'Suicide Squad' is the third movie in the new DC Extended Universe. I've not been overly impressed with the slate so far so I went into 'Suicide Squad' really hoping that this movie would start to change my view on the franchise. Unfortunately, 'Suicide Squad' only continues that poor run of form.
Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is a U.S intelligence officer who pitches the idea of using some of the worlds cruelest supervillains to form a team to use in secret, dangerous missions. The team consists of the lunatic Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), deadly hitman Deadshot (Will Smith) and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) as well as other deadly inmates who must work together or they will be killed. Known as 'Task Force X', the group must come together against an unknown and powerful entity. Meanwhile, The Joker (Jared Leto) hatches his own plan to be reunited once again with his true love Harley Quinn.
One of the most anticipated movies of the year and one that fans were all eagarly looking forward to. Unfortunately, Suicide Squad now goes into the list of the years disappointments. With such great potential due to great characters, fantastic actors- including an Academy Award winner- and a fairly credible director, this film had the makings to be great. Instead, it wasn't even good.
The film is based on the idea of all of these terrible people coming together to form a disfunctional team. Now that is a very interesting premise and one we haven't seen in the superhero genre. However the film doesn't keep on track with this and does not carry it through the full movie. The villains act like villains at the start but as the film progresses, they don't seem bad at all. With the characters backstories, they all seem to be fighting now for good causes with even one of them refusing to inflict harm until he absoutely has to. The team not only stop their crazy antics but seem to now get on perfectly fine, even being unselfish and helping each other out. The aspect of them not getting on went quickly out the window which could've been a very entertaining part of the film which bizarrely, they failed to capatalise on.
Suicide Squad takes on the tough task of including multiple characters all at once. Two in particular really take centre stage with Deadshot and Harley Quinn getting most of the attention. We get a look at the characters pasts with some decent scenes that showcase their abilities. This was the most enjoyable part of the film for me as it was cool to see some of the more obscure characters or ones we just haven't ever seen much of. However there are a few characters who feel very under developed with one just being thrown into the squad at the last minute. With the large abundance of characters, Suicide Squad does an ok job at combining them but some most definitely take a back seat to others that doesn't allow you to become that interested or invested in them.
The story within 'Suicide Squad' unfortunately is very weak. The team is brought together to take down an uknown entity but in reality, it is all Waller's fault. The team wouldn't be needed in the first place if Waller hadn't recklessly started with a certain character being used to help. Due to this, the team is only brought together to clean up their own mess. There's no need at all for this team to be brought together in the first place which is a glaring plot hole.
That takes us onto the villain which isn't too great. I won't dive too deep into this as it is close to spoilers but the reaction of the government after things turn south is strange. There is a way to hurt the main villain which they do to a certain extent but do not completely take advantage of. It makes no sense whatsoever and makes you question those in charge. The way that the villain is controlled and how they are introduced is really quite bad which really hurts the movie. In the finale, the villain doesn't even do much when in the face of danger when they should really be stepping up and showing their true power. So many problems with the villain and that's not even saying anything about some of the bad effects used.
With Deadshot and Harley Quinn being the main characters, it comes to no surprise that Will Smith and Margot Robbie are the standouts in the film alongside Viola Davis as Amanda Waller who brings the team together. Robbie proves to be a great casting for Quinn as she plays the character very well as she really is insane and she captures this very well. Will Smith provides a charismatic performance as Deadshot who steps up to the plate and becomes a leader and motivator for the team. Viola Davis does very well as the manipulative Amanda Waller who does anything to get the job done. She plays this character very well and wasn't who I'd have expected would be one of the highlights of the film.
There is no doubt that this film is different to both 'Batman v Superman' and 'Man of Steel' in terms of tone. The movie is more humerous and is just more fun than the others. Well for the most part. On more than one occasion the film tries some scenes to draw emotion with family members and desires that do seem quite out of place at times. Once is fine to show depth to the character but it tries it too much. In a film that is trying to be crazy and high octane, it feels out of place if you keep going back to it. Also as the film tries to be much more fun, it does try to introduce a lot of comedy into the film. Some of it succeeds but there are some terrible lines that aren't funny and make it seem quite awkward as it slowly moves into the next shot. The jokes equally land and miss which doesn't help th film a lot but is most definitly an improvement on the DCEU's tone.
If you've seen the trailer, the movie most definitely looks a lot of fun and seems to be setting up something excellent showing some decent action. However that is as good as it gets as the rest of the scenes are pretty bland with nothing that memorable or truly exciting happens. After the film, I was trying to think of my favourite part of the action was and I really couldn't pick one out. Nothing was great and nothing stood out. Even in BvS there were scenes that I thought were great but there just wasn't anything in this that truly amazed me. I don't know if it's just genre fatigue but if in a high budget, superhero movie with beloved characters: you cannot create one thing that is remarkable or really memorable, that poses a big problem.
One of the things that I was most looking forward to in this movie was the introduction of a brand new Joker. The Joker is undoubtedly one of the greatest characters to grace the big screen with Jack Nicholson, Mark Hamill and Heath Ledger all giving great performances as 'The Clown Prince of Crime'. Now when it came out that Jared Leto would be playing him, I was thrilled. I'm a massive fan of Leto and not only just with his acting. I think he is truly remarkable and a person who I would consider an inspiration due to his abilities and with everything he has achieved, mainly in film and musical endeavours. However, I really wish that they didn't use him in the film. He seemed to have been set up to be a big part of the film and never turned out to be. He was mainly used in flashbacks for Harley Quinn's backstory and nothing else really. Nothing that he does is really important to the film and I just wish they saved him for other movies. He isn't given enough to do anything that amazes you. All he's there for is to seem psychotic which is all he does in this performance. Leto doesn't do anything great which is a shame but hopefully he'll be able to show his capabilities in future DCEU movies. One thing that I will give them credit for is creating another different version of 'The Joker' that is fresh. He is truly 'The Clown Prince of Crime' as he is a lot like a gangster with unpredictable tendacies which we hopefully see a good progression of when we next see Leto as the character.
The film does have a mid credit scene that I found to be incredibly dumb and doesn't really add anything that you don't already know. The most that it does is hurt a particular character as they go against the traits set in the film. It made no sense at all and was truly baffling to see. It's not really worth staying behind for and didn't do what Marvel have done oh so well in their credits scenes.
Final Verdict =
I never thought I would say this but Suicide Squad is the worst movie in the DCEU. However it is watchable and is the most fun. However the story is full of plot holes and overall it is a collosal disappointment.
So have you seen 'Suicide Squad'? If so what did you think of it? I hope this review was useful for if you were planning on seeing the movie. Once again, thank you for taking the time to read my review, it is much appreciated!
By Angus McGregor
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