinn and the Joker as I suspect they’ve been around long enough and visible enough for everyone to already know what their deal is. 

Suicide Squad Trailer 2

This is going to be an odd year for superhero films.  Previous years have been defined by major throwdowns like Dark Knight Rises against Avengers or attempts from smaller studios to reassert dominance like X-Men: Days of Future Past or Amazing Spider-Man 2.  This year, we’ve still got some of that, in particular this is the year Batman v. Superman will go toe-to-toe with Captain America: Civil War, but there’s way more weirdness and offbeat entries this year.  In February we’ll be seeing Fox take a chance on Internet love with Deadpool, a movie that only got made thanks to the positive response to a leaked trailer.  Then in November Marvel will throw its hat into the fantasy arena with Dr. Strange. 

And in August DC makes its first attempt to implement this whole “movie universe” approach with Suicide Squad, about a team of super villains conscripted by the government for high risk missions.  Even amongst all the other weirdness Suicide Squad has been the odd man out, mainly thanks to a very bizarre marketing campaign that followed up the first, and pretty interesting, trailer with a ton of images that made the movie look both gritty and ridiculous.  Now we’ve got a second trailer and the film looks…well it still looks gritty and ridiculous but now in the best way possible.

Independence Day: Resurgence Trailer

The odd thing about movies being something that’s enjoyed by a wide age group is that while some trends represent genuine progress forward and new tastes nostalgia from the recently moneyed ends up an equally if not more powerful market force.  That particular truth is why the 2010s have ended up such a breeding ground for ‘90s nostalgia, or ‘90stalgia as I lovingly call it.  X-Files is back, Jurassic Park is back, Godzilla is back, Power Rangers is on the way, and now we’ve got the first trailer for the triumphant return of possibly the most important ‘90s blockbuster ever made Independence Day. 

Suicide Squad Gets Empire Magazine Covers

In case you didn’t know, DC Comics is looking to start up their own shared universe of films and characters to rival that of Marvel studios.  So far this shared universe experiment has been pretty abysmal as the sole entry so far is the terrible Man of Steel and the pretty bad looking upcoming film Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  However, DC has one other flick waiting in the wings to make a splash in the DC shared universe pool and that flick is Suicide Squad.  Scheduled for release late next summer with David Ayer directing Suicide Squad is an adaptation of the DC universe team of the same name, a government developed squad of villains designed to be sent out on high risks missions with the thinking being that because all the squad members are villains they’re powerful but also expendable. 

The trailer for that film leaked earlier this summer to a lot of praise though none of it was from me because I actually don’t think Suicide Squad looks very good but we’ll get more into that later.  Anyway, DC seems decidedly desperate to remind everyone this shared universe experiment is going to happen so they’ve started actively promoting Suicide Squad with a series of snazzy Empire Magazine covers featuring tactical team leader Deadshot, played by Will Smith, team wildcard the Joker, played by Jared Leto, Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie, and, for some reason, Enchantress, played by Cara Delevingne. 

Movie Monthly - Last Man on Earth

Edited by Robert Beach

In 1954, titan of science fiction Richard Matheson redefined the zombie/apocalypse genre with his horror novel I Am Legend. Even to this day, I Am Legend stands as one of the best examples of both zombie storytelling and post-apocalyptic imagination. Given the impact the novel’s had, it makes sense that it’d see a film adaptation. Most people are probably familiar with the 2007 Will Smith adaptation of the same name. 

Despite the gloss and glamour surrounding that film, it’s actually not very representative of Matheson’s novel; it’s also not the only adaptation of the story. Previously, there was Omega Man, a 1971 film starring Charlton Heston as part of his post-apocalypse trilogy (alongside Soylent Green and Planet of the Apes.) However, the first adaptation of Matheson’s novel was the 1964 Italian horror film The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price, and it is incredible. 

Shaft comedy in the works

New Line Cinema has announced they’re planning to do a reboot of the blaxploitation cult classic Shaft.  The original Shaft became a hit as a sort of Black James Bond action flick in the ‘70s and is probably the best iteration of the blaxploitation genre (aside from possibly Blacula.)  The original Shaft was a strong hit, spawning 2 sequels in Shaft’s Big Score and Shaft in Africa.  Since then Shaft was remade in the ‘90s starring Samuel L. Jackson as a slickly produced action flick with a hard R rating.  This new iteration of the character has attracted the creator of Black-ish Kenya Barris as the writer and the studio has stated they’re aiming for a more comedic tone. 

This decision has been met with a pretty wide array of responses, some have voiced apathy at the prospects of a new Shaft film while others have felt downright outraged over this approach to the classic character.  Me?  I’m firmly entrenched in the angry side of the divide, this strikes me as a thoroughly tone deaf approach to the material with very little to redeem it to say nothing of setting a really bad precedent.