As promised, we now have an official theatrical trailer for Justice League. And yeah, it’s basically every bit what the first general audiences sell needed it to be. I do not know when this trailer will start showing in actual movie theaters, but if it doesn’t go out next week with Ghost in the Shell I imagine it won’t be any later than the April 14th debut of Universal/Comcast Corp.’s The Fate of the Furious. So yeah, I will absolutely be taking the first opportunity to see this on an IMAX screen, providing I don’t see a variation on this trailer next week at CinemaCon. The question is whether it will move the needle for those burned by great trailers to disappointing DC Comics films.
This is a dynamite trailer that is absolutely the best of both worlds. The song choice is a little obvious, but this looks like buckets of goofy fun.
It’s clear lighter, jokier, and less grim than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Perhaps more importantly, much of that humor comes from just having its would-be Super Friends just talk to each other in actual conversations, something that was comparatively missing in both of Zack Snyder’s prior DC Films offerings. That’s just one reason I rather liked Jesse Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor, by the way, because his character had actual interesting dialogue and engaging back-and-forth chit-chats with Holly Hunter and others while everyone else spoke mostly in short sentences or merely to advance the plot. There is at least some actual person-to-person dialogue in this trailer, which is a big plus.
So yeah, Affleck and Gadot seem to have a warm and respectful chemistry, while the mere notion of Bruce Wayne’s previously “God-Damned Batman” actually asking for help humanizes him to a noticeable degree. They may be overdoing the “not your father’s Aquaman” shtick, since we should remember that there have been at least two generations that have grown up with an Aquaman far distanced from the Superfriends version. Be it Justice League or Batman: The Brave and the Bold or 20+ years of comic book lore, quite a few fans and general moviegoers are at least somewhat aware of the notion of an outrageously awesome Aquaman.
But the trailer doesn’t neglect the other key component, which is larger-than-life spectacle and a visual palette that suggests a grand and momentous adventure in the making. As you know if you read my original theatrical review (and any number of posts over the last year), I almost gave Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice a soft pass purely due to how much I enjoyed looking at its blood-and-thunder, IMAX-friendly visuals. Zack Snyder and Larry Fong put together a jaw-droppingly gorgeous motion picture, something that clearly wanted to be the grandest superhero movie ever made. And while Fong was busy making Kong: Skull Island a visual delight, Fabian Wagner has stepped in seemingly without missing a beat.
As I said last year, I very much wanted a DC Film franchise in the visual style of Snyder’s first two films, especially the sequel. If you’re going to give us a Justice League movie in a world that already has The Avengers, you’ve got to up the ante not so much in terms of special effects or action, but in scale and melodramatic pretentiousness. I want a little “Twilight of the Gods” in my Justice League, a little grandiose mythmaking in my mega-budget superhero team up movie. I want a film where we get that Hunchback of Notre Dame theme full-blast whenever any superhero so much as walks through a door.
Because otherwise you’re just doing The Avengers with the characters for which you happen to have to rights. So, if this trailer is exactly what the doctor ordered, does that mean anything at all? See, this is where Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc.’s long history of superb tentpole marketing is going to potentially bite them in the butt.
The good news is that this is a great trailer. The bad news is that most DC Comics films have had great trailers over the decades. The Tim Burton/Joel Schumacher Batman movies had beloved/trail-blazing trailers. Heck, even Batman & Robin had a decent second trailer that deemphasized the camp and highlighted Alfred talking to Bruce about death. The first Superman Returns teaser is a modern classic, and the third The Dark Knight Rises trailer may be my favorite Batman movie trailer ever. The Man of Steel trailers were awe-inspiring and even Batman v Superman had (mostly) great trailers. Suicide Squad had such great theatrical trailers that they ended up hurting the actual movie.
Sure, there have been bad DC Comics trailers here and there, such as that first and fatal Green Lantern teaser or that infamous first Batman & Robin trailer and that awkwardly cut together first Dark Knight Rises teaser. But they are vastly outnumbered by the superb sells for Watchmen, The Dark Knight and Suicide Squad among others. I’ll be honest, I’m half concerned/half-relieved by the comparatively “meh” Wonder Woman trailers (well, mostly that it’s the same trailer three times). On one hand, might this mean that a weaker marketing campaign will bring a superior movie? On the other, is this a Green Lantern situation where they are showing all that they have to offer?
But that’s for another day. For the moment, we now have a pretty solid theatrical trailer for Justice League. This is a terrific “works on its own as a stand-alone piece of entertainment” marketing item as well as a strong enticement for the film being sold. But will it move the needle? While a good Justice League trailer is much more helpful than a bad one (see, again, Green Lantern), the fanbase will be there no matter what. And those thrice burned by Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and Suicide Squad have reason to be wary thanks to the recent past of great trailers for disappointing films.
So, we’ll see how long Warner Bros. can go before we get another sneak peak. I’d like to think they can hold off until at least the SDCC although (speculation alert) I can’t imagine them not having something ready for Wonder Woman, although I would advise something similar to Captain America: The First Avengers’ post-credit tease. But with the caveat that we won’t know much until folks actually start seeing the movie, this is a good start. I hope they pull this off. I still love these characters and a DC Films comeback will be a lot more fun to write about than another high-profile artistic whiff.
I can’t believe I am about to type this sentence, but… I hope the Justice League movie is at least as good as the Power Rangers movie.
