Starring: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie,
Director: David Ayer
Another misguided and confused film from the writer/director of Fury. If you liked that film, this one will please you. Otherwise, the flaws in this film may leave you feeling cold.
Holding the major comic book villains in prison, the government develops a plot to use them as a weapon, but can these bad guys be controlled?
Since the big bad in this film is one of their own, it seems like the Suicide Squad is a paradox. One of their number is Enchantress, a witch-like figure from another dimension, who manages to escape and gain power, due to her being included in the Suicide Squad. So the Suicide Squad wouldn’t need to exist if it didn’t already exist. Confused, right?
The film shines when Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is onscreen, and Will Smith is an old hand at action and delivering a cool line, but the size of the group means that no one gets enough screen time, the film as a whole is exposition heavy, and the action sequences suffer from what I can only describe as softness. They’re poorly cut, so hits don’t connect with a snap and movements feel slow, the cuts labored. And the Joker plays a much lesser role than he really should.
On the whole, the film has fun moments, but just doesn’t really work. And there are some points about the way Harley is treated that I found really jarring and unnecessary.
See It If: It’s a franchise film, so expect several more of these, but on the whole, there are so many comic book movies there, you could skip this one and save yourself the dullness.
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Apparently Suicide Squad suffered massively in the edits and it showed! Also, the whole Joker and Harley relationship can’t really survive politically correct Hollywood. In theory she should be madly in love with him despite the fact that he’s psychotic and abuses her. Hollywood would eventually demand she had a redemptive story line but that’s not in the comics so there’s a conflict right there. Also she’s meant to be a figure of empowerment for women, yet she has to do the too-short-shorts and baby-doll act for the cameras. More conflict. Added to an ensemble movie the result is just confusion, unfortunately!
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It’s funny, because watching the extended cut, it’s still kind of a mess! This film kind of leaves you with a lot to think about… Thank you for your great and thoughtful comment. 😀
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I just have no interest in seeing this film, none at all. The Joker looks like an idiot. Jared Leto becomes more pretentious and weird with each passing day. I am sick of action movies that find humor in the “what’s that? It’s a deadly weapon that kills and maims thousands of people. Look how big my cock is! Look at all the violence I can create!” type of formula. To me it looks like the whole movie is a spectacle and not really a story. I mean the idea of criminals being used for justice is as old as The Dirty Dozen, right? It’s not original and the characters look like people in costume…not like the actual characters they play. I’d like to hear more from you about how Harley Quinn got mistreated, though. I know there are two versions of her origin story, one where Joker pushed her into the vat of goo and another where she jumped in of her own free will. The pushy Joker version is bad because it takes away Harley’s agency. So I don’t know which version got used in the movie, since I haven’t seen it, but it would be interesting to talk more with you about it. Thanks for the thoughtful, articulate, and honest review.
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Great comment! You’re passionate. I like that.
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I only really enjoyed Harley and Deadshot, but then the movie was prettymuch “The Harley and Deadshot show” throughout. El Diablo was underused in my opinion, and would’ve shone even more with a bit more screen time.
My main gripe was the Joker – Jared Leto’s interpretation was severely off the mark, in style, substance and even in general attitude.
As a prime example… Harley’s “creation” scene, where she jumps into the vat of chemicals…. Joker’s attitude seems as though he can’t live without Harley, or really cares about her… when in reality Joker shouldn’t give a shit, even about her. Leto’s idea of the Joker failed when he ignored the chaotic side of the Joker’s personality… plus the fact that the only person the Joker really cares about is himself, and Batman (if you pay attention to The Killing Joke).
I could go on and on about what I hated about Suicide Squad, but when I ignore the Joker, and the enemies with blackberries for heads, it’s not totally terrible. Leto just ruined it for me in general.
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Great comment! Thank you!
Yes, the Joker makes no sense as a romantic figure, and it was certainly the Quinn/Deadshot show. So many under-utilised characters & ideas.
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Of the people who like it, it seems to come down to the attitude of the film and the character of Quinn. I agree with you that the film’s action especially considering the budget is mostly boring which is an unforgivable sin for a film like this. The most positive thing I can say about it is the cast was good and the dynamics of their relationships were intriguing. Maybe the sequel can develop these threads because they did very little with them here.
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Yeah I agree.
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Suicide Squad seemed like a bit of a hurried job, if you ask me. I felt that the movie was overhyped and it couldn’t live up to the expectations it set. The number of plotholes is just… disappointing
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Absolutely spot on! It totally feels hurried and waaaaay overhyped.
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