Suicide Squad Review

Let the record show that I was not a naysayer of Suicide Squad nor am I some sort of D.C. "hater", which is the quick and misguided label applied to anyone with a negative opinion towards any of the three films from the DCEU thus far. Initially I had little to no faith in this project, as the occasional release of a set or promotional photo looked more like a group of Juggalos passing around a bottle of Faygo than any film I would be interested in, but after a trailer or two I bought in. Suicide Squad looked like a good bit of fun. Bring it on.

It starts like a bad dream. 20 or so minutes of character exposition, all set to random but recognizable music cues that fall on deaf ears because the images they are being played over do so little to inspire. 2 minutes of writing off the plan of Amanda Walker (Viola Davis). Don't be silly, Amanda. Those freaks are criminals. They can't be trusted. Cara Delevingne turns into a witch, and for 30 or so seconds she shows off her powers, and somehow this is enough to flip the consensus opinion of the plan. Stamp of approval. It's clearly their only hope. Just like that, a glowing creature appears and its tentacles are fierce. A lot of people die. Minutes ago they were unacceptable dangers to our society, but what the hell. Call in the Suicide Squad.

There you have it. That's how the plot of Suicide Squad is established. It starts like a bad dream but by the end this baby is pretty much a full blown nightmare.

The movie is written and directed by David Ayer, and it's the former that is far more embarrassing than the latter. This screenplay was dead on arrival, filled with exposition and messy nonsense and edgy quips trying to sell t-shirts at Hot Topic but none of it is all that interesting, and speaking of uninteresting, how about these characters? Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn makes up roughly 90 percent of what I enjoyed about this film as her performance is spot on and she does have a presence that makes the frame slightly less ugly and drab, and the other 10 percent is some amalgamation of Will Smith's performance as Deadshot, which was occasionally good, and the relationship he had with his daughter that added some stakes to this film that desperately needed more. Not only is there nothing to root for, there isn't even anything compelling about the rest of the people on the screen. Jai Courtney as Boomerang, which is a neat thing for a bad ass villain to have...a boomerang. Jay Hernandez as Diablo whom they tried so hard to give emotional meaning to but none of it resonates. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc who is not only a painfully lame character but also a cringe-worthy racial stereotype, something that was already uncomfortably obvious before they made his one request from the government access to the BET channel. Cara Delevingne as June Moore/Enchantress, probably the worst thing in the entire film and that's really saying something.

Last and very nearly least, Jared Leto as the Joker. Remember those stories coming out for months before Suicide Squad was released about how he was leaving dead animals in costars dressing rooms and mailing bondage porn to crew members or some shit? All as some sort of process for a method actor to "become the character"? Not only is he barely in the film, but sadly that's a good thing. Leto plays the character like Jim Carrey from The Mask doing his best Tony Montana impression and it's shockingly bad. I was stunned, wondering if we really have to see this version of such a legendary character become a bigger part of a cinematic universe that I want to keep following? Perhaps another director, say Ben Affleck in his future solo Batman film, can bring the best out of Leto later on. The David Ayer helmed version felt like a guy who comes to your Halloween party in costume and 20 minutes later you are making small talk with other people hoping he won't come around because his act grew weary in a hurry.

Also, can we address the nonsense of including dialogue about how they need the Suicide Squad in case a new Superman were to arrive with violent intentions? A psychopath swinging a baseball bat, a guy who is a perfect shot with guns, a dude with a boomerang, a woman with a samurai sword and a human crocodile. That'll do it. If Superman were to lose his powers and be involved in a bar fight, sure, they've got this, but how could they possibly stand their ground against a God that soars through the sky? Yes, by the way, I am aware that Enchantress is included in the recruitment of the team and she actually does have powers, but if they really thought she was capable of bringing down Superman, why the others as well? They need a powerful witch AND a crazy girl with a Louisville Slugger?

Terribly edited, sloppy in execution and completely devoid of almost anything that could even get me to crack a smile, Suicide Squad is saved from being a total disaster by a completely watchable and fun performance from Margot Robbie, but she isn't enough to actually elevate this film to a level I could even come close to calling "good". I couldn't believe how often the writers ask Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) to literally announce a character's name and what their skill set was to the team. The biggest laugh I had was the line "Here comes Slipknot, the man who can climb anything." as they just toss a new character into the mix sans fanfare after spending the entire first act of the film introducing these bad guys with flashy graphics. What I particularly loved is specifically the skill: "the man who can climb anything". Assemble a team to try to stop a galactic god, make sure to find a spot for "the man who can climb anything". Holy shit.

It's a bummer because I honestly wanted to have a blast with Suicide Squad, but it came close to doing nothing for me. I would watch a Harley Quinn solo film mostly because I wanted to see more of the character's backstory on the screen. The fact that she was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum prior to her own evolution into insanity is fascinating, yet Suicide Squad addresses this with a couple quick and totally forgettable scenes meant to establish the relationship between her and the Joker. Out of all the 7 or so scenes that Leto's Joker is in, every last one of them either bored me or made me laugh for all the wrong reasons. Terrible.

Suicide Squad is a bad film, completing a rough 2016 for the DCEU, and I actually really enjoy Batman v Superman (especially the Ultimate Edition on Blu-ray). Still, that film could have been better yet it's a masterpiece compared to this one. I really, really hope Wonder Woman lives up to it's wonderful first trailer. Perhaps she can be the saving grace of a universe of cinema I really want to see succeed.





1.5/5