I have a question. Have you ever let one of your friends do something for you, they did a terrible job, you felt bad and let them try again, and they did another terrible job? Now take that scenario and identify yourself as DC Universe and your friend as Zack Snyder.
To give you an appetizing sample of what’s to come, take a look at these headlines:
Forbes: “Worse Than ‘Green Lantern,’ Worse Than ‘Fantastic Four'”
New York Times: “Suicide Squad Chases Nihilistic Swagger but Trips Over Its Own Feet”
Variety: “No Love for DC Super-Villains”
Telegraph: “Crushingly Puerile Comic-Book Pornography”
Now clearly, my favorite of all those was the headline from Telegraph (that’s just wild). But unlike my defense of Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, I can honestly say this film is going to get trashed this weekend.
Suicide Squad is a movie that had everyone excited. Literally everyone, but especially DC fans. But that was part of the problem. The excitement behind it helped carry the promo, but the tanking of Batman vs. Superman set the expectations through the roof for this movie, and that’s the main problem.
No matter how you feel about Jared Leto, Will Smith, or even Zack Snyder, all you need to know is that there isn’t a pair of boy shorts on earth small enough to throw on Margot Robbie that would’ve saved this film.
As some of you may remember, years ago I wrote a review on ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ and I knew right then, she was a star in the making. I’m glad she’s getting work and she did a great job as Harley Quinn. I love the onscreen chemistry between her and Will Smith (which I first saw in ‘Focus’). At many points during the movie she carries the scenes, which is a heavy weight to bear around a cast of mostly men.
Unfortunately I can’t finish this review without shaking my head. What started out with glorious potential took too long to take flight and fell short in the ‘wow’ category. Fans will not be excited about all the CGI that was used either. I know DC is going to catch all kinds of hell for that.
The problem is every film is missing its mark. It’s like “this film is bad, oh well the next one will be better,” then “Ok Dawn of Justice could’ve been better… But thank God Suicide Squad is coming out this summer!” But now it’s like, “Ok, they didn’t get it right with Suicide Squad… But they’ll get it right with Justice League.” I mean the hope and potential just gets passed off to every movie. Why can’t they get it right?
One thing I thought was interesting was this was written and directed by David Ayer but Zack Snyder was a co-producer. I’m sure you remember the shellacking he took this past spring because of BvS. After this, he might be finished with DC.
The storyline in a nutshell, a secret government agency decides to use captured meta-humans to fight their battles for them. This secret mission is a lose-lose for the super villains; if they succeed, they stay in jail and if they fail, they take the blame.
The team that takes shape consists of Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Boomerang, Diablo, and Killer Croc. Because Killer Croc has scales all over his body and doesn’t look human, DC took it upon themselves to let you know he was black by using street jargon, deepening his voice to Barry White levels, and my favorite, having him request BET in his prison cell (good job Warner Bros. good job).
I honestly have no problem with Will Smith in this film (even though I heard groans nationwide when they announced it) and one of the bright spots was the girl who played his daughter, Shailyn Pierre-Dixon. She has very few lines but her performance really makes you feel the pain of a girl who aches at the thought of losing her father.
They made Viola Davis a stone-cold b*** in this movie. She did a good job of making you hate her character Amanda Waller, who works for the covert government agency. Jared Leto is not Heath Ledger but does justice to The Joker. You’ll see Common for all of 50 seconds so be sure to enjoy that, and you’ll see microseconds of two meta-humans you were introduced to in BvS (See? No spoilers).
With all things considered, there is no possible way I can give this higher than a 6.5 out of 10. Margot Robbie’s shorts seemed smaller with every scene, way too many cheesy scenes, Cara Delevingne was bad as Enchantress, at too many points you’ll drown in CGI, and the PG-13 rating didn’t help.
Most people want to see this because of The Joker and Harley Quinn, and for that, you won’t be disappointed (or with all the posters and artwork, they’re awesome). Did I like it? In its most basic form, I thought it was OK. But with everything that happened with BvS I thought the studio and DC would’ve taken serious notes with this.
Go ahead Marvel Fanboys. Fly my pretties, fly!
-Jon J.