Suicide Squad

Movie Review

Directed by: David Ayer

Written by: David Ayer

Starring: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, and Cara Delevingne

Some Spoilers Ahead

Review: I’m have been looking forward to this movie for a very long time. I’m a huge comic book and comic book movie fan and I loved the Assault on Arkham animated film. So how does this film measure up to the hype?

Let’s start with the cast of character.

Deadshot: One of the strongest characters in the movie. Very well done. I love that they showed his relationship with his daughter. Probably given the most character development.

Captain Boomerang: Solely in the movie for comic relief and a cool but unnecessary Flash cameo. No character development to speak of.

Slipknot: Just around long enough to be the token member of the Suicide Squad to die because they think the bombs in their necks are bullshit.

Killer Croc: Given 2 lines of backstory and very little character development. Had some hilarious lines.

Katana: Given some slight backstory and a small but effective emotional scene. Had a couple badass moments.

Diablo: Give arguably the biggest backstory and most character development. Had several awesome moments and an amazing scene at the end. He is a tragic character looking for redemption and I love how he comes to see the Squad as his family.

Rick Flagg: Done well. Was basically a hardass most of the movie and then became gradually more likeable. His relationship with Deadshot starts as major distrust and gradually becomes one of respect and possible friendship.

Enchantress: Started out awesome and creepy then devolved into overpowered and cliche. I did enjoy the human hosts relationship with Rick Flagg. It made Flagg more sympathetic.

Harley Quinn: Given significant backstory. Harley was hilarious, badass and sexy as hell. Hated the way they executed her relationship with the Joker. Did like how she acted more crazy around Joker and less crazy around the Squad. It made it feel like she felt the need to act crazier to win the Jokers approval but could be herself around them.

Amanda Waller: She was Amanda Waller. Nuff said.

The Joker: One of my biggest complaints about the movie. The Joker didn’t feel like the Joker at all. He felt like your average mobster and nothing more. They also sold it like Joker actually cares about Harley and would do anything for her. They didn’t show an abusive relationship between the 2 at all. This is going to lead to more people thinking Joker/Harley is a an ideal romance when that is nowhere near the case.

Overall the cast did well at portraying their characters. I just really didn’t like the way Joker was portrayed and some characters could have used more character development and backstory. The Squad worked great as a team and played off each other really well. The bar scene before the final fight is fantastic. The action is very well done. Harley, Deadshot and Diablo had some of the best action moments.

The plot and villains were extremely weak. I like that the villains were supernatural in nature, they just didn’t have much backstory or motivation. Their minions were just expendable canon fodder. The plot seemed to rush through everyone’s backstory and building the team just to build up to a fight between the squad and the main villains which is over in minutes.

It’s been confirmed that while David Ayer was editing the movie DC edited their own version which is what was released. Alot of scenes with Joker were left on the cutting room floor and it’s rumored that their was some scenes showing Joker and Harleys abusive relationship that were cut due to negative response. This is yet another one of many instances of DC fucking up something because of not having enough faith in the talent they hired.

Overall I love enough aspects of this movie that it will probably become one of my favorites despite its many flaws.

While far from perfect, Suicide Squad is a fun introduction to a slice of the DC universe we hadn’t yet seen on the big screen.

Score: 7.5 out of 10