As I stated in the above Tweet about a week ago, I found the Suicide Squad to be a very good team. I just didn’t find the film they were in to be as good. Below I provide “spoiler-free” take-aways.
The Good
The “first act” of the film is solid. There is just enough backstory provided on each villain. It likely satisfies the diehard fans. But is also enough of an introduction to non-diehard fans, so they can get a basic understanding of who each character is and where their motivation(s) lie.
I like the team with a few exceptions, which I will note later. Will Smith’s depiction of Deadshot is very good. His Oscar-level turn as the physician in Concussion aside, this is probably his best fantasy/sci-fi character depiction since Hancock (2008).
The zany portrayal of Harley Quinn by Margot Robbie is another bright spot in the film. She had seamless chemistry with Smith; probably boosted by their work together on Focus (2015).
Viola Davis is pretty good at this acting thing, ya know? Her wicked turn as Amanda Waller is splendid. If you knew about the character prior to the movie (which I did), you were likely satisfied with her depiction. If you weren’t familiar with Waller beforehand, I am sure you hated her after watching the film. That means she was good.
I’ve always liked Jay Hernandez as an actor. His filmography is littered with a a wide range of bad-to-decent films, but I’ve generally found his acting solid in most of them. I knew very little about his character Diablo prior to viewing, but he damn sure made me remember him.
And last by certainly not least, Jared Leto was solid as the Joker. For the folks saying he’s the best Joker they have seen on-screen, with all due respect, those folks need to slow their roll, and respect their “Jack Napier” elders. Without giving too much away, I’d like to see a bit more of him before I compare him to Ledgers, Hamill’s and Nicholsons!
The Bad
Although it has its share of moments, Suicide Squad (much like Batman v Superman) relies too heavily on flashback sequences. I just feel it’s a lazy film editing. It’s like reading a book and skipping to the page in color which summarizes the background for the next few chapters.
The second act of the films begins to slowly unravel the film. After getting super-hyped as the team comes together, I was a little let down by what their actual mission was as well as how contrived it seemed.
Which leads me to this…the Enchantress. Without giving away critical plot details, this villain was, to quote the Joker, “really, really, really bad!” I mean like capital B-A-D, underscored, underlined, in bold, in italics and in permanent ink.
And let me also not forget the “other baddies” that “the Squad” had to duke it out with. If you thought Stormtroopers were the lowest form of cannon fodder, then wait ’til you get a load of these guys!
The third (final) act is a buzzkill as well. Let’s just say the final fight scene won’t be compared to Captain America Civil War’s airport rumble or the Man of Steel v Batman fight sequence anytime soon.
Slipknot. Or should we call him Slip NOT after watching this film?
The Verdict
The Suicide Squad is an ambitious film. But it’s also a very flawed film. However, I am still excited to see how the DCEU expands on the stories of Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and the Joker.
I guess I’ll keep my expectations low when I go and see this. The trailers made it seem like it would be really good. So I’m disappointed with the feedback thus far. Although based on rotten tomatoes it seems the “professional” critics were a lot harder on this film than the casual moviegoers. The discrepancy between the scores from both camps is telling.
The only movie I’m looking forward to from this studio is Wonder Woman. Hopefully they can do better there. You need to do a review on Stranger Things on netflix. It’s a pretty damn good show and I love the 80s throwback appeal which I’m sure you’ll appreciate.
Yeah. The thing is from a classical filmmaking perspective, it’s sorely lacking. But if you like the Squad, that probably doesn’t matter to you; hence the wide score range. I was shocked on the former because David Ayer is a very good director. Wonder Woman looks OK in the trailer, although the style reminds me of the first Captain America flick. We shall see. But I think you’ll enjoy parts of Suicide Squad. The score shouldn’t be that low (26% RT) but it’s also not that high. Take the average and give it a 40-50, and enjoy the characters.