The revelation of the National Security Agency’s surveillance on Americans’ phone calls seemed like something you’d see in a Hollywood spy movie rather than hear on the news. And thanks to the program’s outing last month, Hollywood has brought the NSA to the silver screen — incorporating reality into the trailer for Bruce Willis’ new action spy movie, “Red 2.”
The preview, released July 10, incorporates President Barack Obama’s June 19 press conference regarding the NSA’s surveillance program in which he assured Americans that “nobody is listening to your telephone calls.”
The opening scene features Obama’s comments as Bruce Willis answers a ringing telephone.
The trailer then continues with the president stating “the people involved in America’s national security take this work very seriously,” as clips show explosions and actress Helen Mirren recklessly firing guns out of a car window.
The trailer aimed to poke fun at the NSA scandal and the Obama Administration, notably in a scene where the president states that “these individuals take their jobs very seriously” as two apparent spies foolishly and hilariously drive their car down a narrow alleyway and get stuck.
But as Mediaite noted, one of the best uses of Obama’s speech in the trailer comes after he says “we’re going to have to make some choices,” referring to finding a balance between security and liberties. Ironically, at the same time, a bomb expert in the trailer is trying to decide which wire to cut to prevent Bruce Willis and himself from dying.
He eventually decides to cuts both, which could be a possible allusion to Obama’s failure to strike the essential balance between security and liberty.
Despite the trailer’s humor, some YouTube users were not amused and felt that it made a joke out of a serious issue.
“You don’t get it do you?” YouTube user Genrecreation Tux commented on the trailer. “They’re making you laugh with the scandal, it doesn’t matter that it’s parodying Obama; the fact is… They make you laugh. This gives you a good feeling about the movie, about the NSA from now on…”
Watch the trailer below.
