Hey guys! So, as many of you might already be aware, Suicide Squad has come under fire by critics in their reviews. I had the opportunity to see the film and would love to share my thoughts about it. As per usual in my reviews, I'm fully disclosing facts about me as a person, which will hopefully help you decide whether I'm being objective about the film at hand. Firstly, I'd like to point out that I do not and have not read the comics! I'm coming into this almost completely blind and am treating it as a standalone film, the third film in the DC Extended Universe and a film which will potentially set up upcoming films in the DCEU. I do know the basics of most of the characters already (I'm not counting Batman or the Joker as they have appeared cinematically before) as I'm a big fan of the Arkham games - which heavily feature Deadshot, Harley Quinn and Killer Croc. The rest of the characters are completely new to me. I'd also like to add that have no bias toward DC films - yes, I love Marvel films but I genuinely look forward to DC films as much as Marvel films. Now, onto the review!!!
To put it bluntly - Suicide Squad is a fun yet very flawed film. Writer and director David Ayer is a very strange choice to direct this type of film however, upon the announcement of him directing the film, I was 100% on-board as his previous outings, especially End of Watch and Fury, have been excellent and near-flawless. Both End of Watch and Fury contain elements which are transferrable to Suicide Squad such as building chemistry and developing characters within a team and handling impressive action set-pieces. Suicide Squad certainly has an element of fun, which was a glaringly obvious error in previous DCEU film and I think it actually made SS much better as a whole. One of my favourite sequences is an extended montage where Waller is basically introducing the main Squad members which leads to some great cameos by Batman and The Flash. The soundtrack was also absolutely incredible!
I'd also like to say that the cast is excellent! I'm going to go into each one in order of importance/screentime:
Deadshot - Will Smith as Deadshot was absolutely brilliant. The marketing of the film, while very "out there" didn't really point at anyone being the "lead" character. However, if I had to choose a character who felt like the "lead", it would be Will Smith's Deadshot, which is actually quite surprising. Smith brings his usual swagger to the character and adds a layer of emotion to Floyd Lawton that is missing from many of the other character in the film.
Harley Quinn - Margot Robbie was the best Australian in the film (sorry Jai Courtney!) and was one of the most engrossing characters in the film. Robbie had a difficult job in the film having to balance the duality of Harley Queen in flashbacks and in the present day. Also, I think she did the character justice, making the audience believe that this woman had been driven insane.
Rick Flagg - Were you expecting The Joker? Rick Flagg, played by Joel Kinnaman, was a character that I didn't really have much interest going into the film - I thought he'd be a stoic "Captain America" soldier type. I was pleasantly surprised that they gave this character some drive and emotion by having him be emotionally attached to June Moone.
The Joker - Perhaps the biggest attraction of Suicide Squad, Jared Leto had a lot of pressure following in the footsteps of the late Heath Ledger (who posthumously won an Academy Award for his portrayal of The Joker in The Dark Knight). Unfortunately, I'm not 100% sure if he pulled it off! I certainly did like his fresh take on the character, being more of a gangster type of Joker, but I did feel that he was being a bit too excessive in his performance and that he was trying a bit TOO hard to one-up Ledger's performance. Also, there isn't enough of him to make a firm judgement. Time will tell.
The Enchantress - Cara Delavigne is great as the Enchantress, however she's pretty underused throughout the film. As a villain, the character is absolutely wasted.
Amanda Waller - Viola Davis as Amanda Waller was brilliant casting. Davis brings a level of authority to Waller that can't really be matched by many other actresses and you certainly believe that she holds all the cards.
Captain Boomerang - Jai Courtney was just okay as Captain Boomerang. He was used mainly as comic relief and didn't really serve much purpose in terms of plot of action sequences.
El Diablo - Jay Hernandez was great as El Diablo, he has a few scenes which require some actual acting and I think he was quite effective.
Killer Croc - Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (boy, he really needs a stage name - I'm just going to call him Mr. Eko). Mr Eko was suitable as Killer Croc, however he was certainly the most underused of the Squad and I certainly would have liked to see more of him.
Katana - Karen Fukuhara is wasted in the film, as Katana barely makes a difference.
Unfortunately, there are a few negatives to the film. The most obvious flaw in the film is definitely the villains. Here, Task Force X are up against The Enchantress and her brother (who remains nameless in the film). Basically, The Enchantress is attempting to wipe out the human race by using her "weapon" which is not totally explained. In a movie where the first 20-30 minutes of screentime is used to explain the characters and their backstory, this comes off as really weak. Also, the way the villains are defeated are very strange - they are described to be "god-like" but apparently can be destroyed by detonating a charge beneath them. The way the villains were used was also quite strange, throughout the film they remain in one stationary location and don't really do much until the Squad show up to save the day.
Another negative I had with the film is with the ending. After saving the world, the Squad are shown all locked up again (besides Harley, who gets broken out of jail by her "puddin"). Each member is shown exactly the same way they did as the film started. This really made the movie pointless and didn't really show any growth for the characters - especially Deadshot who is given the most screentime.
Finally, and this is a little problem, the first two action sequences with the squad seemed very repetitive. The Squad are shown going up against monsters (who are again not really well explained) in very similar ways with extremely quick editing and a few slow-motion shots thrown in for good measure. I'm all for a good action scene, but here it feels a little by the numbers and repetitive. There is an excellent sequence with the Joker and a helicopter though!
Is Suicide Squad the film that everybody was hoping would save the DC Extended Universe? Unfortunately not. Although the film does boast many truly wonderful moments - as a whole, it does fall very flat, resulting in a movie that is kind of all over the place. Is it better than Batman v Superman? Yes, miles better, Suicide Squad felt more focused and much more relaxed. It looks like the hope is on Wonder Woman to save the DCEU. I give Suicide Squad 6/10.
Let me know what you guys think below ! :)