Due to their culpability in any situation that might go awry, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) assembles a team of super-villains to undertake a secret mission. Under the leadership of Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and a group of other inmates are used as expendable assets to face a mysterious supernatural threat. But while the Squad is deployed, The Joker (Jared Leto) puts his own agenda into play.
Suicide Squad was DC's last shot to prove itself in terms of movies. Maybe the problem was Zack Snyder's obnoxious directorial style, and maybe the DC films could benefit from some variety in terms of what stories are being told, and how they're being told. Maybe we just needed to see something new.
Well, variety didn't save this movie.
When I was watching Suicide Squad, all I could feel was an overwhelming sense of frustration. Because what I was watching didn't feel like a movie. Suicide Squad is barely a movie. It's more of a collection of moments that are vaguely linked together, but were so massively disjointed and tonally inconsistent that I felt like I was watching 5 versions of the same movie, and it would change between versions every two minutes. I'm actually impressed that there was so much attention put on this movie, because I feel like Warner Bros. should have just pushed this to the side, like Fox did with Fant4stic last year. The similarities between the two films in terms of studio interference and re-shoots causing more harm than good are nearly identical.
I tried so hard to like this movie. It started off okay, it had a distinct style, but as it went on, all of the goodwill that I'd built up towards it started to fade away. Even though I know that David Ayer is a very talented director who knows exactly how he wants to put a film together, and that the re-shoots and tonal inconsistencies are really what drag the film down, I don't know how he would have made this movie work with the elements he had in the first place.
What this movie is really reliant on is the characters, and the unfortunate fact is that this movie has been edited down to barebones so much that they barely register. The actors and the filmmakers have been going on and on about how deeply the Squad bonded on set, and how well all of the characters work together, but none of that really comes through on-screen. Deadshot and Harley Quinn are the only characters who really get any development, and even their characters aren't particularly well-rounded. The only reason why I enjoyed Deadshot was because Will Smith was Will Smith-ing it up at the maximum Will Smith setting, and he's an incredibly charismatic presence on-screen. But had any other actor been playing Deadshot, the character would have been completely different, and not nearly as enjoyable. As it stands, the movie rests entirely on Will Smith's shoulders, and he just barely stays standing. Also, likable isn't the same thing as interesting. Margot Robbie really is the perfect choice for Harley Quinn, and she brings the character to life perfectly. She nails the annoyance, the dependence on the Joker, the goofy eccentricity, all of it was pretty spot-on. But like everything in this movie, her character comes with an asterisk, and the one next to Harley Quinn is that she's used terribly in the story. She's pretty much used only as a punchline machine for each scene, and some of the jokes are beyond cringeworthy, but Harley Quinn has always annoyed me, so at least I know her character has remained consistent. Also, for all the talk about Harley being made into a stronger, more independent character, there sure are a lot of unnecessary shots of her ass in this movie. Margot Robbie's butt gets more screen time than Superman did in Batman v Superman.
The rest of the Squad, or any of the characters, feel more like extended cameos than anything. Captain Boomerang has some great moments (it's also the only time that Jai Courtney has ever had any sort of impact on the film he's in), but he's barely in the movie. And for a guy named "Captain Boomerang", he throws an unforgivably low amount of boomerangs. Katana has a couple of cool moments, but she's barely in the movie. Killer Croc is entirely pointless, and feels weirdly racist. El Diablo was kind of supposed to be some sort of emotional core to the Squad, but I guess all of his emotional scenes were cut, because none of his moments landed. Rick Flag was almost a non-entity, because his "special ability" is that he's a Marine who can shoot really well. Well, guess what, that's Deadshot's thing, so Joel Kinnaman is just kind of there. Joel Kinnaman is a fine actor, but he absolutely cannot make scenes where has to cry work. Enchantress was honestly hilarious, twisting and gyrating in front of a green-screen with an extremely over-dubbed voice for the entirety of her run-time. She felt like she came straight out of Batman and Robin, and Cara Delevigne is, quite simply, a bad actress. Even our Lord and Savior Slipknot only gets about 3 lines. The only character who felt distinct was Amanda Waller, played by Viola Davis. Davis brings the cold, ruthlessly efficient Waller to life perfectly; I truly believe there's no better actor who could have played her.
But there's one character I was interested in above all. My favourite comic book villain (possibly my favourite comic book character) of all time, The Joker. Jared Leto had some big shoes to fill after Heath Ledger's legendary performance in The Dark Knight. But six years have gone by, and I couldn't wait to see a new interpretation of The Joker, because so much can be done with the character. And while I was never really a fan of the new, modern-gangster inspired look, as long as his performance was good, it'd be fine. And after a year and a half of build-up, stories about how deeply Leto lost himself in the role and his on-set method acting shenanigans, the verdict on him is...he's fine. Yeah, after all of the build-up and publicity, he only has about 7 minutes of screen-time. I was very disappointed by this, because this is supposed to be the introduction to this version of the character, but he doesn't have enough time on-screen to truly establish himself. Leto certainly has a new, different take on the character, playing it much more sexually, which was a bit of an odd choice. Making him more of an actual mobster in terms of the modern-day criminal underworld was a good idea, but he seems more like an eccentric Die Antwoord reject than The Joker. Maybe it was just because he didn't have enough time to distinguish himself, but Leto's Joker was largely unremarkable. He was certainly goofy, and so far over the top it was laughable, but all he really needed was more time on-screen. Of all the scenes that were cut from the film, I don't know why they would take away those involving the most famous character in the movie, especially since the Joker took up so much focus in the marketing. That's the point, really. The Joker is a character that requires a lot of time and effort to be properly utilized, so I can't say that we really have a full idea of who Leto's Joker is. I almost feel bad for him, because even though I found all the stories about how crazy he was on-set extremely obnoxious, he clearly put a lot of work into it, and most of his work is just gone. This Joker also has absolutely no purpose in the story, and easily could have been out entirely, so I'm not even sure Leto's EXTREME METHOD ACTING was worth it. Maybe he should have spent less time sending dead pigs to people and telling assistants to paint roses black.
The story of the film has basically been chopped to pieces, and much like with the characters, all of the scenes that make sense must have been cut. The story is simple enough, as it's just the Squad on their mission in Midway City, intercut with a variety of flashbacks that give the backstories of the Squad members. Well, 2 or 3 of the squad members. These flashbacks were very jarring, and since the film was edited so poorly, these scenes just kind of happened. And each of these scenes felt like they were directed by different people. The highlights of the movie are when the Squad interacts; there's some decent banter, and the actors are clearly having a good time working together. The only problem with these scenes is that the dialogue is mostly poorly written, and the characters go from being solitary and abrasive to acting like they've known and loved each other for years at the drop of a hat. Suicide Squad really wants you to care about its characters, but there's really no reason to. We're supposed to feel invested in at least 2 relationships in the movie, but the couples only have 1 or 2 scenes together, and don't sell any kind of romantic interest. El Diablo refers to the Squad as "family" at the end of the movie, but it's based on nothing. This movie doesn't earn any sort of emotional payoff; the payoff scenes just happen. Like Batman v Superman, this movie just tries to cram too much into a 2 hour block, and it falls apart under its own weight. The set-up of the Squad doesn't even make any sense, because it's all based on Amanda Waller thinking that the next Superman who shows up might not be on Earth's side. But could any of the Squad members really face off against a threat on Superman's level? And why is Harley Quinn even there? She's clearly an unstable liability, she will cause nothing but problems, and all she carries is a baseball bat and a pistol. This is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the lack of logic that's all over this movie.
Suicide Squad was DC's last shot to prove itself in terms of movies. Maybe the problem was Zack Snyder's obnoxious directorial style, and maybe the DC films could benefit from some variety in terms of what stories are being told, and how they're being told. Maybe we just needed to see something new.
Well, variety didn't save this movie.
When I was watching Suicide Squad, all I could feel was an overwhelming sense of frustration. Because what I was watching didn't feel like a movie. Suicide Squad is barely a movie. It's more of a collection of moments that are vaguely linked together, but were so massively disjointed and tonally inconsistent that I felt like I was watching 5 versions of the same movie, and it would change between versions every two minutes. I'm actually impressed that there was so much attention put on this movie, because I feel like Warner Bros. should have just pushed this to the side, like Fox did with Fant4stic last year. The similarities between the two films in terms of studio interference and re-shoots causing more harm than good are nearly identical.
I tried so hard to like this movie. It started off okay, it had a distinct style, but as it went on, all of the goodwill that I'd built up towards it started to fade away. Even though I know that David Ayer is a very talented director who knows exactly how he wants to put a film together, and that the re-shoots and tonal inconsistencies are really what drag the film down, I don't know how he would have made this movie work with the elements he had in the first place.
What this movie is really reliant on is the characters, and the unfortunate fact is that this movie has been edited down to barebones so much that they barely register. The actors and the filmmakers have been going on and on about how deeply the Squad bonded on set, and how well all of the characters work together, but none of that really comes through on-screen. Deadshot and Harley Quinn are the only characters who really get any development, and even their characters aren't particularly well-rounded. The only reason why I enjoyed Deadshot was because Will Smith was Will Smith-ing it up at the maximum Will Smith setting, and he's an incredibly charismatic presence on-screen. But had any other actor been playing Deadshot, the character would have been completely different, and not nearly as enjoyable. As it stands, the movie rests entirely on Will Smith's shoulders, and he just barely stays standing. Also, likable isn't the same thing as interesting. Margot Robbie really is the perfect choice for Harley Quinn, and she brings the character to life perfectly. She nails the annoyance, the dependence on the Joker, the goofy eccentricity, all of it was pretty spot-on. But like everything in this movie, her character comes with an asterisk, and the one next to Harley Quinn is that she's used terribly in the story. She's pretty much used only as a punchline machine for each scene, and some of the jokes are beyond cringeworthy, but Harley Quinn has always annoyed me, so at least I know her character has remained consistent. Also, for all the talk about Harley being made into a stronger, more independent character, there sure are a lot of unnecessary shots of her ass in this movie. Margot Robbie's butt gets more screen time than Superman did in Batman v Superman.
The rest of the Squad, or any of the characters, feel more like extended cameos than anything. Captain Boomerang has some great moments (it's also the only time that Jai Courtney has ever had any sort of impact on the film he's in), but he's barely in the movie. And for a guy named "Captain Boomerang", he throws an unforgivably low amount of boomerangs. Katana has a couple of cool moments, but she's barely in the movie. Killer Croc is entirely pointless, and feels weirdly racist. El Diablo was kind of supposed to be some sort of emotional core to the Squad, but I guess all of his emotional scenes were cut, because none of his moments landed. Rick Flag was almost a non-entity, because his "special ability" is that he's a Marine who can shoot really well. Well, guess what, that's Deadshot's thing, so Joel Kinnaman is just kind of there. Joel Kinnaman is a fine actor, but he absolutely cannot make scenes where has to cry work. Enchantress was honestly hilarious, twisting and gyrating in front of a green-screen with an extremely over-dubbed voice for the entirety of her run-time. She felt like she came straight out of Batman and Robin, and Cara Delevigne is, quite simply, a bad actress. Even our Lord and Savior Slipknot only gets about 3 lines. The only character who felt distinct was Amanda Waller, played by Viola Davis. Davis brings the cold, ruthlessly efficient Waller to life perfectly; I truly believe there's no better actor who could have played her.
But there's one character I was interested in above all. My favourite comic book villain (possibly my favourite comic book character) of all time, The Joker. Jared Leto had some big shoes to fill after Heath Ledger's legendary performance in The Dark Knight. But six years have gone by, and I couldn't wait to see a new interpretation of The Joker, because so much can be done with the character. And while I was never really a fan of the new, modern-gangster inspired look, as long as his performance was good, it'd be fine. And after a year and a half of build-up, stories about how deeply Leto lost himself in the role and his on-set method acting shenanigans, the verdict on him is...he's fine. Yeah, after all of the build-up and publicity, he only has about 7 minutes of screen-time. I was very disappointed by this, because this is supposed to be the introduction to this version of the character, but he doesn't have enough time on-screen to truly establish himself. Leto certainly has a new, different take on the character, playing it much more sexually, which was a bit of an odd choice. Making him more of an actual mobster in terms of the modern-day criminal underworld was a good idea, but he seems more like an eccentric Die Antwoord reject than The Joker. Maybe it was just because he didn't have enough time to distinguish himself, but Leto's Joker was largely unremarkable. He was certainly goofy, and so far over the top it was laughable, but all he really needed was more time on-screen. Of all the scenes that were cut from the film, I don't know why they would take away those involving the most famous character in the movie, especially since the Joker took up so much focus in the marketing. That's the point, really. The Joker is a character that requires a lot of time and effort to be properly utilized, so I can't say that we really have a full idea of who Leto's Joker is. I almost feel bad for him, because even though I found all the stories about how crazy he was on-set extremely obnoxious, he clearly put a lot of work into it, and most of his work is just gone. This Joker also has absolutely no purpose in the story, and easily could have been out entirely, so I'm not even sure Leto's EXTREME METHOD ACTING was worth it. Maybe he should have spent less time sending dead pigs to people and telling assistants to paint roses black.
The story of the film has basically been chopped to pieces, and much like with the characters, all of the scenes that make sense must have been cut. The story is simple enough, as it's just the Squad on their mission in Midway City, intercut with a variety of flashbacks that give the backstories of the Squad members. Well, 2 or 3 of the squad members. These flashbacks were very jarring, and since the film was edited so poorly, these scenes just kind of happened. And each of these scenes felt like they were directed by different people. The highlights of the movie are when the Squad interacts; there's some decent banter, and the actors are clearly having a good time working together. The only problem with these scenes is that the dialogue is mostly poorly written, and the characters go from being solitary and abrasive to acting like they've known and loved each other for years at the drop of a hat. Suicide Squad really wants you to care about its characters, but there's really no reason to. We're supposed to feel invested in at least 2 relationships in the movie, but the couples only have 1 or 2 scenes together, and don't sell any kind of romantic interest. El Diablo refers to the Squad as "family" at the end of the movie, but it's based on nothing. This movie doesn't earn any sort of emotional payoff; the payoff scenes just happen. Like Batman v Superman, this movie just tries to cram too much into a 2 hour block, and it falls apart under its own weight. The set-up of the Squad doesn't even make any sense, because it's all based on Amanda Waller thinking that the next Superman who shows up might not be on Earth's side. But could any of the Squad members really face off against a threat on Superman's level? And why is Harley Quinn even there? She's clearly an unstable liability, she will cause nothing but problems, and all she carries is a baseball bat and a pistol. This is only the tip of the iceberg in terms of the lack of logic that's all over this movie.
The screenplay in general is very repetitive, with a lot of the same events happening over and over again, and then the movie will remember to make the story continue, and something will be lazily thrown in to make the characters keep walking around. Suicide Squad breaks the "show, don't tell" rule of filmmaking more times than I can count. They repeatedly turn to the camera and remind the audience "we're bad guys", but they don't really feel like villains. Probably because this movie was a lot darker, but test audiences didn't respond well to that, and Warner Bros. panicked. The most notable example of this is the relationship between Harley Quinn and the Joker, which is traditionally much more abusive and one-sided, but here is fully loving and mutual. That's a fine change, but when you do some research and find out that it was originally going to be much more like the comics, but Warner Bros. changed it, then it's even more frustrating. Heaven forbid we get some variety, you know, that thing DC claims it's doing.
Suicide Squad is a discount Marvel movie mixed with a Hot Topic store, and nothing more.
The action, another element of the film, was terrible. Nothing about it was memorable or unique, it was just a bunch of the characters punching and shooting terrible-looking henchmen, and then fighting a couple of big CGI monsters at the end. The special effects in this movie were laughable, and seemed to come from a completely different decade. The majority of this movie was unnecessarily dark, and I don't mean in tone, I mean in terms of actual lighting and cinematography. Even scenes that took place in broad daylight looked dark somehow, and the action scenes were so poorly lit and edited that I could barely tell what was happening. The majority of this movie just looked ugly, especially the character designs. Everything was grungy, dirty, and dismal, which didn't really gel with the flashy, neon, animated intros that each of the Squad members gets at the beginning of the film. The story and characters certainly didn't make up for it. Suicide Squad has flashes of style, but they come and go so fast and are so inconsistent that it makes the actual movie even more disappointing. And most of the "stylish" moments feel forced and pointless. The opening sequence of this movie has about 50 pop songs playing over scenes, which was clearly not the original intention for those scenes, but they threw them in at the last minute because it worked in Guardians of the Galaxy. This entire movie feels like it's a teenager yelling "PLEASE, PLEASE THINK I'M COOL!" But saying "bitch", "pussy", and "shit" a lot doesn't make you more adult.
This movie was the biggest try-hard mess I've seen in a long time. Whenever it's not uninteresting it's schlocky, over the top, and cringeworthy, but still taking itself seriously. I'm just not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this movie, because it's not as bad as I expected, but it's nowhere near good. It's consistently below average, and sinks further and further as it goes on. The villain is probably the worst villain in any comic book film. They get one line of dialogue to explain their motivations, and then go on to engage the same generic plan as any comic book movie (especially the Marvel ones), which revolves around an army of faceless henchmen and a big beam of blue light shooting into the sky.
Remember when David Ayer was describing this movie as "the comic book movie 2.0"? Yeah, sure.
This movie suffers from many of the same issues as Batman v Superman, ironically because the studio was trying so hard to differentiate Suicide Squad from that movie. But because David Ayer clearly had a darker, more serious vision for this film, which was then forcibly made to be light and goofy by the studio, and then those 2 versions of the film were smushed together, the movie has no idea what it wants to be. Once again, the biggest problem with this DC film is the studio chopping it to pieces because they don't know how what fans want to see, and they can't trust the director to simply deliver their vision. Although with this film (much like BvS), I don't think it ever would have been that great. But the fact that Warner Bros. is consistently messing with these films so much makes me wonder how they ever branded themselves as the "director-driven" studio. Say what you want about Man of Steel, at but least it feels like a movie. As it stands, Suicide Squad feels like a first draft, and nowhere near worth all of the "there's never been a movie like this before" hype. It's more like an outline of a film than an actual film; it tells you what the characters do, and what big moments they'll have, but forgets to add context and motivation.
In the end, Suicide Squad has sunk the DCEU's reputation even lower, and it's without a doubt the worst movie I've seen this year. It really kills me that I hate these movies so much, because I love DC Comics so much, and the characters have meant so much to me for so long. So the fact that we've once again been given such an incomplete film makes me so frustrated, because the DC characters and stories are amazing, and they're being wasted and/or butchered in these films. These films are supposed to be entry points for people into the DC Universe, and as someone who knows and loves these characters, seeing everything be so poorly represented is torturous. The most annoying part is all of the references to the comics, to the point where scenes will be presented straight from the pages of the comics, but people who aren't familiar with the comics will have no idea what's going on. You know, the MAJORITY OF AUDIENCES. And all it would take to make these scenes work would be an establishing shot, or one line of dialogue, but those had to be cut for more dream sequences and flashbacks, I guess.
The only good part of this movie was Batman, who only had a couple of brief appearances, but was mostly spot-on in terms of characterization. This proves that these characters can be adapted well, but I only wish that Batman had felt like Batman in the movie where his name was in the title. I can't say that I was bored for the majority of the film, but that doesn't equate to quality.
The worst part is, I know I'm going to see the next DC films. I've been beyond excited about the idea of a live-action Wonder Woman movie, and especially a live-action Justice League movie for so long that I'll have to see them for myself. I can only hope that DC will learn from its mistakes in the future, because the fact that I'm spending most of the run-time of their "dark, serious films" laughing at the stupidity happening isn't a good sign. Because this movie is so bad that it's funny for at least 40% of the run time.
Suicide Squad is a discount Marvel movie mixed with a Hot Topic store, and nothing more.
The action, another element of the film, was terrible. Nothing about it was memorable or unique, it was just a bunch of the characters punching and shooting terrible-looking henchmen, and then fighting a couple of big CGI monsters at the end. The special effects in this movie were laughable, and seemed to come from a completely different decade. The majority of this movie was unnecessarily dark, and I don't mean in tone, I mean in terms of actual lighting and cinematography. Even scenes that took place in broad daylight looked dark somehow, and the action scenes were so poorly lit and edited that I could barely tell what was happening. The majority of this movie just looked ugly, especially the character designs. Everything was grungy, dirty, and dismal, which didn't really gel with the flashy, neon, animated intros that each of the Squad members gets at the beginning of the film. The story and characters certainly didn't make up for it. Suicide Squad has flashes of style, but they come and go so fast and are so inconsistent that it makes the actual movie even more disappointing. And most of the "stylish" moments feel forced and pointless. The opening sequence of this movie has about 50 pop songs playing over scenes, which was clearly not the original intention for those scenes, but they threw them in at the last minute because it worked in Guardians of the Galaxy. This entire movie feels like it's a teenager yelling "PLEASE, PLEASE THINK I'M COOL!" But saying "bitch", "pussy", and "shit" a lot doesn't make you more adult.
This movie was the biggest try-hard mess I've seen in a long time. Whenever it's not uninteresting it's schlocky, over the top, and cringeworthy, but still taking itself seriously. I'm just not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this movie, because it's not as bad as I expected, but it's nowhere near good. It's consistently below average, and sinks further and further as it goes on. The villain is probably the worst villain in any comic book film. They get one line of dialogue to explain their motivations, and then go on to engage the same generic plan as any comic book movie (especially the Marvel ones), which revolves around an army of faceless henchmen and a big beam of blue light shooting into the sky.
Remember when David Ayer was describing this movie as "the comic book movie 2.0"? Yeah, sure.
This movie suffers from many of the same issues as Batman v Superman, ironically because the studio was trying so hard to differentiate Suicide Squad from that movie. But because David Ayer clearly had a darker, more serious vision for this film, which was then forcibly made to be light and goofy by the studio, and then those 2 versions of the film were smushed together, the movie has no idea what it wants to be. Once again, the biggest problem with this DC film is the studio chopping it to pieces because they don't know how what fans want to see, and they can't trust the director to simply deliver their vision. Although with this film (much like BvS), I don't think it ever would have been that great. But the fact that Warner Bros. is consistently messing with these films so much makes me wonder how they ever branded themselves as the "director-driven" studio. Say what you want about Man of Steel, at but least it feels like a movie. As it stands, Suicide Squad feels like a first draft, and nowhere near worth all of the "there's never been a movie like this before" hype. It's more like an outline of a film than an actual film; it tells you what the characters do, and what big moments they'll have, but forgets to add context and motivation.
In the end, Suicide Squad has sunk the DCEU's reputation even lower, and it's without a doubt the worst movie I've seen this year. It really kills me that I hate these movies so much, because I love DC Comics so much, and the characters have meant so much to me for so long. So the fact that we've once again been given such an incomplete film makes me so frustrated, because the DC characters and stories are amazing, and they're being wasted and/or butchered in these films. These films are supposed to be entry points for people into the DC Universe, and as someone who knows and loves these characters, seeing everything be so poorly represented is torturous. The most annoying part is all of the references to the comics, to the point where scenes will be presented straight from the pages of the comics, but people who aren't familiar with the comics will have no idea what's going on. You know, the MAJORITY OF AUDIENCES. And all it would take to make these scenes work would be an establishing shot, or one line of dialogue, but those had to be cut for more dream sequences and flashbacks, I guess.
The only good part of this movie was Batman, who only had a couple of brief appearances, but was mostly spot-on in terms of characterization. This proves that these characters can be adapted well, but I only wish that Batman had felt like Batman in the movie where his name was in the title. I can't say that I was bored for the majority of the film, but that doesn't equate to quality.
The worst part is, I know I'm going to see the next DC films. I've been beyond excited about the idea of a live-action Wonder Woman movie, and especially a live-action Justice League movie for so long that I'll have to see them for myself. I can only hope that DC will learn from its mistakes in the future, because the fact that I'm spending most of the run-time of their "dark, serious films" laughing at the stupidity happening isn't a good sign. Because this movie is so bad that it's funny for at least 40% of the run time.
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