Suicide Squad Full Review

6.5/7

**Contains spoilers**

 

Suicide Squad was released on friday August 5, 2016 (USA). I saw an early screening last Thursday. I entered the theater with no expectations; (which is how I feel going into the more recent DC movies); you need to go in open-minded.

First I would like to know why all the terrible reviews!?

Suicide Squad features an all star cast of expendable super villains assembled for a top-secret government mission. The criminals are united unwilling by force by a ruthless woman, Amanda Waller; Director of the Advanced Research Group for Uniting Superhumans (A.R.G.U.S.); played exceptionally well by Viola Davis.

Although it has received mixed reviews S.S. still had a huge opening weekend at the box-office, surpassing Guardians of the Galaxy’s and breaking August release records! According to box office figures from reports by multiple outlets, Suicide Squad earned $135 million domestically during its opening weekend.

I would not place Suicide Squad on the same lame caliber as Green Lantern, Elektra, Ghost Rider, or Catwoman bad, you get the point. Suicide Squad, directed and written by David Ayer was nonstop fun, playfully mischievous and overall enjoyable!!

The cast did a pretty darn good job and also had great chemistry!!

So what went wrong?

The main issues with the film seem to stem from continuity issues mainly due to studio pressure. According to the Hollywood Reporter, one Insider addressed the movies production problems claiming “that the tight schedule led to an accelerated development and pre-production period,” also that “[Ayer] wrote the script in like, six weeks, and they just went.”

The film was rumored to have studio pressure/ directional control issues all the way back to the initial script stages. Even reports of random messy cutting and editing during filming! (Screenrant)

When there are issues regarding studio interference and a director’s right to creative control you are going to end up with a messy rushed plot, bad pacing, a lazy script, and a not so great musical score. There were a lot of negotiations and compromises involved well after the movie was shot. Some argue it was the director’s fault for its messy and expensive production.“Ayer was more interested in forging a bond between his actors than addressing his movie’s story structure,” but isn’t that what saved this movie from bombing, “the strong performances in Suicide Squad are its saving grace.”  It was “Warner Bros. who gave the go-ahead for production to begin before there was a clear roadmap for it, and ultimately it was the studio that decided to address the movie’s issues by throwing money at it.” (Screenrant)

This is where DC truly struggles. (should take some hints from their animated team: these movies are fantastic BTW!!)

They really need to take more time when it comes to production. I rather wait 5 years for a great movie rather than a mediocre film every 6 months. (Should also take notes from Nolan; he knows how to make Successful movies.)

Also Marvel Studios has a formula that seems to work great for them, DC needs to figure out their own strategy, and do what works for them. I do happen to love the darker aspect of DCs movies. And after SS it seems like they are on the path in the right direction. They just need to ultimately work better as a whole from square one.

 

THE CAST

*Viola Davis gave an excellent performance as the heartless Amanda Waller, honestly I can’t see another actress delivering that role as good as Viola.

*Margot Robbie proved herself worthy of playing the crazy, complex dissociated persona that is Harley Quinn. She was fun, sexy and twisted.

*It’s hard to judge Leto’s joker. But he seemed to have played a worthy joker interpretation.

He was sick, deranged, insane psychotic, disturbed. I would like to see more of his performance to get a full glimpse into his interpretation. Not necessarily in this film, the joker should be a side character but I would like to see more Leto before I fully judge. I do like the fact that his depiction is so different from Ledger’s and Nicholson’s that I can be open to it.

*Will Smith’s did a good portrayal of Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot the expert marksman. He didn’t outshine the rest of the cast, they all played well off of each other. He played the loving father role while also playing the cynical bad-ass assassin. He was cocky, yet likeable. I liked his macho interactions with Rick Flag; played by Joel Kinnaman whom I also think played his role accordingly.

*I would’ve loved to see more of captain Boomerang. Jai Courtney played the professional criminal “Digger” Harkness pretty well. Even though he could’ve used more camera time overall I think he did a good job.

*Jay Hernandez ended up having a noteworthy role as Diablo. His character’s back-story played a key role in dealing with his self-issues which in the end helped defeat the antagonist.    

However I wasn’t as impressed with the rest of the squad.

Killer Crocs role in the film was mediocre. Nothing against Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s acting,his character just felt out of place. There was really no substance to his character, he was sort of lost in the background. He didn’t really offer much aside from delivering a few sort of funny one-liners. Lieutenant GQ Edwards (Eastwood) had a more important role when he set up the bomb that eventually destroyed Enchantress’ brother.

Another character who felt thrown into the mix was Katana. Karen Fukuhara kicked ass as Katana, but why was she there, aside from having Rick Flags back until she didn’t. Her character had little context. Maybe they will give her more spotlight in a sequel.

We also didn’t need someone to verbally explain every detail after the fact, we get the point she’s talking to the sword her dead husband’s soul is captured in you don’t need to reiterate it.

Slipknot where was he? Oh yea I actually loved that scene!! You disobey Waller your head explodes. This scene was actually very important regardless of the character. Similar to a scene in the animated movie Assault on Arkham (way better plot) where another member dies after having his head explode while attempting to get his bomb. It’s a warning to keep the squad in check.

And last but not least, on to the villains. Wasn’t very impressed with Cara’s performance of June Moone/ Enchantress. She felt pretty lame, cheesy and rushed. Wasn’t a big fan of the CGI and the horrible voice over either. As for her “Brother” Incubus aka the businessman who gets taken over by mystical smoke also pretty lame CGI and poor use of a character.  

Suicide squad comic book writer John Ostrander shared his thoughts on S.S.!!

Best review I’ve read.click for his full review!!

“I really liked the film. Not perfect by a long shot, but a really good time in the movie theater.”

“I talked about you wouldn’t expect two actors playing the same character in different stories to give identical performances. That really applies to Jared Leto as the Joker. He crafted an entirely new version of the character from the late Heath Ledger’s portrayal in The Dark Knight. That’s absolutely necessary and it’s a different look. Like Pygmalion, he creates a woman that he can love; in this case, it’s Harley Quinn. If we accept his love for her (and her love for him) as genuine, does that make him less of a sociopath? Ledger’s Joker loved no one except, perhaps, Batman. He’s no less strange or deadly but his entire plotline revolves around being re-united with Harley.”

..”I would have liked to see more of Jai Courtney as Boomerang. He’s very much as I wrote him in the Squad – he knows what he is and he likes it.”

“Are their problems with the film? Sure. The antagonist(s) are not well defined and, to my mind, you need a good antagonist to help define the protagonist(s). It’s the antagonist who usually sets the plot in motion and it is defined by what they want. The story is a little more generic “we have to save the world” than I usually did; I always liked having one foot squarely in reality.I also liked having a political and/or social edge in my Squad stories. That would also give a greater feel of reality and I don’t see that here.”

“That said, my artistic DNA is all over the place. This is The Dirty Dozen with supervillains and that’s my concept. They did that and did it well.”

“As for some of the online haters – if a film doesn’t fit their preconceived notion, it is wrong. Female Ghostbusters, a black Deadshot, Ben Affleck as Batman (Affleck, by the way, does cameos as both Batman and Bruce Wayne in Suicide Squad and is terrific) – these are all sins and must be decried.

Give me a fucking break.”

Overall I say go see it for yourself. I didn’t completely agree with most of the reviews at all. I can get past the cheesy script and plot issues. The cast’s performances and chemistry is what saved this movie. Honestly if the movie wasn’t rushed it could’ve been great! I give it a 6.5,7.

 

Sources:

http://screenrant.com/suicide-squad-box-office-august-record-opening/

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/suicide-squads-secret-drama-rushed-916693

http://screenrant.com/suicide-squad-reshoots-budget-directors-cut/

http://www.comicmix.com/2016/08/07/john-ostrander-reviews-the-suicide-squad