Suicide Squad Review

 

        Back in 2015, Warner Bros. announced that they were doing a Suicide Squad film. They released a trailer that was shown to the attendants at the San Diego Comic-Con. I was intrigued, it had a dark vibe to it which piqued my interest. As time passed though, the marketing changed with each subsequent trailer. The emphasis was more on the comedy and the banter between the group. The film was released in 2016 and just like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice it was torn asunder by critics. So far, Warner was going 0 for 3 with their shared universe. SPOILERS will appear in the review. 

1. Story

        The film takes place after the events of Batman v Superman, Viola Davis plays Amanda Waller, who convinces her military associates that she has an assortment of villains in her disposal to combat threats that are Superman level. From there, we get a very haphazard introductions to the villains of Task Force X. We start with Deadshot played by Will Smith, he’s an expert marksman. Then we shift to Harley Quinn, a fan favorite of the Batman comic series played by Margot Robbie. 

        We get more introductions to such characters like Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc, and the only normal person in the group Rick Flag. So, with them at Waller’s control, they are assigned to rescue a high-level target in Midway City. We find out that one of the characters that is around Waller, June Moone played by Cara Delevingne is possessed by a demonic witch called the Enchantress. She breaks free and contacts her brother who is stuck in an artifact. As typical with any one note comic book villain, she and her brother want to conquer the world. That’s it. 

        This is probably one of the worst stories that I have followed in any comic book film. It’s derivative for one thing since the villain is so one note. The characters are just stand ins, Will Smith and Margot Robbie are the only good parts in the film. El Diablo actually goes through a character arc but is killed in the end.

        Now, with every villain introduced to combat a Superman-esque threat, these are the villains to stop that? We're told that the squad is mostly comprised of meta-humans, think gifted people with powers. Although, one is a good marksman, one's insane, another is good with a boomerang. Only two characters have powers that affect them physically. I have to stress that this probably wasn't thought out clearer. I’m being way too nice, let me describe how exactly director David Ayer messed up big time. 

2. Wasted Opportunity

        It’s quite clear that this film is trying to be Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy. When the movie starts at the Belle Reve penitentiary, the soundtrack kicks in. It’s just sporadic and doesn’t tie itself to one character. With the film I just mentioned, it’s used smartly with the main character since it represents Star-Lord’s connection with his mother and where he is from. 

        Here though, it’s anything that can match the characters, because it’s “cool”. There’s no context with the songs since it’s plastered there. The most egregious example is the song “Spirit in the Sky” used when the Squad goes in the city. Out of all the songs out there, it had to be that one. Even “Bohemian Rhapsody” is butchered since it was used in one of the trailers and I thought it would appear in the film. The song appears but is cut off in the end. 

        Another example is the overall plot. Like I said, the Squad is set up to stop the Enchantress from taking over the world. As lame as the story sounds, the Joker is wasted as well. Played by Jared Leto, he does absolutely nothing and contributes squat to the overall plot. I thought that the Squad was assigned to stop him, making Harley Quinn question her loyalty. No, it’s the former and I can’t believe that director David Ayer had just 9 weeks to write the script.

        One last thing was just how big the actual Squad was. Again, to use Guardians of the Galaxy, that team was just five members. The main focus was on Star-Lord since he is the only human for us to focus on. The Suicide Squad has 9 members. Now, it would’ve worked if the team was divided so we can have equal attention for everyone. The overall focus was inconsistent, I thought it was mostly Deadshot’s movie. Then it focused on Harley Quinn. For all intents and purposes, Rick Flag might’ve been the one to humanize everyone, be the straight man for the audience. 

        It was clear that the overall approach was rushed. Now, the concept could work, but given the overall passivity the characters face and not given enough moments to care about. The biggest sin that I mentioned is that we’re told what the members do. Especially with member Katana played by Karen Fukuhara, she joins the Squad as they’re about to take off. Rick Flagg explains who she is and her gimmick. The whole moment is the laziest way to introduce a character, even worse is when Diana Prince is looking at surveillance footage at the future Justice League members in Batman v Superman. 

3. Editing

        Out of all the complaints that I have seen when reading the reviews or viewing them on YouTube, the editing is the real sticking point to many critics. A lot of the general audience won’t notice, but what happened is the overall neon moments that pop up in the beginning. More so when the characters get a “Baseball Card” stat shots describing who they are. I think it was embarrassing that Warner Bros. would hire an actual trailer editing house to work on the cut that shown in theaters. It is contradictory of the director route they are doing with their films. Which leads to my next point. 

4. Director Vision

        I can appreciate Warner Bros. going a different route than Marvel Studios by having their directors show their talents on adapting the DC superhero characters. The reason why Marvel has a string of successes is that the directors have to follow a strict outline of how their movies have to follow the Marvel formula. There can’t be any compromises since it might mess up the inevitable team ups or contradict the previous films. 

        It became apparent that Warner Bros. is staying true to the director’s vision, but at a price by releasing a studio cut to theaters. Then when it comes time to release the film on Blu-Ray, they advertise a “definitive” cut to a film that should’ve been released in theaters. The practice for one thing is shady and pretty disgusting since it’s apparent that the vision Warner is going for is for nothing since they’re hypocrites looking for profit.  

5. Overall

        This is without a doubt a bad comic book film. I mean it, this is bad. I often think about if the Suicide Squad will ever show up in any team up film in the future. I know for a fact that director James Gunn is doing a quasi-remake-sequel with the team called The Suicide Squad. The actors are the only saving grace but the roster is too cluttered to care for any of them. For as much as they’re the bad guys, them stating and rephrasing that assessment can get annoying. 

        Suicide Squad gets a 2 out of 5.