I went and saw the new DC movie Suicide Squad last week and had some mixed feelings about it. Overall, I really liked it, but I acknowledge that it had a lot of problems. The biggest one was the story and as many know, the story is usually what brings me back to a movie. The story was a complete disaster for a number of reasons. However, there were many redeeming qualities that managed to save it for me.
Let me back up a little to give you some background on my viewing experience... I remember when I first heard about this movie was when they released the first picture of the Joker. If anyone knows me
A short time later, they released full cast photos. Same with the Joker, I was a little thrown. I recognized a lot of the comic villains’ names, but their costumes and styles were SO bizarre and different than their original style. However, I was excited by seeing all these characters together and looked forward to the movie even more.
Finally, a trailer was released. That sealed the deal for me. I was sold. I didn’t care about the strange new take on the style. I wanted to see this movie. And then, as time passed and I saw more trailers and pictures, I decided that the style sort of worked. It was an interesting new take on these characters. Of course, I’m a stickler for the original designs, but the sort of punk/gangster looks kind of worked. I accepted it (I didn’t like it, but I accepted it).
What I am trying to say is that I knew what I was walking into when I went to see the movie and I think that helped prepare me for the bizarre style. I can easily see it not being someone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed it.
As for the movie itself... Strengths? Definitely the casting. Particularly Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. They all had such a strong presence every time they were on screen and totally owned their characters.
There were some pretty good lines in there, both funny and serious. Even though they were usually thrown in random spots and/or the script was clunky, there were still some good lines every once in a while. Deadshot had some great quips and Will Smith nailed that performance. His dry humor, his love for his daughter, his total boss-ness. Awesome!
Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn surprised me. I’ve always loved Harley Quinn. She’s a very complex and interesting character, plus as the Joker’s girlfriend, I’ve got to love her. Also, she’s never been portrayed in a live-action role before, so I was very interested to see how this would go. I was not disappointed. She totally embodied that flat-out craziness you see in Harley, but then those moments when you see her tender side too... Like, she’s more than just a psychopath, she has emotions. It was extremely well done and Margot Robbie was spot on!
And then Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. She had such a presence whenever she was on screen. You knew who was in charge. She was intimidating! And ruthless. Like, she kills a room full of people just like that because they knew too much. (And I love Deadshot’s comment on that: “Now I’m a bad guy, but that’s a mean lady.”) She’s a bad good guy, you know? Not a corrupt good guy, just a bad one. Someone who will do literally anything to get the job done. Very suited to run the Suicide Squad. And Viola Davis was perfect in that role!
I would say the casting and characters were the strongest part of the movie. I loved the dynamic between all the villains as well as each of their own individual personalities. In fact, the characters were what carried the movie; because while the movie started out strong, it definitely fell apart by the end and was pretty disjointed throughout the entirety of it. If it weren’t for the enjoyable characters, this movie would’ve been a flop for me.
Another thing I liked about this movie was the relationship between the Joker and Harley Quinn. It fascinated me because they changed the dynamic from the usual portrayal. Harley is usually there fawning over the Joker and he sees her mostly as another disposable sidekick. He’ll come rescue her only if he needs her for a scheme or something and doesn’t actually genuinely care for her the way she does for him. However, in this movie, they changed that. He does actually care about her and they have this sort of psycho-in-love-with-psycho relationship. I really enjoyed it, the way two crazies get along like that.
While on the subject of the Joker, I will say that I did actually like this performance. I didn’t love it, but I think it was an interesting take. He was so creepy and completely psychotic. I would have liked to see a little more of his goofy side though because the Joker is well, a joker. He was mostly just a sick, crazy, crime-boss sort of guy. One of the things I love about the Joker is his twisted sense of humor. Everything is a joke to him. While I adored Heath Ledger’s Joker, that was sort of lacking there. So hopefully with this Joker, we’ll see some of that in the future. Like I said, I did enjoy the performance and I think Jared Leto really did go all out in trying to capture this character. However, I read a review that I kind of agree with where they said that they felt that it was "Jared Leto playing Jared Leto playing the Joker" meaning he was so caught up in his own head trying to play this character and there are times where you can just tell he's thinking "I am nailing this." And perhaps he is, but the fact that you can tell that he's thinking it is a point off his performance score. However, I still did enjoy the performance and I will definitely be interested in seeing him again.
However, this brings me to a weakness... the Joker. While I did like the performance, I feel like his screen time was very unbalanced. He either should have been given more screen time or should have been cut from the movie entirely. While that last one hurts me to say, it’s true because he felt a little thrown in. For such a big character in the comic book world, he deserves so much more screen time than what he got, especially for how much marketing he was given for this movie. (He was practically the cover boy.) The movie was much more about Harley Quinn. The whole reason he was in the movie in the first place was to explain her backstory, but then once that was out of the way, he had so many small, random scenes. And then they killed him off? What? And then it ends with him coming back to life? As if that was some big reveal. (Of course the Joker wasn’t really dead. He’s the Joker.) And what made them think that was a good ending for the movie? He wasn’t even a main character! To sum up my rant, I think he either should’ve been given more (logical) screen time or been cut out. In fact, he and Harley Quinn could probably manage their own stand-alone movie. I would totally go see that!
Speaking of randomness, this movie is full of it. It has the same problem that Batman v. Superman had and that is cramming too much of stuff into one film. While this film is definitely not on the same scale as Batman v. Superman, there’s a lot of disjointed stuff happening. And you know what? I think it probably could have worked here. The concept is good, but the editing sort of ruins it. Everything is all over the place. You’ve got backstories, you’ve got flashbacks, you’ve got what’s happening now, you’ve got what’s happening over there, you’ve got what’s happening with these people, you’ve got to throw in a random joke here and there. Now, I do like most of what is going on with all of those things, but the way it’s all thrown together to try and make a story... no. It doesn’t really work.
Now the one major problem that I really think could have fixed a lot of things is the villain/motivation. The Suicide Squad is sent into an abandoned urban area to save some people and then end up facing off against this supernatural entity and save the world. That’s the problem. The point of the Suicide Squad is that they’re special, but not that special. Like not special like Superman or Wonder Woman or Batman or whoever. The Suicide Squad members are expendable and have no interest in saving the world and only do so because they are forced to. Some of them have supernatural powers, but most of them are just highly skilled. My point is, why couldn’t someone like Batman or Wonder Woman go and save the world here? Surely Wonder Woman would’ve made the most sense. Where were those guys during this crisis? Why did the Suicide Squad have to go in? I was just so confused.
I think they should’ve been going into a top secret military base in like Russia or something. Somewhere where the regular American army couldn’t go in under normal circumstances. That would’ve been cool. It would've been dangerous enough that we could see why these people were useful; then it would’ve been smaller scale, therefore less important to the big-time heroes like Batman or the Flash or whoever; and it would’ve been a good reason to bring in expendable people since it was in dangerous territory; plus they weren’t saving the world.
Now, as for the villain herself, Enchantress... why? Just why? There was absolutely no reason for her. And her motivation was just so vague. “People do not worship me. I will kill them with my machine because they worship machines!” But then we never even learn what the heck her machine does. And then what’s the point of her building a machine? We see throughout the movie that she can literally do anything with her magic. Why build a machine? And again, WHAT DOES HER MACHINE DO!?!! All it does is shoot a pillar of light into the sky (and we haven’t seen that a million times in action films).
Now, this is an action film and people are coming for fights. How was it? Entertaining for sure. I would not say it was the best action I have ever seen, but it keeps you interested. It was never dull, but it wasn’t really creative either. That is to say, it didn’t make itself stand out from other action films in that regard. I did like the scene when Harley Quinn beat up the guys in the elevator, as random as it was, I really enjoyed it. That was a standout scene for me.
Alright, I have ranted enough over things I did not like about this film. But I did actually really enjoy it. As disjointed and random as it got, I was still very entertained by the action, the characters, and the smaller stories that were involved (backstories and such). I hardly cared about the motivation or plot as I watched it, I didn't care that it didn't make sense. I mentioned the casting, the characters, the Joker and Harley Quinn’s relationship, and the Joker’s performance. Those were all great parts of the movie and certainly carried it through the weak stuff.
It is definitely very dark, but what do you expect from a movie about villains? However, it’s not as dark as it was originally supposed to be. They reshot some stuff and threw in a lot of upbeat things (which I think is a reason for a lot of the randomness), hoping to change the tone slightly. The result is a rather dark movie with a sort of quirky undertone. I enjoyed it, but I can easily see it making some people uncomfortable.
If you want to watch a movie with a great plot and well-done storytelling, you’re not going to get it. But, if you want a movie with awesome and interesting people doing some boss things, you won’t be disappointed. I would say give it a go. It won't waste your time.
My rating: 7/10.
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