Suicide Squad Review!

Warning This Review Has Spoilers

Spoilers!

With DC's uphill battle in  establishing their own cinematic universe, Suicide Squad establishes itself as the third film in a row to have divide movie audiences. Normally I would have loved to write this without making mention to DC's previous escapades when it comes to fans and their thoughts, but at this stage in DC's game it's almost mandatory to take the behind the scenes actions into account. But before I get too far down the rabbit hole let's go over what the Suicide Squad is in the comics.

Formed from the might of Amanda Waller, the U.S. government decided to take super villains that are in jail and place them on covert ops missions to reduce their sentence. Bombs are placed inside their heads in order to keep them under control, and whenever somebody stepped out of line they were not afraid to blow them up. It raised the stakes, and created a new level of sinister that the heroes of the DCU couldn't stop.

For DC fans Suicide Squad boasted the best potential at differentiating itself from the MCU. Why? Because it's a film all about the villains of the DC universe. With Man of Steel people's view on the villain Zod is mixed. Some liked him, some didn't. When it came to Batman v Superman there was a huge amount of people who hated Jesse Eisenberg's performance as Lex Luthor, and were upset that a powerhouse such as Doomsday was crammed into such an important film. For Suicide Squad WB could show more villains from the comics, set them up to appear in future movies, and really focus on their characters so that the DCEU had fleshed out villains that will elevate your standalone movies. So, did they succeed? In a way.

Right off the bat I'll tell you that I really enjoyed this movie, but I can totally see how this can be dividing to some people. What I did like about this film is that the premise is exactly like the comics. Not only that, but the characters for the most part are very faithful. I'm not as familiar with some of these villains as the ones that have appeared in the first two DCEU films, but I know enough that they're not total opposites as Batman and Superman are in this universe. Plus, these villains make you care about them. There are many scenes that make you forget these awful people are villains, and because of that audiences are having more fun with this film. Deadshot is a hitman that has no remorse with what he does, and yet when he's gunning down everybody people in the theater are cheering.Same with Harley Quinn. People have been hyping her character up for months and int he film you see that as a character she's very twisted and filled with tragedy, but holds herself together with randomness and fun that will make people get behind her.

Another part of this movie that I absolutely enjoyed, as I have with the previous two DCEU films, was the cinematography. This film looked gorgeous, and at times I couldn't believe how comic book this looked. For instance, in Deadshot's flashback you see him setting up his gear, pinpointing every bad guy, and finally shooting his target dead. After that he puts on his mask and bolts. That scene looked so good, and only highlights the character Deadshot. The cinematography really felt like it was only enhancing these characters, and the tone the film showed (like the colors) made it feel like I was watching comic pages come to life at times.

I will say that whether you liked or hated the characters in this film, you can't deny that everyone looked like they were giving their all. I was really impressed with how much life everyone had when in these roles. You could really see the pain on El Diablo whenever he has to talk about his powers, and his expressions after he uses them is almost heartbreaking after you learn his backstory. I will say that not every character shared the same screen time, but the characters that you only saw here and there really stood out as their own. You could tell how much of a dick Captain Boomerang is the moment you saw him. You can see he enjoys getting people riled up and acting all high and mighty when in fact he is just a man who puts on a facade.  Killer Croc had less lines and less screen time than Boomerang, but what I really apreciated from that performance was that his movements had actual crocodile movements in it. After watching a lot of Animal Planet I must admit I geeked out a little when I saw Killer Croc walk with the same sway a real Crocodile would have. Basically, every character was different and stood out, and even if they weren't on screen a lot there was plenty to look at in their performances to leave an impression.

However, that brings me to one of my biggest negatives, and that's the fact that everybody is utilized so poorly. As much as I love seeing these characters on screen I honestly can't tell you much about Killer Croc, Katana, Slipknot, Captain Boomerang, and Rick Flag as much as I could tell you about Enchantress, Harley Quinn, and Deadshot. Obviously there was more story for Enchantress since she's the villain, well the main villain that the villains have to defeat. Harley is a classic fan favorite, and with her ties to the Joker it only made sense for her to get more screen time too. Deadshot was also a leading type, and probably the most ballsy in the group that actually had a (in a way) relatable struggle as a dad. The other members only come in for jokes or flashes of cool moves. I mean, there's one scene where Killer Croc should have shined the brightest when going through those underwater tunnels, but that was a severely missed opportunity as well as showcasing Captain Boomerang's moves. He throws three boomerangs in the whole movie all to no avail. His name is CAPTAIN BOOMERANG and you don't have a scene that shows everybody why not to mock his name? And finally Katana. She probably has the most tragic backstory in the whole group and yet she felt very tacked on and almost out of place as the movie never justified her being there.

As for the story, I found it simple and contrary to popular belief a simple story doesn't mean the plot is bad! I don't know why this is everybody's big complaint with the film, because when you have a simple story it allows you to focus more on your characters and have character moments that really make them shine. Take the film Dredd. Story? Dystopian cop is trapped in a building complex and has to battle a drug lord. Suicide Squad? A team of villains are forced to work for the government and take down a national threat. So....what's the difference between these two films? Sadly, it's the characters. In Dredd you're introduced to an up and coming cop who has to learn from one of the best. Throughout the movie you see her develop as she's put into nasty setting after nasty setting, while you see Judge Dredd being a badass and a symbol as well as a foil to most of the other characters in the film. Suicide Squad? As much as I love the characters, and their tiny nuances throughout the film, there was never any smart situations with them. They all seemed to be on an agreeable term at the beginning of the film, and then suddenly a plot device is supposed to separate the team so that they can come back stronger...only that it felt incredibly forced. None of the characters really changed, or went through an arc, with the exception of El Diablo. Even then, his redemption felt very tacked on. Because these characters have been changing and hitting obstacles for their personal characters to overcome people are blaming the simple story because it didn't offer them anything else either. Nothing is wrong with a simple story, when played right it can turn a film into a nice character piece, but Suicide Squad not only offered audiences a simple story, but showed us great characters who don't overcome anything significant that affects them on a personal level, thus the plot is all anyone can see and blame.

Now, this was not shocking, but off putting to me when I finished watching this film. The director David Ayer has had some really great films under his belt. In fact, all of his films are character pieces that explore who his characters are and how they overcome challenges. His characters have really nice arcs, and by the end you either feel satisfied or misplaced that he's tormented and killed off a great character. That begs the question of why we didn't see this in Suicide Squad, and sadly I'm afraid it's in a similar situation that Batman v Superman had before its release.

Zack Snyder is infamous for having long run times in his films. So many of his films have been around the three hour mark that studios had to make a shorter version for the theaters. Watchmen is the best example in that he not only had a director's cut featuring the full three hour movie, but also another cut that made the film even longer and much closer to the comic. Same thing happened with Batman v Superman. Theatrical cut came out and audiences were noticing bad editing, scenes out of place, plus the fact that WB announced a director's cut of the film before the film came out was a bad sign. Here, Suicide Squad barely has the DNA that a David Ayer film has, and after reports about multiple cuts for this movie it's no wonder audiences are as divided here as with the previous DCEU films.

David Ayer is the kind of filmmaker that creates these really tense, dark films. Rarely do they have a truly happy ending, and seeing his style in Fury, End of Watch, and Training Day really puts him as the perfect man to tackle a villains film. In fact, the very first trailer that was released had his style and tone all over it. You felt the characters come off the screen and each one had a sinister undertaking to them...until the Ballroom Blitz trailer came out and made everything fun. There's nothing wrong with fun, but everybody loved that trailer. I point this out because there are numerous times you can tell scenes have been cut out, and reshoots were placed in. The editing wasn't that good, and after hearing reports from many, not a few, but numerous scenes being cut out only makes me think harder that the actual character moments, and scenes that would have made this film shine ended up on the cutting room floor. If you compare Suicide Squad to Ayer's last few films I'm not sure how many people would have said that this was a David Ayer's movie, and to me that's disappointing. Those were where most of my problems laid. Poor editing, and shafting characters.  One of the things I wanted more of coming out of this film were the characters. I wanted more moments, scenes, and actual evidence that they deserved to be in this movie. As it is, Suicide Squad felt like it had half characters, and half characters purely for fanservice.

Those were my big positives and negatives about the film, and while this review is drawing to a close I did want to dedicate the ending to something that's probably on everybody's mind. The Joker. Honestly, I really liked Jared Leto as this new incarnation of The Joker. His look is great, his performance was haunting at times, and above all I thought this was the perfect taste fans needed of him going into this DCEU. First and foremost the Joker isn't supposed to be a big character in this movie. He was here to be introduced into the DCEU while also giving character development towards Harley and setting up who she is. Not comparing him to the previous Jokers I felt Leto really gave it his all in the little we saw him in. If possible I'd love to watch a whole movie about this Joker. His mannerisms, his little animalistic slips, everything he put into his performance only made me excited to see the potential of this Joker. I don't think he was in this movie enough to warrant a comparison with the other Jokers just yet, but like most of this film I haven't seen anything that's turning me off to his character and thus I'm excited to see him return in the future.

Overall, I can see how this film is a mess to critics, but I can also see why audiences are enjoying it as much as they are. This film is fun, and while the music they used can either enhance your fun, or totally turn you off to the rest of the movie, there were enough enjoyable scenes, easter eggs, and character moments for me to look past everything that's bad. Even with little screen time I thought everyone did a great job with their characters. Others are more compelling than some, but I loved how every performance made their characters stand on their own, whether for good or bad. To me there were lots of moments and characters to love while watching this film, from stunning visuals of the Enchantress' transformation to characters such as Deadshot, Joker, and Harley, this film has made it as a breath of fresh air towards the DCEU even if it's still as dividing as the previous films. If nothing else, this film made  me more excited for the future of DC movies than Batman v Superman, or Man of Steel ever did.

That's most of my thoughts on this film, and I hope everyone who has read this review was able to take something away from it. Share your thoughts down in the comments, and if you're up for some civil conversations about Suicide Squad don't be afraid to share your thoughts.

7.5/10