Rewriting Suicide Squad

General thoughts on how to improve the critically panned movie.

On Friday, I returned home from watching the new Suicide Squad film, and spent the whole journey back going through everything I had just seen. I’m sure by now, you’ve read the reviews or seen it yourself and formed an opinion, and adding one more to the mix won’t make much difference.

Regardless, I’ll say this: I enjoyed the film. Not because the film was good, but the potential for the film was fantastic. I could see the ideas and good writing hiding behind what ended up being a disjointed, confusing, and sometimes cringeworthy mess. They were confined to the shadows, lost in the edit or the re-shoots or whatever torture was inflicted by whomever that left us with what is gracing our cinema screens this week.

But, this isn’t a review. This is a collection of thoughts that I had while watching the film, on how to unlock the potential that was tossed away.

It’s worth noting that I’m not a film critic. I’m not a comic book buff. I’m not a screenwriter, nor am I an expert in any form. What I am is a fan of movies.

It goes without saying that after this point, there will be spoilers.

The best way in my mind to remedy the diabolically random and jerky plot is to scrap most of it altogether and split the film into two separate films. At least two. I’m going to focus on what I would consider “part one” of the Suicide Squad saga.

The key here is to introduce a few of the Squad without drowning in exposition. The introduction to all of the characters felt less like a meeting and more like being waterboarded with names, occupations, and other random bits and pieces, punctuated with snippets of video.[1]

Show me the characters gradually. One at a time, tease me with them, then move on, and introduce another character or two later. Build the exposition up. I would also say, for the start of the film, stick with only two or three squad members. Having them all thrown at me like confetti only served to hurt my memory. Even now, I’m struggling to remember half of their names or even what they did in the movie.

So, here’s how I imagine Suicide Squad Part I would go down:

The suicide squad members I chose to start off with are Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and Captain Boomerang.

Deadshot, in my opinion, could have his own standalone movie from his perspective, set to a backdrop of the superhumans slugging it out, ending in his capture and appointment to the Suicide Squad programme. Aside from a few parts, I genuinely enjoyed Will Smith’s performance. His story and motives were a bit corny, but it says a lot that I could easily look past this and see the positives. But sack the actor who plays his daughter. I’m massively sorry kid, but you were cardboard and took me straight out of a film that, by all means, didn’t need help doing that. It screams of her being hired because she’s the daughter of one of the executive’s friends.

But let’s pretend we don’t live in a world where a standalone Deadshot film happens: We start with the slow build exposition. Give me an idea of the what the Suicide Squad programme is. Don’t let Will Smith say the words. “What are we some kind of…” No. Don’t. Give me an idea of Amanda Waller’s personality, but harder than last time. I want to see her dominating her colleagues and co-workers. I want to see her pull an even more severe “boss” routine.

You don’t even need to introduce Deadshot, Quinn, or Boomerang at this point. Maybe a few shots of them and their antics in prison. Show how dangerous they are but don’t give it away, keep it subtle.

Potentially, at this point there is a chance for a “Squad Trial” hosted by Waller. Pit the hardest criminals in the institution against tasks, brutal tasks that would test any sane or moral person. We want to see that these are the cream of the crop when it comes to criminal scum.

Narrow it down to a shortlist. Hell, throw Slipknot into the shortlist if you want. He was pointless in the film and will maybe serve a purpose here. Have the shortlist all implanted with the explosives. Waller will ask for volunteers, Slipknot (or any hard-ass) will refuse, and say he’s leaving. Waller lets him, a la the scene in the animated version, and his head is blown clean off his body. We now see Waller not only dominates, but she almost takes pleasure it.

The shortlist can either be only Deadshot, Quinn, and Boomerang remaining, or everyone will rush to volunteer and Waller will select these three, the three who seem to be considering it most seriously. This could even be a chance for Waller to kill the rest, solidifying her position.

So, the three Villains, “the new Squad”, are under the impression they’ll get reduced sentences and perks for being part of this team; Deadshot sceptically and filled with doubts, Quinn because she’s insane and think it will be fun, and Boomerang because he desperately wants to get out of prison.

On the subject of Quinn, there needs to be some clarification with her character. I feel Margot Robbie did a great job for the most part with Quinn, a character I’ve always found a bit irritating. I actually enjoyed much of her work on the film. But certain aspects need to change:

1. Solidify her love of the Joker. She is obsessed, he is her reason for life and doing the things she does. The big climactic scene at the end was ruined by the apparent total ignorance of this aspect of her character. She believes her true love, her everything, has died. She is offered the chance to bring him back. Would she not do this in a second? Would she really sacrifice potentially her only chance at seeing her beloved Mr. J again for a group of people she met about 24 hours ago? No, it’s utterly rubbish. Cut this all out.
2. Harley Quinn can be random, spontaneous, cutesy — like she was in parts of the film — but this needs to be constantly edged with underlying madness. She can seem cute, but needs to do so in a way which worries you, a way that’s disconcerting. She needs to give the sense she’s 100% certifiably insane for the entire time she’s on screen, even if it isn’t always obvious. At multiple points during the film, it felt more like I was watching a MySpace-era teenager that had recently brought a “Rawr means I love you in Dinosaur” t-shirt from Hot Topic.
3. More tangentially related: cut the Joker out of the film entirely. She can speak about him, in fact I encourage it at length. But I don’t want to see their relationship together, I want to see it apart. I want to see how this motivates her — that she could see Mr. J sooner, or even have the chance to escape to him.
4. Explain to me why she’s useful as a Suicide Squad member. The explanation given was… none. She’s okay with guns, has a bat, and makes jokes. Okay… and? She should be nimble, incredibly smart underneath the madness (she was a professional psychiatrist for God’s sake), and at her core absolutely driven by her love of the Joker. There could also be a more sinister reason for her being on the Squad, but more on that later….

The scene is set. Now to get to the meat of the film.

Waller informs the Squad that they are being sent South of the border to Mexico for their first assignment. The mission is simple: A cartel leader is wreaking havoc and spreading his influence into the states. Waller says he’s considered absolutely powerful yet works in the shadows, and the Mexican government won’t touch him. The US Government can’t access him without sparking an international incident. The Squad must go in and capture the man so he can be extradited secretly to the US as Waller oversees from afar.

The US government have no knowledge of this mission, they don’t even know about the Suicide Squad programme (this is not needed, but I think it gives the Squad an additional level of expendability, plus it adds to the “don’t mess this up for me” factor from Waller’s perspective). This is a test run; in a sense a test run of the characters in the movie and a test run of the franchise itself.

To accompany them on this mission is Rick Flag. He will be making sure things go smoothly and has an absolute no-nonsense attitude toward the villains. He hates them, and in his mind they stand for everything he doesn’t. Drop the “bro-time” with Deadshot, we don’t need it. For Flag, these are all murderers that hurt his wonderful nation, he will not be their friend.

They start by scoping out cartel towns, shaking down gang members and thugs, plenty of room to show how the characters are in combat, and also a chance to joke about how these are the sort of people they used to work with. It’s also a chance for more exposition. These are hardened criminals of Gotham City, not soldiers. They’re out of their comfort zone, lugging their equipment around in the desert heat, for a cause they couldn’t care less about (at least, if their lives weren’t at risk). Camping in the desert, miles of empty sand. We start to see a more human side to the Squad. Flag remains stand-offish, never letting his guard down while the rest of the Squad get to know each other.

Eventually their search leads them not to a cartel base, but a black-site prison complex run by the Mexican government (or some analogue). Apparently the leader is being held inside, and it’s revealed the Mexican government didn’t consider the man “untouchable” — in fact, they wanted to keep him all for themselves in secret. We still don’t know anything about this man — all we know is he’s highly wanted. Flag begins to have doubts as his briefing doesn’t seem to match up to reality, but his loyalty and honour compels him to continue following orders.

This provides ample opportunity for Boomerang to display his “unique skills” and humourous side. Let’s first of all note that a boomerang is an absolutely rubbish weapon, and in fact this should be made fun of in the film. Rebooting semi-ridiculous characters works brilliantly if you embrace it, look at Guardians of The Galaxy for guidance. Boomerang can act as the comedic relief amid two serious characters and one insane one. He can be the “normal bloke” the audience connects to, like a more scum-bag version of Starlord from Guardians. He’s not as proficient at weaponry, nor does he have any particular special skills. What he can be is a really hard-bastard, absolutely ruthless. He’s like a mad dog, the most thuggish thug available. All the rest of the Squad know about him is that he’s a master thief with a long criminal history.

Imagine the scene. The Squad and Flag sneak up to the complex. They debate how to get in and take the cartel leader.

Deadshot: Boomerang, aren’t you meant to be a thief or some shit? Sneak in, grab the loot? (He turns to Boomerang who’s not paying attention and drinking from a flask)

Boomerang: Oh yeah, yeah. First, I’m gonna need your gun… (Boomerang looks at Deadshot’s arsenal and picks the biggest machine gun there, eyebrows are raised)… Now, wait for my signal and stay close, this should be easy…

(Shot of the interior of the prison, pan to the doors, and the doors fly open, slow motion, the whole works. Boomerang walks in, bearing his teeth, opening fire across the room at random and killing guards, cue heavy music like DMX [2])

(Everyone else in shock at the massive damage)

Boomerang: I never said I was a sneaky thief. (alarms start ringing)

etc, etc…

(Please don’t judge my dialogue, I’m not a script writer, sorry)

They shoot their way through the compound, and eventually come across the prisoner. El Diablo is sitting in a small metal room, legs crossed and eyes closed, meditating on the floor. He opens his eyes and tells them to leave him in peace. They say they’ll take him by force. He ignores them. They pick him up and lead him out, wondering why there was so little resistance. On leaving, they’re ambushed by special forces-type soldiers storming the building. In the ensuing firefight, El Diablo escapes into the desert, running as fast as he can. Deadshot tries to fire and incapacitate him, but Flag stops him as they need him alive.

Back in the desert at the makeshift camp, Flag is dismayed they lost El Diablo, as it’s now likely he’s sunk back into the criminal underworld he came from, never to be seen again. They’ve missed their one shot — that is, until Quinn starts to giggle.

She reveals that she found the GPS trackers implanted in the Squad’s prized items they were given when gearing up for the mission, a failsafe if the exposives somehow failed to work. Being as smart and savvy as she is, she found them instantly, and kept hold of them for use later, or a souvenier, or whatever mental excuse Quinn comes up with. She also happened to slip one onto El Diablo’s person. Flag is both elated and annoyed at the simplicity Quinn managed to pull a fast one on him, even if it helped.

They track El Diablo to a small rural village, a few houses, some old women pottering around and children playing. The team are confused — wasn’t he meant to be cartel? This seems as far from the criminal underworld as can possibly be. They walk in cautiously, eventually entering a small house. They see El Diablo, crouched over a bed, talking softly to an old woman — his last living relative. Before anyone can react, Boomerang goes over and knocks him out with a single punch. Flag and Deadshot protest, but he shrugs it off, saying he “doesn’t want the bastard to escape again” and he’s “sick of this bloody desert”.

Not being able to haul Diablo to the designated pickup zone agreed with Waller, and being low on supplies after their unexpected chase across the desert, Flag instead forces Boomerang to lug Diablo out while he calls for emergency evac. Waller initially fights this, sighs over the comms, then concedes that at least they got the guy.

A helicopter lands outside of the village, Waller on board. Two masked soldiers strap El Diablo to a special chair, Waller examines him before injecting an explosive device into his neck. Diablo is submerged in a metal tank filled with water, he head held just out so he can breathe. The tank is sealed.

Flag demands answers on why this target was so elusive, and why the cartels and government were so interested in him. Waller pulls up video footage of Diablo’s power’s in action — burning prison yards, infared of him attacking and razing small towns while still with the cartel. Everyone is in shock, they’ve never seen anyone so powerful (aside from perhaps Superman and Zod, which, let’s face it, probably made the news). Flag starts protesting, saying this isn’t the mission he was told about, but is quickly silenced.

The team watch the town shrink out of the opened back of the helicopter. Waller sighs, and adds a throwaway comment about how she wishes Flag would have made the pick-up point. She types something on her comm device, and the town is rocked by a huge explosion, wiped off the map. Everyone, aside from the pilot, soldiers and Waller is in total shock.

Flag starts protesting, screaming at Waller that they were innocent civilians, women and children. Waller shrugs, says they didn’t have clearance to know about such an operation, that it was a liability now they had seen a US chopper land near them and haul Diablo away. Flag still protests, says he’s quitting this project, and will be reporting Waller.

Waller instructs Flag to look at the town, and whispers “this is what happens when you don’t follow my orders.” Flag’s eyes tear up looking at the burnt ashes of the village, and then he suddenly recoils. Waller has injected an explosive into his neck. She informs him he’s stuck in the programme now, that he’s “part of the team”. Flag is horrified, now branded a criminal like those he so despises. Waller looks smug.

Back at the base and post debrief, Waller is happy the programme is a success. She shows Diablo off to her superiors and colleagues, they marvel at what she’s done and approve the programme.

This could be ample opportunity to my teased earlier reveal — why is Quinn on the Squad, when there are others so much more powerful? Waller reveals the truth. They’re constantly surveilling the Squad, and now Quinn can “safely” go out into the open, they want to use her as bait to draw out the Joker, knowing that they’re both obsessively attracted to each other. As part of the Squad, the Joker’s suspicion won’t be as triggered — she has a “valid excuses” after all, would he see through the trap? As well as helping the US government, Quinn now has a secondary use as a trap for one of Gotham’s most feared criminals. The Joker must be keeping track of his beloved, it’s only a matter of time before he strikes.

We’re nearly at the end of the movie, and the Squad are hauled out of their cells, along with Rick Flag who’s now treated like a criminal. Diablo is not seen again at this point— I imagine he needs time to be processed and controlled. Waller explains there’s an emergency situation in Gotham, that a powerful entity has been spotted downtown, causing havoc. The Squad need to be deployed to fight it. It’s Enchantress, seen through grainy CCTV and drone footage. Flag is panicking, and when pressed why, he stares horrified at the screen. He whispers: “That’s my wife…”[3] or something along those lines. Waller smiles knowingly.

The film is over, we know the first part of the Squad well, we know more about the might of Waller, we’ve had a glimpse of not only the menacing El Diablo, but also the incredible powers of Enchantress.

Fin.[4]

Post credits, throw in a scene with the Joker, plotting and laughing to get Quinn back, tortuing a soldier or something similiar — more on this shortly.

So where next?

I truly believe Killer Croc could hold his own as a villain or side-villain in a standalone hero movie. Rather than mashing the Justice League together, there is opportunity introduce more heroes and have Croc as one enemy, setting him up well for the next Squad film. Croc was a good character, but needed a lot of further development. I would also like to see him bigger and more brutal, more akin to the Arkham Asylum video game character (link may contain Arkham game series spoilers) that what we have on screen now.

For the second film, we’ve now already got a good line up: Deadshot, Quinn, Boomerang, with the new addition we still know little about — El Diablo. We also know a little tiny bit about Enchantress. Add the other characters in too gradually (again, no shoving them down our throats in an awkwardly long exposition), the team needs to be built up to combat Enchantress who’s working on “some scheme”[5] and terrorizing Gotham in the process.

A bigger part for the Joker could be seen in this second film. It might be controversial to ignore him for the first film, but I felt he didn’t add much at all to Suicide Squad. This way, he can play a more central role, perhaps messing up Waller’s plans, trying to save Quinn or just wreak havoc on the government ops. Two sociopathic minds, one criminal and one Government sanctioned, going toe-to-toe. Also, cut down on the random laughter. Leto does a good Joker laugh, but it was used for basically no reason throughout the film, it felt completely out of place, like they had a “creepy laugh” quota to meet and they couldn’t put it anywhere else. [6]

In conclusion, there’s not really a good reason I’ve written this down. Nothing can be changed now and none of this will happen. I suppose it’s out of some sort of healing process. As I said, the film itself felt like it was oozing with potential, only to be let down by so-many misteps, errors, sloppiness and a million other myriad factors. To paraphrase Deadshot in the movie:

“We were so close man. We were so close to doing it, but we failed. Now they’re gonna blame it all on us.”

And that’s exactly what I’m worried about. Maybe the film wasn’t perfect, but the characters are strong, and some of the ideas work. I just hope that they can salvage the franchise from the wreckage, and put it back together into a cohesive, enjoyable saga. I just hope the whole idea isn’t written off as a big flop.

Let your anger or disappointment of this Suicide Squad film fade, chalk it up to being a bad start marred by whatever issues. Cross your fingers and hope that the problems are fixable, and we get the franchise we deserve next time around.