I so wanted to like the “Suicide Squad’, DC’s attempt to shake up a superhero genre they haven’t mastered yet. DC films are already much darker than Marvel’s, so I’m not sure how introducing a little known (to the general public at least) ragtag group of anti-heroes is going to be a game changer or make the DC universe any darker. What the Warner Bros execs were hoping is to replicate the magic of Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and they don’t even come close. They even thought putting in a cool retro soundtrack would cover a shoddy story and it wouldn’t be noticed. That right there is the problem DC is having. They are trying to copy Marvel’s success formula, from the shared universe to even types of movie storyline arcs. They aren’t being original and are coming up with pale replicated product that is obviously being made by people who don’t truly understand the superhero genre.
This film is such a hot mess, I don’t even know where to start. Maybe the good? So, I love the concept of ‘The Suicide Squad’ even if I never liked the comic. Similar to Lee Marvin’s ‘The Dirty Dozen’, but with superheroes. The Government, represented by U.S. Intelligence agent Amanda Waller (Viola Davis in top form), fears they are defenseless in a world where people like Superman exist. She proposes taking the meta-humans they currently have in prison and forcing them to work on behalf of the government in exchange for clemency. The catch is that the missions are so dangerous it will almost assuredly mean their deaths. Waller recruits Special Forces soldier Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) as the Unit commander. Waller uses various means of control over each, but the traditional ‘explosive-injected-into-the-neck’ is the most immediate. The film spends the first 40 minutes reviewing each person’s history and profile arriving at us caring or investing in none of them. Investment in characters has to be the basis or no movie will work.
Actually, I enjoyed Will Smith as Deadshot, but at the end of the day it is Will Smith being Will Smith. Nothing wrong with that (Robert Downey Jr made Ironman a household name doing that), but the character is nothing without him. Of course, all the buzz is about Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn and Jared Leto as the Joker. Not only did this seem to be a case of overacting for both of them, it seemed artificial and forced. I hate comparing performances, but the Joker has set a high standard in previous films incarnations with Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger (he even won an Oscar for his portrayal). This isn’t even in the same class. I would compare this closer to Jim Carrey’s performance as the Riddler in ‘Batman Forever’; exaggerated and cartoony. All the rest; Diablo, Killer Croc, and Captain Boomerang were generic and uninteresting. Everyone had a hard luck story, but again it seemed so forced and wedged in, I rolled my eyes more than sympathized.
The villainess is a nigh-omnipotent ancient being named The Enchantress (played oddly by Victoria Secret’s model Cara Delevingne) who resurrects her nigh-omnipotent brother (not sure if they ever mentioned his name) to do something…take over the world? Destroy the world? That part of the plan is never spelled out clearly. They build one of those machines that makes a hole above the city where everything starts sucking towards it. Again, not sure what that is supposed to accomplish. The decision is made to send the Suicide Squad in which really didn’t make any sense either because they had no plan other than just introduce them all and send them in to stop whatever was going on. Since you need fight scenes, they fight weird cannon fodder mystical creatures created just for the express purpose to have fights. They seem tough, but very few people get hurt while the creatures blow up constantly.
This film was so riddled with plot holes my head spun. It never tried to be its’ own film rather just try to exploit other movie’s successes. I guess my biggest issue is that the Suicide Squad was assembled to be a force to take on the likes of Superman, but none of them really had any powers that were formidable. Harley Quinn basically walked around with a baseball bat saying and doing crazy things. How did she even survive the first fight? Captain Boomerang basically just had…metal boomerangs (Superman must be quaking in his cape)??? The Joker was barely in this despite what the previews would have you believe, so I’m not sure why there were so many stories about Jared Leto’s off camera method acting techniques or why he would take it so far with such limited screen time.
‘Suicide Squad’ is probably the biggest misstep in an already shaky start to the DC universe franchise Warner Bros is trying to create. I think they should start with trying to stop be Marvel and find their own voice and style. I will say I have bias as I was always a Marvel fan growing up, but I really do want DC to succeed. There is room enough for both Marvel and DC. The difference is that Marvel movies are made by people who understand what makes super hero special in the hearts of the audience whereas the DC execs don’t understand the magic of super heroes and are just trying to use someone else’s formula for success.
I give this film ** stars
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