What's it About?
From director David Ayer ("Fury," "End of Watch") comes "Suicide Squad," starring Oscar nominee Will Smith ("Ali," "The Pursuit of Happyness"), Oscar winner Jared Leto ("Dallas Buyers Club"), Margot Robbie ("The Wolf of Wall Street," "Focus"), Joel Kinnaman (Netflix's "House of Cards") and Oscar nominee Viola Davis ("The Help," "Doubt"). It feels good to be bad... Assemble a team of the world's most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains, provide them with the most powerful arsenal at the government's disposal, and send them off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity. U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller has determined only a secretly convened group of disparate, despicable individuals with next to nothing to lose will do. However, once they realize they weren't picked to succeed but chosen for their patent culpability when they inevitably fail, will the Suicide Squad resolve to die trying, or decide it's every man for himself?
Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behavior, suggestive content and language)
Genre: Action & Adventure
Directed By: David Ayer
Written By: David Ayer
In Theaters: Aug 5, 2016 wide
Runtime: 123 minutes
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Rating: PG-13 (for sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behavior, suggestive content and language)
Genre: Action & Adventure
Directed By: David Ayer
Written By: David Ayer
In Theaters: Aug 5, 2016 wide
Runtime: 123 minutes
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
It's taken me a long time to write this review, as I honestly didn't know how to unjumble all my thoughts about the film. There is just so much to say about Suicide Squad. I enjoyed it, it was a fun night out at the cinema, but it definitely had a lot of problems.
Beware spoilers below.
Beware spoilers below.
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Though still very much a DC superhero film, it didn't feel quite as dark as many of the others in the current DC universe. It's no Batman circa 1990s, but it's also not Christian Bale Batman-level serious and that would be because, as villains, many of the protagonists don't particularly take themselves or their actions too seriously. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) is a standout scene stealer in Suicide Squad, and responsible for much of the film's lightness. It's a fun movie with some funny moments, big fight scenes and terrible people making terrible decisions. Go into your screening of this film without expecting miracles and you should enjoy it. Just don't think too hard because that's when the entire premise falls apart.
Batman V Superman and the Justice League Franchise
When viewing Suicide Squad, I was unaware that it was going to be a part of the newly rebooted Justice League franchise, beginning with Batman V Superman and in 2017 to include Justice League and Wonder Woman. These will be followed by an ever-expanding list of linked series such as Aquaman and no doubt The Flash movies to add to the already well and truly saturated superhero genre.
There is brief mention toward the start of the film of events from Batman V Superman, and there is no doubting that the end credit bonus scene is setting up the forthcoming Justice League film, but aside from that, Suicide Squad can in fact be watched as its own film. Not a super-great one, but not a bad one either.
There is brief mention toward the start of the film of events from Batman V Superman, and there is no doubting that the end credit bonus scene is setting up the forthcoming Justice League film, but aside from that, Suicide Squad can in fact be watched as its own film. Not a super-great one, but not a bad one either.
So. Much. Set Up.
As there are what feels like a dozen villains in the Suicide Squad to introduce, Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), the soldier acting as team leader and handler plus the main antagonist, the film set up really dragged, and takes up what felt like half an hour. After all the time spent introducing the incarcerated villains and the government officials strictly controlling the operation, the majority of the characters backstories and personalities sadly still aren't fleshed out enough to give them any depth. Their backstories are presented through action flashbacks of the villains being villainous, with Amanda Waller's (Viola Davis) voice over literally reading character descriptions to government agents and the audience from classified dossiers. For instance, "George Harkness (aka Captain Boomerang, played by Jai Courtney) is an Australian bank robber. He doesn't work well with others" is the gist of what viewers know about the character - from beginning to end.
Why did Harley Quinn Even Like the Joker to begin with?
A piece of backstory that leads to more unanswered questions is that revolving around Harley Quinn and her paramore, The Joker. Harley Quinn was in fact a doctor at Arkham Asylum: The Joker's doctor, no less. This professional, intelligent woman became infatuated with her psychopathic green haired, diamond-grilled patient, subsequently allowing him to perform electroshock therapy on her, rattling her brain and turning her into the Bonnie to his Clyde and crazy-cakes villain she is now. But... I mean... why? Why would a professional, intelligent, attractive woman like that be attracted to a psychopathic, murderous man like The Joker? He would have had to display some pretty redeeming characteristics to her, to have been incredibly suave to win her over, but his charms are completely bypassed on-screen and it just left me puzzled as to how exactly he made her so devoted to him in the first place, before rattling her brain - and devoted she definitely was.
After Heavily Promoting Him, the Joker's Not Even a Main Character
The pre-release promotion for this film prominently featured Jared Leto's Joker and his girlfriend Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), heightening prospective viewer interest in the film due to Leto's brand new take on the character. Rumours of his on-set method acting and bizarre behaviour around cast and crew only fueled anticipation for seeing his performance in this film. Teamed with the addition of Harley Quinn at his side, a character and sadistic/romantic(?) plotline previously left out of Batman films, viewers looked forward to seeing The Joker with Harley Quinn. I know I sure did. But you know what? They are separated for the majority of the film, and not being a member of the Squad at all, The Joker is only a supporting character, an inconsequential C storyline, at best. Because of how little screen time he gets, and his only goal being to break Harley Quinn free, the Joker is disappointingly two-dimensional and there is precious little new brought to the character here.
The main character of the film is, surprisingly, the more well-rounded Deadshot (Will Smith), a character who received little promotion prior to release. This made the whole viewing experience confusing; the film wasn't even focusing on the characters I had thought and subsequently wasn't the film I was expecting to see. And, though Deadshot definitely has the most fleshed-out character and motivation of the bunch, Will Smith very much "Will Smith's" the role, you know what he mean? It's not a bad thing, I like Smith, but his delivery of the character could have been one of any number of characters he's played over the years.
Gotham VS Metropolis Super Heroes
Having not read the comic source material for these characters, I consider myself your average, everyday cinema-goer when it comes to superhero films. I knew of the Joker as one of Batman's foes, and I'd heard of Harley Quinn (though usually dressed more like a jester than hot pants and the most excellent pink and blue dip-dyed hair seen here), but Deadshot? Slipknot? Captain Boomerang? Brand new to me.
Joker and Harley Quinn belong in the world of Gotham (though yes, this was set somewhere called MidCity) and the world of Batman, a superhero with combat skills and epic gadgets - not super powers. The super villains in the world of Batman had always been portrayed in film as violent and villainous and most definitely off their meds, but (to my recollection) they didn't have powers, such as the ability to throw flames with your hands (Diablo) or have the unnatural appearance of some half-human-half crocodile monster (Killer Croc). They generally had explosives, knives, and you better believe their henchmen had guns.
The mention of Superman at the beginning, the inclusion of Diablo and Killer Croc, and more importantly, the world-destroying antagonist, Enchantress, felt like they belonged to a different franchise entirely. Not in the same universe as the Joker and Harley and Batman that has come many times to the big screen before.
Joker and Harley Quinn belong in the world of Gotham (though yes, this was set somewhere called MidCity) and the world of Batman, a superhero with combat skills and epic gadgets - not super powers. The super villains in the world of Batman had always been portrayed in film as violent and villainous and most definitely off their meds, but (to my recollection) they didn't have powers, such as the ability to throw flames with your hands (Diablo) or have the unnatural appearance of some half-human-half crocodile monster (Killer Croc). They generally had explosives, knives, and you better believe their henchmen had guns.
The mention of Superman at the beginning, the inclusion of Diablo and Killer Croc, and more importantly, the world-destroying antagonist, Enchantress, felt like they belonged to a different franchise entirely. Not in the same universe as the Joker and Harley and Batman that has come many times to the big screen before.
I feel like the hard core comic fans will be disappointed in the film representation of these characters - evidenced by the drastic 67% drop off in box office revenue earned after the opening weekend - but overall if you go in not knowing anything about the characters, having no expectations, you should enjoy it overall as a good action blockbuster.
Images courtesy of Warner Brothers Pictures.