Suicide Squad
Directed by David Ayer
Starring Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Cara Delevingne, Joel Kinnaman
Review by Jordan
“You know what they say about the crazy ones…”
Bulbous-headed mutated oddities created at the hands of centuries-old witches with no proper explanation being dispatched unceremoniously by a prominently joyless crew of DC antiheros and villains in the dark city landscape of an environment destroyed just enough to look war-torn but not so much that there are still designer shops left to cutely loot is not a highlight of a much-anticipated blockbuster with more lowlights than you can shake an incredibly durable baseball bat at.
Flourishes of promise and verve are extinguished by uninspiring set design, a deflating, anti-climactic plot and heavy-handed post production that sees fit to negate any filmic qualities Suicide Squad might contain and instead transform it into a haphazardly stitched together collection of introductory scenes and flashbacks, bridged by zestless trudging through a DOA story and backed by an expensive soundtrack that successfully ruins the timing of intended lines of comic relief and does its best to distract a restless audience from the fact that there will in fact be very little excitement on this particular journey.
Ruthless US Intelligence Officer Amanda Waller (Davis) bribes her way into being allowed to assemble a ragtag squad of miscreants to defeat a top-secret superpower who appears invincible, but can probably be taken down on the fly anyway, with her lowlifes and ‘meta-humans’ also serving as insurance should Gotham or Metropolis’ finest ever realise that the people in these universes really aren’t worth constantly saving. Her team consists of hit man Deadshot (Smith), Joker’s girl Harley Quinn (Robbie), naturally intoxicated Australian bank robber Boomerang (Courtney), the powerful yet sombre Diablo (Hernandez), reclusive Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), the Enchantress (Delevingne) and the incredibly unlucky Slipknot (Adam Beach), with the unflappably serious Rick Flag (Kinnaman) leading them while the far more lethal Katana (Karen Fukuhara) watches his back. Seriously though, this doesn’t stop the great Rick Flag from being dragged off to his death on multiple occasions… luckily Deadshot is around to show him how shooting disorganised Lovecraftian creations who choose to run directly into the bullets really isn’t that difficult.
Also threatening proceedings is Jared Leto’s Joker, whose appearance and open-mouthed expressions hint at graphic novel influences that work a lot better as vivid images than a live-action recreation. He is menacing, but would’ve been far better served as the primary antagonist, as his ill-defined role in rescuing Quinn doesn’t at all impact the grander arc; more substance would’ve heightened the stakes and created proper character tension and a sense of danger.
The characters that do work well are Deadshot and Harley Quinn, with Will Smith and Margot Robbie actually nailing the overused combination of ruthless yet emotionally vulnerable and the two sharing a peculiar bond – almost as peculiar as that between a special forces operative and his possessed, scared-senseless girlfriend. Had the movie focussed more on their shared escapades and actually competing against interesting (or human) enemies it would’ve made a world of difference, but as it stands they simply can’t outshine all the gloom and joylessness of everyone else’s self-loathing and the realisation that sinks in at about the half-way mark that proceedings have veered remarkably off any interesting course.
Edited to within an inch of credibility, Suicide Squad might be the most obvious example yet of a film that hints at having a far better one lost within it, kicking against the overbearing marketing ploy to have it fit within and not jeopardise a profitable universe by being edgier than it’s intended contemporaries.
2 inspirational speeches out of 5
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Just came out of theaters from watching it and I might have to agree with you on this movie.
Such a shame it wasn’t what it could have been.
I know Doctor Strange isn’t out yet, but is this effectively the worst comic book film you’ve seen this year, Jordan? It is for me.
Hey Mark. No, believe it or not that honour still lies with batman vs superman. this DC universe really needs to start becoming fun.
Jordan
Well, here’s another superhero movie I’ll be skipping, I guess.
Yeah, if they don’t interest you too much then you’re not missing much.
Jordan
I surprisingly enjoyed the film.
Ah nice, definitely wish I liked it more.
Jordan
Agree with your score. This movie was unfortunately trash and without robbie saving the day i reckon I’d have enjoyed BvS more.
Hoping affleck directing future dc flicks can salvage something and give them some credibility.
Marvel must be loving how much dc have failed on the big screen
I think there might be a good film in this series.. it just wasn’t this one! 🙂
Wonder Woman is the only hope!
Jordan
This just felt so joyless, like it was going through the motions of a comic book movie without really trying to appreciate its roots.
Spot on.. my expectations will be lowered for forthcoming entries.
Thanks for such a comprehensive and thoughtful review. I had been on the fence about whether or not to see this movie (loved Deadpool), but I think I’ll pass on this one.
Glad you liked the review. It really is very different in tone to Deadpool… you can tell that deep down it wants to be edgy, but is more concerned about being marketable. Shame.
Jordan
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