Suicide Squad
Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jared Leto
Directed by: David Ayer
Rated: PG-13
Missing: DC entertainment writers and editors. Without these crucial people, DC is unable to release a movie with a cohesive narrative. We have reason to believe these writers and editors have been replaced with pre-teens due to the illogical story lines of Green Lantern, Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman, and Suicide Squad. If you locate a DC writer or editor, please get them to the DC cinematic headquarters BEFORE the release of Wonder Woman. There's still time.
For anyone wondering, Suicide Squad is about a group of imprisoned super villains who carry out dangerous missions for a decreased prison sentence. This Squad includes the assassin Deadshot (Will Smith), unpredictable Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Australian bank robber Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), fire enthusiast El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), crocodile man Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), archaeologist/witch June Moon/Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), and sword wielding Katana (Karen Fukuhara).
Let's start with what I liked about Suicide Squad before we get to negative aspects. The first act is pretty entertaining. It begins with Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) introducing the characters. The audience can see each character's skill set along with a bit of personal background. It's a neat way to start a comic book movie.
The two biggest standouts in the movie are Will Smith and Margot Robbie. Will Smith is Deadshot, an assassin with a weak spot for his daughter. He brings his usual Will Smith humor to the movie, but trust me...that humor is gladly welcomed here. Margot Robbie is Harley Quinn, the Joker's psychiatrist turned unstable girlfriend. She owns every minute of the outrageous Harley. Smith and Robbie have the most electric screen presence throughout the movie. It doesn't hurt that their characters have the most screen time.
There are action sequences in Suicide Squad that are fun to watch. I'll be honest, they aren't amazingly choreographed, but some of this movie is fun mindless action. The soundtrack fits the scenes well. From "Bohemian Rhapsody" to "Seven Nation Army", there's a lot of music covered here. Several scenes have a music video-quality to them, but it actually works.
Ok, that was fun while it lasted. You came here for an honest review and I have to give it to you. This movie has some serious problems. The biggest issue with Suicide Squad is the script. The second and third act are very repetitive. We pretty much lose the character development of the first act and just get to the characters shooting things. It's too bad because there are so many characters in this movie and we leave the theater without knowing anything about several of them. When you think about it for a little while, the entire plot of the movie falls apart. Amanda Waller built this squad to defend against a meta-human that could eventually destroy the world. Yet, one of the meta-humans in her control ends up trying to destroy the world. I won't say much about the villain due to spoilers but let's just say they have1. a senseless motive2. an affinity for hula dancing3. an alien army that resembles life sized blackberries Come on, DC. First Batman v. Superman's energy feeding Rock Monster and now alien blackberries? You've got to develop more intimidating villains.
Might I suggest:
The Minions. Have you seen their attempts at comedy? Terrifying.
Spam emails. Everyone on earth can relate to the pain of spam emails.
Adam Sandler movies. I don't need to explain.
Jared Leto's Joker is another problem I have with the movie. He does not live up to previous Jokers giving a ridiculously over-the-top performance. His character is only necessary for flashback scenes. There's no reason he needs to be in any present day scenes. It only makes the narrative more confusing. Every scene seems as though he's trying to push the envelope further, but he actually looks like a high school drama kid who just walked out of a Spencer's gifts.
No.
Much like Batman v. Superman, editing is an issue here. Scenes scatter from the squad to the villain to the Joker without much coherence. Why doesn't Katana get an intro like the rest of the Squad? Maybe the editing team wasn't working that day. Why is the villain really trying to destroy the world? Maybe the filmmakers preferred an ambiguous motive. Or maybe it was too much work to edit the scene. Apparently there were several editing issues with Suicide Squad, but with a total budget of $125 million I can't say I feel too bad for them.
Suicide Squad has a compelling premise: what if the worst people had incentive to do good things? Interestingly enough, some of the characters here are captivating. They're just stuck in a bad script. Unfortunately, narrative cohesion seems to be the bane of DC's existence.
My Rating: 4/10