Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) puts together a group of unusual criminals (Harley Quinn—Margot Robbie, Deadshot—Will Smith, Diablo—Jay Hernandez, Killer Croc—Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Boomerang—Jai Courtney, Enchantress—Cara Delevingne) with the intention of creating a US force to defend against meta-humans. The group is called into action early when one of her criminals slips through her fingers and sets out to wipe out humanity.
To say that Suicide Squad is the best DC superhero movie we’ve had in a long time seems to be damning it with faint praise. But I’m not—damning it that is. Though my praise may be on the fainter side. This is a fun film, filled with lots of explosions and gunshots and baseball bat thwomps, divided by some solid jokes and some less solid character development. It’s impossible not to like it. I think it will also be impossible to love it. It’s a nice summer movie. I suggest a matinée, where the price will be more reasonable for what you are getting.
On the problem side, it tries to do far too much. It introduces a lot of characters, let us see the darker parts of our government, create a mythology for our big bad who also gets a substantial intro, sends the squad out on a mission that turns out to be two missions, spend time with the joker, and displays a whole lot of fighting. When you attempt that much, somethings are going to suffer. In this case, most things do. A simpler mission, with a simpler objective (the animated film sent them to swipe some incriminating documents from Arkham Asylum which required almost no set up) would have allowed time to focus on character.
It also has the action/explosion/FX porn problem. We spend a lot of time watching bad-natured, CGI fog (did Green Lantern teach them nothing?), multiple bombs going off, and so many, many gunshots. This has become standard in all action movies, which is unfortunate. The big booms don’t arise naturally from the story. I could see how they plotted out the action set pieces, and then fit the story, as best they could, to support the big booms.
And then there is the editing. I can’t recall a film with worse editing. I mentioned character introductions. Well, some characters get introduced three times. Some none. The whole structure of the film is a little off.
But the largest problem is that the film is confused on who the lead should be. By the plot, Rick Flag is the lead. It is his story (dedicated soldier, brought into seedy operation where he must keep his morality, falls in love and then must save the girl from great evil). But Flag is boring, which is not only my opinion, but apparently director David Ayer’s as well. So, while the story says Flag, celebrity says Deadshot and fan interest says Harley Quinn. Deadshot is no more interesting than Flag, and even worse, Will Smith is playing him as Will Smith. It is the Will Smith character that we’ve seen so many times before. The film desperately wants us to care about Will Smith’s…I means Deadshot’s relationship with his daughter, but it is so fake, so saccharine, that there is not a drop of emotion to be had.
As for Harley, well, here’s where things go right. Based on the story Suicide Squad is supposedly trying to tell, she shouldn’t be the co-lead, but it doesn’t matter because every moment with Harley Quinn is a moment I want in the film. She’s funny. She’s sympathetic. She’s violent. And she’s a joy to behold. Her relationship with The Joker is the only one that works in the film, but it works well. I was rooting for those two swell kids to make a life for themselves…and maybe slaughter a few people. Robbie nails smart, sexy, and crazy. This should have been The Harley and Joker Movie, and nearly is. As for The Joker himself, Jared Leto gives us a very different version of the character, one with more heart than usual. I suspect some traditionalists will not be pleased, but he entertained me.
As for the rest of the Squad, they don’t get much of a chance to shine and in the case of Boomerang, it is hard to figure why he’s even in the film. Katana, a sword-wielding superheroine, is just tossed in and I have to wonder if there isn’t a lot of character development left on the cutting room floor.
I found the big boss battle underwhelming, mainly because there were no stakes I cared about, nor rules that made sense (now why did they think a bomb was the way to go after magic?). It’s just a lot of lights and noise, and I kept wanting to say “Zuul.” I was more interested in Harley’s emotional state. That mattered; twirling cloud-magic did not.
Looking at the film from the distance of only two hours, its flaws seem to out weight its virtues. But they don’t. The action could have been better, but it wasn’t bad. The characters were mostly underdeveloped, but except for Deadshot, not annoying. And where the film was good, such as with Harley and The Joker, it soared. If you don’t like Harley, well, then skip Suicide Squad, but I think most people will like her a great deal.