Suicide Squad Movie Review

It's confusing and messy but at least it's fun!

by Steve Withers
Movies & TV Shows Review

90

Suicide Squad Movie Review

One day DC will get a cinematic adaptation of their comics right but sadly Suicide Squad isn't it.

To be fair the film certainly comes close, much closer than the morose Man of Steel or the bloated Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. However despite some very solid work in terms of building the characters that make up the comic book 'Dirty Dozen', the film is still let down by a second half that rushes the Squad into action against a weak and under-explained villain. As a result an hour of enjoyable and entertaining build-up is squandered on the usual hordes of faceless enemies and city-wide destruction that seems to conclude most comic book films these days, regardless of whether it's DC or Marvel. Someone needs to tell screenwriters that watching characters kill dozens of disposable opponents gets boring very quickly.
If the production stories are to be believed, writer/director David Ayer was under huge pressure from Warners and DC to deliver a finished film in time for its accelerated release date. He was also forced to reshoot scenes in order to lighten the film's grittier tone after criticisms that Batman v Superman was too dark. Whether that's true or not, the finished film doesn't seem to suffer from a confused tone, with the final product combining humour and action quite effectively. What it does suffer from is a lack of focus, especially during the problematic second half. If, once the Squad had been assembled, they had a more low key and clearer objective for their first mission, the overall film would have been much better.
Suicide Squad
That's a real shame because the premise of Suicide Squad is a great one – assemble a team of super-villains to combat even worse super-villains. The film picks up after the end of Batman v Superman (you don't need to have seen this film first but the start of Suicide Squad will spoil the ending if you haven't) with Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) recruiting a group of these villains, the majority of whom are housed in a maximum security prison called Belle Reve. The team is led by special-forces expert Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and the first thirty minutes is great, as we're introduced to each of the villains and provided with some brief backstory. This section of the film is probably the best and even includes some fun cameos from other DC characters.

The two main villains are Deadshot (Will Smith), a hitman who never misses, and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), an ex-psychiatrist who fell in love with The Joker (Jared Leto) and was subsequently driven mad by him. The other villains include Diablo (Jay Hernandez) who can shoot fire from his hands, Boomerang (Jai Courtney) an Australian jewel thief with a handy boomerang, Killer Croc (Adele Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a mutant that looks like a crocodile, Slipknot (Adam Beach) who can climb anything and June Moone (Cara Delevingne) who is possessed by Enchantress, an ancient demon. There's also Katana (Karen Fukuhara), a Japanese fighter with a sword that collects souls who helps Flag keep the Squad in line.

It's fairly obvious that more time and effort was spent assembling the cast than was ever put into the script but it does pay-off in terms of building interesting characters. Davis is great as Waller, who is prepared to do anything to get results and for a 'good guy' is almost as bad as some of the villains. Kinnaman is equally as good in the role of Flag, which was originally going to be played by Tom Hardy before he dropped out to do The Revenant, but it's a less showy part. Smith brings his usual slick charm to the role of Deadshot, whilst Hernandez adds some real depth to the character of Diablo. Akinnuoye-Agbaje doesn't get as much to do as Killer Croc but his make-up is superb, whilst Delevingne handles herself well, Fukuhara makes the most of her limited role and even Courtney is quite good.

An excellent build-up is squandered on a second half that is confusing and anti-climactic

Although some have criticised her excessive use in the pre-release advertising, the simple fact is that Margot Robbie kills (pun intended) as Harley Quinn and steals almost every scene she's in. The film will no doubt blast Robbie into superstar status and the prospect of seeing her character again in future DC movies is exciting. The same goes for Leto's Joker and whilst some might not like his take on the character, who often comes across as a tattooed psychotic rockstar, you have to applaud his attempts to do something different with his limited screen time.

When you consider the solid work that is done in terms of developing characters and building the team, it's all the more disappointing that once the Squad has been assembled, they don't have a better mission to go on. The whole cast deliver great performances and Ayer is a talented director who knows how to shoot action and get the best from his actors. Unfortunately he's let down by his own script, which was perhaps a victim of the film's rushed production schedule. The second half sees the Squad go on a mission before you even realise what's happening but their objectives aren't clear and much of the action becomes confusing because you have very little idea what the main villain is doing or why.

The result is a messy and confusing third act, that is only really saved by the strong characters that were established in the first hour of the film. This does result in a great scene in a bar towards the end, which has some nice character beats, although you do wonder how they have time for drink when all hell is breaking loose. It is a genuine shame that the main villain isn't better defined and the mission isn't more focused because the production design, costumes and effects are all excellent, creating a cinematic vision that fits into the larger DC universe whilst still retaining its own identity. In the end Suicide Squad has to be judged something of a missed opportunity but, despite all it's faults, at least it's fun. Oh and don't forget to stay for the now obligatory mid-credits scene.

Scores

Verdict

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7

7
AVForumsSCORE
OUT OF
10

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