Suicide Squad Review

Starring: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cara Delevigne

Suicide Squad is one of the most anticipated releases of 2016. An adaptation of the DC comic book team of the same name, Suicide Squad teams up famed Batman villains Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, El Diablo, Killer Croc, Enchantress, Katana, and of course....Harley Quinn and the Joker. A lot of the fascination with the film was driven by its comedic marketing campaign, as well as the innovative performances by Jared Leto as the Joker, and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. The commercial and critical disappointment of Batman v Superman also fueled interest, as director David Ayer promised a difference in the somber and serious tone of the DC universe thus far. The numerous trailers, characters, and songs really made Suicide Squad break every August record possible, and score one of the biggest openings ever. Then the reviews hit. I saw Suicide Squad late, so I had already witnessed the horde of negativity towards the film. And it wasn't different between critics and fans. The 27% score on  RottenTomatoes was echoed by disappointed fans. I tried to have an open mind for Suicide Squad, but there was just so much riding on this film for me. I am constantly frustrated with the DC superhero movies rushing their storylines. Suicide Squad was hopefully going to be the new beginning...but it's just another road block. It's not a step back, and actually isn't horrible. Their are salvageable parts that make it an enjoyable movie. It doesn't deserve as low as 27%. But it truly is a disappointment in the long run, and DC fails to live to expectations once again.

I think the Joker and Harley Quinn deserve their own section. I really liked the portrayal of Harley Quinn. I think the Harley that I saw in the cell, and in the training was the Harley I'm familiar with. But I don't think her relationship with the Joker was particular believable. It was very thinly crafted. I had no introduction to their relationship because it starts somewhere in the middle. I think the claim Davis' Amanda Waller made that she was "crazier" than the Joker was interesting. This Joker was definitely a little more subdued. But the claim was never really explored. Harley didn't always seem crazy, she seemed as if she were stumbling around sometimes. I loved Margot Robbie's mannerisms, but I hated her accent. It was so bad, and basically a different accent every time she opened her mouth. The Brooklyn accent never really stuck. Now to the Joker. I didn't love Jared Leto's performance, but I see that it could possibly be improved with more screen time. The true casualty is that he's barely in the movie. It's disappointing, because so many people are intrigued by a new Joker, and one that is innovative, but closer to the comics' roots than Jokers before him. He's a gangster, and that's an angle not seen since Nicholson played the character. Breathing life into a character that could have died with Heath Ledger is a huge selling point for any movie, and the ad campaign for this film capitalized on it. But no one could emerge from this film truly "loving" this Joker, because he barely gave a performance. This Joker is a far departure from Ledger's performance, but it doesn't commit to a new direction. I was mostly confused about where Leto's Joker stood, but I think the future installments will do him justice. I love that the Joker with Harley is finally hitting the big screen.

There's no doubt that this is a talented cast. But I believe only one person emerges unscathed, and that's Viola Davis. As Amanda Waller, she expertly blended menace with insanity. She was one crazy woman, but one no one would ever cross. Davis has proved time and time again she's a talented actress, and this was no exception. While Nick Fury assembled the Avengers and left them to their own devices, Waller really is ingrained in their actions, always watching them and messing with them. Then there's Rick Flagg, played by Kinnaman. He does nothing. He has no superpowers, and though he claims the Suicide Squad works for him, Waller foils him constantly. It just makes him look like an idiot. He's dating June Moon, aka Enchantress: the film's main villain. Cara Delevigne was probably the worst part of the entire movie. She deserves her own paragraph, but it was truly pathetic. Killer Croc, Katana, Slipknot, and Boomerang also had nothing to do. They shined in certain places, but overall they contributed nothing to the team. Slipknot even was the first to die, in a death so obvious you could see it coming a mile away. And El Diablo didn't even shine. He never fought until the end, in a random twist with a thin backstory and loose morals. It just wasn't interesting. Every action scene proved it was "The Will Smith Show." He had the backstory, the motivation, and the star power. He was alright. I didn't hate him, but I didn't love him, as he was a little too one-dimensional. It felt like the studio was so obviously "shoving him down my throat", and I just didn't care for his character. The sad part of Suicide Squad's team is that so many people feel useless. In Marvel, even if the heroes are less powered (i.e. Black Widow, Hawkeye), they still feel useful to the audience. They have intellect, and tactics that make them seem valuable. Only about three members of the Suicide Squad felt like they could really do damage, and were necessary.

Where to begin with Enchantress? She was a member of the Squad that was so obviously going to turn evil. It's the old worn-out story of another personality controlling someone to be evil and fight their allies. The ad campaign tried to hide it. They pulled the old "bait and switch", teasing us with a Joker and flipping at the last second. She was controlled by her heart outside of her body, in a case held by Waller. The scene where Waller stabs the heart with a pen to try and kill her was so pathetic. I rolled my eyes and laughed, because it was so ridiculous. It was such a stupid idea. I also don't understand how that same heart (now stabbed) could be given to Enchantress and still be viable. As for Delevigne, she barely acted. It was a different voice than hers, speaking in a made-up language and hula dancing like a cheesy showgirl. It was just yet another CGI villain with NO motivation, NO morals (be them good or evil), NO feasible plan but to destroy everything, and NO sensible way of achieving that plan. She even fights a different CGI monster. It reminded me of the worst Transformers scenes imaginable, except not even action-packed. DC has great villains! Batman has great villains! So why was this opportunity wasted? There is nothing salvageable from Enchantress, and her involvement in the movie is what dooms it. Just like Doomsday in Batman v Superman, she's a third-act CGI antagonist. The studio so obviously switched the original plot of the Joker to the Enchantress story. I'll never understand the reasoning, and it further frustrates me. Where DC was supposed to correct its mistakes, it just makes the same ones over again.

So is Suicide Squad really bad? It's not, but it's certainly not great. I can't say I'd ever see it again, so that's the failure of a superhero blockbuster. These are supposed to have re-watchability. Everything good is just overshadowed by horrible executive decisions. This version of the movie is not the version I saw in the trailers that got me excited. I heard that the executives really came and sliced it up, and they removed everything great. Harley Quinn would have been perfect in medium doses, but she's so over-the-top it's kinda stressful, even if I did like what she did with the character. The Joker doesn't even have a chance to make an impact. Will Smith is front-and-center for some reason. The musical soundtrack deafens the audience with rap verses. A stupid subplot with a generic villain weighs the whole film down. This movie had so much potential. Just listen to "Heathens" by twenty one pilots and watch the trailer. That's the best version of the movie you'll ever see.

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