Suicide Squad- Movie Reviews by Chris
Director: David Ayer
Cast: Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Will Smith
Genre: Superhero
Rating: PG-13 (M). Sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behaviour, suggestive content and language.
Running Time: 130 minutes (2 hours 10 minutes)
Release Date: 1st August 2016 (USA), 4th August 2016 (Australia), 5th August 2016 (India)
For the second time this year, DC studios creates one of the biggest disappointments in cinematic history…
Suicide Squad revisits the DC movie universe (home to heroes such as batman and superman). After the death of superman, and the exponential rise of people with enhanced abilities (coined as meta-humans), US government officials, namely Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), decide to take preventative measures to prepare for hostile meta-humans by assembling a response team of super-villains. They include Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith), El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Killer Croc, and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney). But when a hostile force unleashes chaos, the team is forced to unite and stop the threat, or die. Past trauma, new enemies, and physical and personal struggles await as the suicide squad face a threat unlike any they have faced before- but this time, together.
For some history on superhero movies to understand this movie better, click here. This is the third movie in the DC universe, after Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The latter was one of the biggest disappointments in movie history, and the former was just mediocre. Many people complain that this universe is too dark and humorless, and so they did some re-shoots for this movie. That’s never a good sign… Nevertheless, DC haven’t had one standout movie yet and Marvel is well and truly wiping the floor with them. A lot riding on this movie.
You will remember this movie from its marketing campaign. It was awesome. Excessive, but awesome. Every trailer that was released brilliantly set the tone for the movie and got all fans – both nerdy and mainstream – excited for this movie… until they realised its release date was 6 months away. I know – ill-timed. But anyway, the marketing set the standards for this movie high, and when you’re up high, the only way to go is down…
And this movie fell hard. The plot, while unique at first glance, is a bit cliché and stupid when you really look at it. The movie started off with exposition of each core character in the squad, which was edited cringe-worthily. This ‘suicide squad’ was walking through a city (although this was mixed with minor battles, flashbacks, humor, and character development to keep it interesting, which they did well) before facing this supreme villain that could destroy the world… in a sword fight. Really? I can’t even rant about the villain because it was that pathetic and would definitely go on my list of worst villains ever. The third act of this film was horrendous, reminiscent of 2015’s Fantastic Four, with CGI enveloping the screen the entire time to the extent where I had to pause and recover. Don’t ask me about what happened there because it was pure bullsh*t. Oh, and in case you didn’t know that the group was called the suicide squad, Will Smith seamlessly lets us know with the line “what are we- some kind of suicide squad?” I liked how they handled the ending though, it’s funny, and very suitable to this story.
This was an all-star ensemble cast, with no real main character, including Margot Robbie, Will Smith, Jared Leto, Cara Delevigne, Jai Courtney, Viola Davis, Joel Kinsman, Karen Fukuhara, and Adele Akinnuoye-Agbaje. There was a big mixture with how well they handled the characters. Some (I.e. Harley Quinn, the Joker, Deadshot, El Diablo, Amanda Waller) were given great history, depth, and development to keep me intrigued and left me looking forward for more DC movies featuring them in the future, while others (I.e. Killer Croc, Katana, Captain Boomerang, and Slipknot) were barely given any screen time or attention and I wouldn’t miss them if they were killed off (there are deaths by the way, be ready for it). The characterization of the ones I mentioned was brilliant, but a lot of this was established through exposition which is very clumsy and shows bad directing by Ayer. Jared Leto’s Joker had some fantastic moments, but only when with girlfriend Harley Quinn, and some uh, questionable moments. His role in this movie isn’t large and isn’t enough to judge Leto against other jokers, but his relationship with Quinn was by far one of the most interesting elements of this film. Fantastic acting by Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, and Viola Davis. Brilliant work, and I definitely expect some mentions in awards season. Keep a lookout for some cameos by Batman and The Flash as well.
The themes were very present in this movie, but mainly centered around loss and camaraderie. It was refreshing to see them demonstrated in a comedy/superhero film. In terms of comedy, you’ve seen most of it in the trailers, and there are some great lines. They achieved a great balance of humor and action. The costuming and makeup were done brilliantly, suiting each character pretty much perfectly. In every superhero movie, there is always potential for some great shots, and DC never seem to take up these opportunities! So the cinematography was average.
In terms of the future of these characters, a suicide squad sequel hasn’t been announced, but as this is a shared universe, these villains will appear in other DC films. However, I don’t see much potential for most of them. At the same time, it would be a shame if we never saw them again…
The editing for DC films are terrible, fire whoever does that, but you don’t need to have seen previous installments to understand this movie. The soundtrack is amazing and will be what could be one of the greatest movie soundtracks of all time, featuring artists such as Twenty One Pilots and Panic! At the Disco who made tracks specifically for the movie. While these songs weren’t blended very well into the movie, it’s a great list nonetheless. You can buy it using the link here.
To improve, more attention to basically everything that wasn’t the cheesy surface of the movie. These are important and are glaring when absent (includes plot, characterisation, CGI, editing etc.). This is a popcorn movie however, and it’s a lot of fun, so you won’t be bored, but I can’t guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Yes, there were clichés everywhere, but it’s enjoyable nonetheless.
*Stick around after the credits for a conversation between Amanda Waller and Bruce Wayne about meta-humans…*
Wow I wasn’t sure what to make of the review by the end. I did go see the film and enjoyed it but honestly in the fluff category, which wasn’t so much different than this. I suppose that’s not a bad thing. But I’m not sure how you dump a bunch of bad guys back stories in one movie to introduce them to the audience and hope to have amazing depth. Hopefully a sequel is in the works that builds on the initial work. It’s certainly worth a watch.