Suicide Squad (2016)

“Suicide Squad” stars Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, and Viola Davis.  Released on August 5, 2016, the film is about a group of supervillains who are tasked to save the world from a powerful threat.

The film is directed by David Ayer, who also directed films such as Street Kings, End of Watch, Sabotage, and Fury.  It is the third installment in the DC Extended Universe.  The DCEU has gotten off to a rocky start in terms of critical reception and box office, with Batman V Superman being the prime example.  Even though I liked the film, it only managed to make a small profit and failed to meet the expectations that Warner Brothers was hoping for.  We now turn our attention to another DC film that focuses on the villains instead of the heroes we grew up with.  What seems to be a hopeful turnaround for DC’s planned cinematic universe actually turns out to be like Batman V Superman in terms of, you guessed it, “critical reception”.  I had been planning on seeing this film since I saw the first trailer because I really liked the cast and I loved a couple of David Ayer’s works like End of Watch and Fury.  Seeing him taking on a supervillain film is something that I wouldn’t mind checking out, because no amount of critical reviews is going to stop me from watching this film.  No sir.  So, is this film really as bad as Batman V Superman?  Let’s find out.

Let’s start off my list of pros with the cast.  I thought they did a really good job at portraying their characters.  Will Smith (my man) as Deadshot was probably my most interesting of the group in terms of his character.  Margot Robbie remarkably delivered her psychotic, insane persona as Harley Quinn.  Viola Davis was also solid as Amanda Waller.  Also, I have got to give this film credit for bringing Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) to life using practical makeup instead of making him into a CGI brute.  His design was very impressive.  Jared Leto takes the helm as the big baddie himself, the Joker, who plots to reunite with his true love, Harley.  His performance didn’t quite reach the same heights as the late Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the crown prince of crime in The Dark Knight, but, to his credit, he came pretty close.  I also think that the main antagonist, Enchantress (played by Cara Delevingne), could’ve been portrayed a bit better than just a “main bad guy that needs to be stopped”.  What I really liked from Ayer’s past works, End of Watch and Fury, is how he made his audience care for the characters that are fighting a fight that might be impossible to win.  I thought with “Suicide Squad”, he did a darn good job at doing that.  Not only that, but he also showed that some of the villains do have a bit of a soft side to them, mostly Deadshot and El Diablo (played by Jay Hernandez).  Oh, I almost forgot to mention that this film has plenty of fun and humor to go around.  Yeah, I thought this film that has the bad guys as the main characters was fun.  As the film progresses, I started to like hanging out with these guys.  That’s what I like about these types of movies: characters that you enjoy hanging out with.

Besides the Joker’s lack of screen time, the film does have a couple of flaws.  There were times where the film is about to get a bit “edgy”, but the director is like, “No no no, we’re trying to make it suitable for a PG-13 crowd”, which would explain some of its editing hiccups.  But that doesn’t mean we didn’t get to see Harley Quinn’s sexual appearance, sooooo, there’s that.  I also thought the film could’ve been a bit more in depth with the characters, but what I saw is what I get, I guess.

Overall, It’s not one of David Ayer’s strongest films due to his PG-13 restrictions and his lack of strong storytelling, but “Suicide Squad” is a blast to watch.  With some likable characters, entertaining action, and its sense of fun with a dash of humor, the film proves that being bad feels so good.  I know that some of the critics are giving it negative reviews, but if you’re thinking about seeing it, I say go for it.  See it with an open mind.  You might have a good time with this one.  I’m so ready for the future of the DC Extended Universe.  Bring it on!

B+