Suicide Squad Review

Our expectations were high, and the stakes were even higher. The DC cinematic universe had already taken a massive loss with it’s head honcho powerhouses ultimately failing. Controversy sparked when news came out that studio executives and producers were meddling with the production of the film due to panic from their unexpected losses. With the studio in full damage control, Suicide Squad was butchered in the editing room, and David Ayer was forced to redo the tone of the movie due to an opposing screening. The ultimate result was a combination of both Ayer’s version and the version appealing to the opinions from the screening. So the last vital question is whether Ayer miraculously succeeded in a faithful adaption and finally placed a strong addition to the DC cinematic universe despite all of the hurdles placed by the producers themselves.

Now let us remind ourselves of the importance of not shooting the messenger, for doing so will not do justice to the problem itself. Suicide is a mediocre film. Now let me repeat as many fans or individuals who were enthralled by the trailers might believe these blasphemous accusation heresy: Suicide Squad is a mediocre film. Does it try? Sure! It has a lot of great aspects to it and does slightly encompass a wide batch of decent characters, but there are so many elements holding back the film that it is difficult to call it a good film; except that, as viewers used to mediocrity in the cinemas, we may be able to excuse this. As such I am here to contrast and figure out if the good outways the bad.

The initial scenes feature our colorful cast both literally and figuratively, with their varying clothing and personalities. It is blatantly apparent early on that our two ‘main’ characters are the gunslinger Deadshot and—our soon to be favorite mischievous character—Harley Quinn. Deadshot is depicted by Will Smith (who turned down the role as Captain Steven in the Independence Day sequel for this particular role) and as expected is one of the clear positives to the movie. Margot Robbie, aka Harley Quinn, from early hype was expected to be the highlight of the film after her casting announcement, where both DC fans and Robbie enthusiasts applauded the decision; however, her role is about just as much developed as you would see in the trailer.

Harley Quinn and most of the characters suffer from underdeveloped introductions. Through the methods of quick editing, we only see about a minute of how the characters ended up in their infamous reputations. However, we end up with a mess of chaotic and low quality scenes, with the exception of Will Smith’s opening as Deadshot. Here, we see a conflicted man, stuck between the forces of his innocent but caring daughter and a rough relationship with her mother. Deadshot joins the team and this gives him the income to support his daughter, and this character receives a fair depiction of classic villianary antics.

This is one of the things the film does right. In which it does respectfully credit the original source material, instead of sidestepping their iconic comic roots. It’s safe to say that all characters featured in the movie are given this same treatment, which honestly feels great to announce. Though, it still keeps some of the elements we saw in the disappointing Batman Vs Superman, Dawn of Justice, such as the fear of a supernatural threat or the grim atmosphere all movies since Man of Steel have traditionally kept. This could alter your opinion on the movie but it only plays a minor role.

I can’t say the same for the plot, which is by far the weakest aspect of the movie. It pains me to say this, but it is strikingly similar to films such as the new Fantastic Four, which is a strong and quite depressing statement to hear if you are familiar with the film. We have a giant light in the sky and a weak villain with a generic motive;this is where we see the story decline rapidly into a pathetic conclusion. Trailers could have never given a hint of the poorly structured narrative, which is why this negative aspect is most surprising. Unfortunately, hyped up parts of the movie have been also disappointing.

Batman, played by Ben Affleck himself, shows up for MAYBE 2 minutes, if even THAT. While it was never abundantly clear whether Batman’s inclusion would be a major role - which would have been a plus as he was by far the best part of his former film Batman Vs Superman - he didn’t recieve any time to redeem the film in any way, making his appearance only a way to further move the cinematic universe instead of the film itself.

Jared Leto’s role as The Joker could only be described as useless. Practically all of his scenes lead to no real progress in the film, and makes me wonder if his addition was only used to further hype the fans and diehard followers. Previously, we’ve seen renditions of the characters in the DC franchise done with passion and, regardless of a faithful adaption, executed in a brilliant way. However, this Joker receives no time to fully develop a worthy addition to the movie. It makes sense that some characters had more time than others, but when it came to a an important character such as The Joker, it can only be seen as a waste.

There’s not much else to say about Suicide Squad when talking about redeeming aspects; Jai Courtney as Boomerang was not as bad as everyone hoped, so that’s a positive. Also both Viola Davis and especially Jay Hernandez pulled some pretty fair acting as Amanda Walker and El Diablo, respectfully; though all three characters were weakened somehow by the plot, whether it be a cringe induced backstory, or just unclear motive.

The best word I can call this film is forgettable, which a real shame for I also believed that this film had the potential to top other superhero films that came out this year. Oh, and if you’re curious on whether this mindset might have interfered in my final verdict, I can say I was already aware of the negative backlash from critics, which lowered my expectations. The movie falls flat on too many fronts including weak characters, insultingly bad plot, and overall just a lackluster experience. I don’t expect people to outright hate the film, but the film is nowhere near as memorable as perhaps Thor 2. Here’s hoping that DC can pick itself up - which it seems it might with the Justice League and Wonder Woman films trailers which were recently released- after another let down.

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