In the long standing rivalry between Marvel Comics and DC Comics, DC has always been considered as having the better villains. The main bulk of Marvel’s bad guys are made up of intergalactic despots, earth bound warmongers and the odd time travelling dictator, and while the Distinguished Competition has it’s fair share of those, they have covered the market when it comes to utterly compelling, almost tragic villains who have captured the imaginations of many a generation comic book readers. For the second installment in their burgeoning DC Comics Extended Universe, Warner Bros. have embraced the bad guy and brought the Suicide Squad, a group of villains working covert ops for the U.S. government in exchange for commuted sentences, to the big screen. All eyes were on this after the critical drubbing Batman v Superman received, with many a fan hoping to see the DCEU get back on the right path. Unfortunately, this fantastic concept is squandered with movie that is ultimately a gigantic mess.
Written and directed by Fury and Sabotage's David Ayer, Suicide Squad starts off well enough with a fun and punchy opening act that introduces the titular squad with stylised vignettes that do a great job of introducing each character and getting the audience to discover that makes them tick, even if the soundtrack’s musics cues become the movies biggest irritant with how much they change (we get three before the opening credits alone) and intrude on the story. The cracks begin to show when you realise how big this ensemble cast is, and finding something for all of them feels like a chore for Ayer. You have expert marksman Deadshot (Will Smith), the Joker’s (Jared Leto) psychotic girlfriend Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), the loutish Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), pyrokinetic gang banger El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), the cannibalistic Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and supernatural entity Enchantress (Cara Delivigne). Overseeing them is Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinsman) and his superior Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). Late to the game (i.e. introduced with no fanfare whatsoever) are swordswoman Katana (Karen Fukuhara) and “the man who can climb on anything” Slipknot (Adam Beach), two characters who wouldn’t be missed if their scenes hit the cutting room floor. The story kicks into high gear when Enchantress goes off the reservation, turning Midway City into her own personal playground, complete with an endless supply of faceless monsters to dispatch. The squad are sent into deal with her, and after the fun, unique opening, we settle into generic superhero mode.
Once the second act hits, any concept of pacing is thrown out the window, and Suicide Squad just becomes a mess of barely comprehensible action scenes and some thinly written character development as the villains discover they can be good guys. The movie becomes a slog to get through once they set foot in Midway City, with any ‘twists’ Ayer throws our way being painfully obvious. It’s frustrating how generic this all is, and pretty soon the 123 minute slows to a crawl thanks to generic action set pieces, awkward humour, and the story pretty much boiling down to the same ’stop the glowing thing in the sky’ we’ve seen millions of times before. A subplot featuring Joker’s attempts to get his girl back is an attempt to shake thing up a bit, but if you were to remove the Clown Prince of Crime from the movie, nothing (NOTHING!!!) would change about the story. Some wooden and hokey dialogue (my favourite being “I put him in a hole and threw away the hole”) doesn’t help matters, and fair play to Joel Kinsman for delivering, on more than one occasion, a line about a soul eating sword with a straight face. Numerous flashbacks also hurt the pacing. Some actually accomplish their task of fleshing out character’s back stories, while others just hammer us over the head with information we already knew, especially one that actually recycles footage from an hour earlier and adds nothing new to it.
The main villain is also a major problem, her plans pretty much involving destroying humanity for the hell of it. Delivingne does nothing, and brings nothing to the role, spending much of her screen time oddly gyrating in front of a swirling vortex of energy. Once the tables are set for the finale, we get another cliched hero on villain smackdown, which just feels like a video game boss battle, complete with Enchantress taking on a second form to take the squad down in close quarters. This sequence could have been amazing if it wasn’t for the erratic camerawork that needs to be slowed down and played frame for frame to actually make out what’s going on.
The core group of antiheroes is where the movies biggest strength lies, with some of the actor’s assembled having a blast being bad. Robbie’s Harley Quinn may not be the one fans are used to, but she makes the character her own, bringing some great energy and lightening the mood when things get dour with a well timed quip. The decision to overly sexualise the character does leave a bad taste in your mouth, especially the numerous lingering, leering shots of her ass, but Robbie powers through, making the character more than just a psychotic sexpot. Will Smith plays Deadshot exactly how you would think Will Smith would play him, but he brings a lot of fun and charisma to proceedings, and he makes his cliched back story work and feel fresh. Viola Davis IS Amanda Waller. ‘The Wall’ was always a formidable hard ass, and Davis captures that intensity perfectly. Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang is a fun addition to the movie, a hard drinking hooligan who becomes the butt of just about every joke, and Jay Hernandez brings some much needed heart to the movie. The rest of the cast just fade into the background, stepping into the spotlight only when the script realises it needs them to do something.
Now, lets talk about what you all want to know about: Jared Leto’s Joker. His Scarface-esque take on the character just doesn’t work. He could have been any generic gangster, not the terrifying uber-bad guy that has wormed it’s way into public consciousness. The much bally hooed tatttoo’s actually don’t become a factor since you can’t actually see most of them thanks to a combination of lighting an make up. The real problem is that it feels like he’s trying way to hard to be gritty and terrifying, with his performance coming across as hammy as a result. His interplay with Robbie is devoid of any chemistry, which is a major problem since their strange, messed up relationship becomes a major story point. What’s the most frustrating is that he only has five/ten minutes of screen time, after having been all over the marketing, and even getting over the title billing on the poster. It’s a cop out, really, and unfortunately one not uncommon in the world of cinema.
The DCEU needed a win with this, but unfortunately they got everything but. Generic action, scatter shot pacing, and a thin script overshadow some great character work from a talented ensemble of actors.
Written and directed by Fury and Sabotage's David Ayer, Suicide Squad starts off well enough with a fun and punchy opening act that introduces the titular squad with stylised vignettes that do a great job of introducing each character and getting the audience to discover that makes them tick, even if the soundtrack’s musics cues become the movies biggest irritant with how much they change (we get three before the opening credits alone) and intrude on the story. The cracks begin to show when you realise how big this ensemble cast is, and finding something for all of them feels like a chore for Ayer. You have expert marksman Deadshot (Will Smith), the Joker’s (Jared Leto) psychotic girlfriend Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), the loutish Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), pyrokinetic gang banger El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), the cannibalistic Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and supernatural entity Enchantress (Cara Delivigne). Overseeing them is Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinsman) and his superior Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). Late to the game (i.e. introduced with no fanfare whatsoever) are swordswoman Katana (Karen Fukuhara) and “the man who can climb on anything” Slipknot (Adam Beach), two characters who wouldn’t be missed if their scenes hit the cutting room floor. The story kicks into high gear when Enchantress goes off the reservation, turning Midway City into her own personal playground, complete with an endless supply of faceless monsters to dispatch. The squad are sent into deal with her, and after the fun, unique opening, we settle into generic superhero mode.
Once the second act hits, any concept of pacing is thrown out the window, and Suicide Squad just becomes a mess of barely comprehensible action scenes and some thinly written character development as the villains discover they can be good guys. The movie becomes a slog to get through once they set foot in Midway City, with any ‘twists’ Ayer throws our way being painfully obvious. It’s frustrating how generic this all is, and pretty soon the 123 minute slows to a crawl thanks to generic action set pieces, awkward humour, and the story pretty much boiling down to the same ’stop the glowing thing in the sky’ we’ve seen millions of times before. A subplot featuring Joker’s attempts to get his girl back is an attempt to shake thing up a bit, but if you were to remove the Clown Prince of Crime from the movie, nothing (NOTHING!!!) would change about the story. Some wooden and hokey dialogue (my favourite being “I put him in a hole and threw away the hole”) doesn’t help matters, and fair play to Joel Kinsman for delivering, on more than one occasion, a line about a soul eating sword with a straight face. Numerous flashbacks also hurt the pacing. Some actually accomplish their task of fleshing out character’s back stories, while others just hammer us over the head with information we already knew, especially one that actually recycles footage from an hour earlier and adds nothing new to it.
The core group of antiheroes is where the movies biggest strength lies, with some of the actor’s assembled having a blast being bad. Robbie’s Harley Quinn may not be the one fans are used to, but she makes the character her own, bringing some great energy and lightening the mood when things get dour with a well timed quip. The decision to overly sexualise the character does leave a bad taste in your mouth, especially the numerous lingering, leering shots of her ass, but Robbie powers through, making the character more than just a psychotic sexpot. Will Smith plays Deadshot exactly how you would think Will Smith would play him, but he brings a lot of fun and charisma to proceedings, and he makes his cliched back story work and feel fresh. Viola Davis IS Amanda Waller. ‘The Wall’ was always a formidable hard ass, and Davis captures that intensity perfectly. Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang is a fun addition to the movie, a hard drinking hooligan who becomes the butt of just about every joke, and Jay Hernandez brings some much needed heart to the movie. The rest of the cast just fade into the background, stepping into the spotlight only when the script realises it needs them to do something.
The DCEU needed a win with this, but unfortunately they got everything but. Generic action, scatter shot pacing, and a thin script overshadow some great character work from a talented ensemble of actors.
