Suicide Squad Review

PG13: Sequences of Violence and Action Throughout, Disturbing Behavior, Suggestive Content and Language

Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Entertainment, RatPac Entertainment

2 Hrs and 10 Minutes

Cast: Will Smith, Margot Robbie,  Jay Hernandez, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney,  Jared Leto, Viola Davis, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, Cara Delevingne, Karen Fukuhara, Adam Beach with Ben Affleck, and Ezra Miller

A secret government agency led by Amanda Waller recruits imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency and saving the world from an unknown but powerful threat. 

REVIEW: With two film entires so far, the DC Extended Universe hasn’t been very successful. With the first two films being Man of Steel and Batman V. Superman, its good to get something new from somebody that isn’t Zack Snyder who is hanging this universe by a thread. Now with one of the summers most biggest release, Suicide Squad, will David Ayer’s infamous supervision crew save the DCEU?

THE GOOD: What is good about David Ayers films is that he can make a huge cast both interesting and charismatic which is something Zack Snyder failed to do with his DC films. With Suicide Squad, Ayers takes an large ensemble cast and puts most of them into good use. There are a lot of characters in this movie and seeing them interact with each other and have a some character depth.

The movie is entertaining enough where the interaction with all of these villains riffing on each other while doing this mission. The movie plays like a police procedural which Ayers is known for capturing the feel of especially since most movies in his filmography are of those types ( End of Watch, Sabotage, Training Day). The setting meshes well with the characters we are following with. 

Out of the entire cast the film has to offer, the limelight is really shined on Jay Hernandez who we just saw in Bad Moms very recently. His character El Diablo is mysterious, but when he explains his backstory and how his actions changed him, its genuinely sad. Even when he has to redeem himself, he takes charge of the film and shines so bright, he puts his costars in flames (pun intended). 

Besides Hernandez we have great character development from both Harley Quinn and Deadshot. With Deadshot, who is pretty much Will Smith with guns, he is charismatic and is the most sane and relatable bad guy to root for. He even has a moment where he jokes about white privilege that is not only true but actually hysterical. He has a lot of great lines of dialogue. Though they are unintentionally funny, his delivery on them makes you chuckle quite a bit. 

With Harley Quinn you really enter her psyche and how she became crazy, but also crazy in love with Joker. Though personally I question why through her various depictions whether its animated series or video games. She goes through a lot of growth in this film waiting for psychotic Prince Charming to take her away and screwing everybody over. Plus Margot Robbie’s performance of Quinn is outstanding. Her voice is not only perfect but her random and unexpected mannerismsbrings out the best in her character. 

THE BAD: What Suicide Squad really delivers is its characters. There are over 6 members of the Suicide Squad and only 3 of them have depth. The rest of the characters are just….there. Most of them exist as a benefit for another character appearance. Captain Boomerang is used in use for a superhero cameo in the beginning, but when he’s with the rest of the squad, he’s just there to say something funny or fight with an Aussie accent. In the trailer they teased Katana’s power for her sword that traps souls. In the film it is only mentioned but never seen or used at all. She is just a skilled swordsman who protects Rick Flag nothing more nothing less. She’s like Yukio in The Wolverine (which ironically that actress from that film portrayed Katana in Arrow). Slipknot is there as fast as you can say slit throat and that’s pretty much it. He’s used as an example of consequence than as an actual character.

You all may be wondering how is the Joker. How is Jared Leto’s Joker? Answer is I don’t know you tell me, because he’s not in the film long enough to make a judgement. The film is 130 minutes and Joker is in it for barely over ten. At least with Civil War, the 10 minutes of Spiderman was shown for good use. Joker’s only purpose to be in the film is to give dimension and character development to Harley. As an conceptual idea it is very smart to get know the psychology of Harley Quinn, but as a fanboy, its really angering because ITS THE FUCKING JOKER ONE OF THE MOST UNIVERSALLY LOVED VILLAINS OF ALL TIME! There is even a problem with the dynamic between Robbie’s Quinn and Leto’s Joker because they are playing their characters at two different speeds where it doesn’t go well together. With Harley she’s perfectly animated as in Robbie plays her more close to the 90s Batman Animated Series version whereas Leto plays Joker as a gangster mob boss whose just psychotic. There’s even a song by Kehlani entitled Gansta which plays in a scene between the two. Their dynamic together is very hard to believe in a film like this to a point that not only its slightly uncomfortable but it nearly becomes off puddin’.

As I said the film moves like a police procedural. But it also moves like a generic summer blockbuster. The number one thing about this film I was excited for was how different it was going to be from all the superhero films Marvel and DC are doing, but I guess with supervillains they have to follow the same formula too. The film’s climax is the same as the climax of Ghostbusters, and The Avengers, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the list goes on. Its the “one powerful villain is gonna take over the world with a large beam and we have to destroy it while fighting the villain itself” type of climax. And the villain is Enchantress played by Cara Delevingne. Yes Cara Delevingne is the villain. Not Jared Leto. Not Viola Davis. Cara Delevingne. And she’s extremely weak. Granted she looks good with all the effects and her costume, but as a villain she is as bland as every Marvel villain that wasn’t Loki or Zemo (DC doesn’t have much villains to compare her two).

With the action there isn’t a sense of much fun or urgency. As much it pains me to say, but at least with Batman V. Superman, there was a sense of urgency which led to really great action sequences. This film doesn’t have the amazing warehouse scene BvS or the Wonder Woman V Doomsday scene that had. With this it’s just the Suicide Squad vs. Enchantress’s army who are just reskinned humans that are killed so quickly. The action is just dull and generic which takes a bad effect on the film itself. They may be choreographed well, but its nothing short than everything we’ve seen before. 

LAST STATEMENT: David Ayer’s Suicide Squad delivers on creating some (but not enough) complicated characters and a lighter tone than the first films of the DCEU, but fails to provide enough action and story that doesn’t shy itself away from falling to the trope of a generic summer blockbuster.

Rating: 2.5/5 | 57%

Super Scene: WITNESS THE TRUE POWER OF EL DIABLO