Suicide Squad Movie Review

2/10

Christopher Nolan – come back! DC just can’t seem to get it right ever since you left. Yes, that’s right folks, the hype surrounding Suicide Squad falls flat over its own frivolous plot. Can someone please get Nolan on the line right now?

The story of the worst heroes ever revolves around a plan lead by a woman who never smiles, government agent Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). The plan is to recruit several imprisoned supervillains for black ops missions deemed too dangerous. Such supervillains include the ever deadly assassin Deadshot (Will Smith), the voluptuous yet insane Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and a large array of others whom I’m sure you know all about from the incredibly extensive marketing campaign. Director of Fury and End of Watch David Ayer is at the helm as not only director, but writer as well, and after seeing the movie, I’m beginning to wonder whether that was a good decision.

The main issue within the film (though there are many) lies in its weakly composed, predictable plot. Putting the various conveniences and plot holes aside, I had initial doubts believing that government officials could allow such a team to be put together. Sadly, my doubts were never proven wrong. Such a plan doesn’t make sense, especially when revealed Ms. Waller has knowledge of other “good” heroes but never seemed to think of asking for their help first. I get it – this isn’t the Justice League, but don’t have them show up in the first place and expect me not to ask why Batman isn’t helping you out when he clearly can be of more use than a guy whose supervillain ability is to climb things. Pretty sure Batman can do that and then some.

But what about the villains themselves? That fire dude looked really cool, right? Actually, yes. He was probably my favorite alongside Robbie’s performance as Quinn. But looking cool isn’t the same as being cool, and it’s here we find another problem. There are no strong character motivations and the dynamic between the ragtag villains isn’t nearly as fun to watch as the banter between the Avengers. By the end of it, Ayer wants you to feel that they’ve become a family, but unfortunately, it doesn’t quite resonate.

I’m beating a dead horse here; I could continue on with a number of flaws within the film and the more I think about it, the more I’m worried my 2-star rating is too generous… Jared Leto’s The Joker was a laughable interpretation compared to Heath Ledger’s chaotic interpretation. It was good that he spent as much time in the movie as I’ve mentioned him in this review. The only real positives were from a visual standpoint. Especially in the costume department, as every character looked fantastic – hell, even the marketing posters were a work of street art. But that’s unfortunately it. A film that looks incredibly cool, but deep down is yet another forgettable entry into the largely worrying DC franchise.