Suicide Squad 2016

Summertime 2016 has not been very kind to DC Comics-based personalities looking to shine consistently like their big screen Marvel Comics counterparts. Following the super-sized dud that was Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice released a few months ago must really put some major pressure on Warner Bros. to gamble on ensuring that the presence of Suicide Squad does not meet the same kind of indifferent reception. Well, it turns out that although the anticipation was high for writer-director David Ayer's supervillain saga involving high-powered imprisoned rogues recruited as U.S. governmental operatives out to stop other skillful baddies (as it was for Zack Ryder's aforementioned "Dawn of Justice") the concoction of Suicide Squad feels like a colorful mishmash of collective misfits laboriously taking up space in a disjointed eye candy-coated spectacle that never manages to match its intended sizzle.

One would think that the premise for Suicide Squad would tap into the intriguing naughtiness with more robust gumption given the collection of super-powered oddballs asked to be immediate anti-heroes in this toothless jamboree of renegade rejects. Strangely, the grim and brooding presentation of Suicide Squad is more of an erratic downer than a hyperactive high-wire act as intended at the creative hands of Ayer. There is no reason why this lively group of adventurous agitators should appear so flat and inconsequential in a boisterous blockbuster that sporadically limps.

Given the twisted members that comprise this elite team of terrorizing tools it is very disappointing to see how Suicide Squad struggles with its so-called subversive themes. Sadly, this splattered mess never firmly grasps its bid for distinctive irreverence or off-balance exploitation. Instead, Squad feels strained in its execution and we are never really invested in entirely watching these treasured troublemakers find redemption because the story is soggy and uninspired. Furthermore, not all of the Squad participants are fleshed out satisfyingly for us to get behind with thirsty cynicism. The headlining leads in Will Smith's Floyd Lawton/Deadshot, Oscar-winner Jared Leto's green-haired Joker and Australian beauty Margot Robbie's Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn get the meaty standout parts while the lesser known supporting cast get stuck with chewing on the thankless remaining bone while seemingly acting as background furniture to the bigger names.

Naturally, desperation has set in for the U.S. government as they need to safeguard national security against advanced sinister forces that threaten the fiber of American self-interests everywhere. What better way to hire gifted protection than to consider employing the world's most incarcerated corruptible, cutthroat cretins to perform the dirty work in unforgivable mission ops that require death-defying determination. Enter U.S. Intelligence agent Amanda Waller (Oscar nominee Viola Davis). Waller's duties are to assemble the ragtag team known as the Suicide Squad--ominous (yet talented) jailbirds tapped to step in and assume superhero status (especially when the real superheroes are tied up in other crime-stopping affairs) while helping out for the greater good of our vulnerable society. In exchange for the Suicide Squad's sacrifice in turning from hell-bent heels to reluctant heralded heroes they are promised commuted prison sentences should they effectively defend and destroy the deadly foes out to promote heavy-handed havoc across the board.

Conveniently, bureaucratic bigwig Waller (through voiceover) introduces the Suicide Squad and describes what beneficial assets they bring to the turbulent table. Among the naughty notables include the well-known ace sniper Floyd Lawton/Deadshot as well as legendary lethal joy-boy Joker and his better (or perhaps worst half) in girlfriend Harley Quinn. The other toxic tag-a-longs along for the thrill ride of becoming rebellious rescuers include George Harkness/Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Chato Santana/El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Waylon Jones/Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Tatsu Yamashiro/Katana, Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) and Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman).

Overall, Suicide Squad is surprisingly depressing and goes through the proverbial motions without so much as taking advantage of its surrealistic makeup. The movie never realizes its excitable potential and drifts into yet another superhero yarn that is more patchy than pronounced. Smith's Deadshot is out in the forefront but for the most part feels restrained and not as spry and savvy as one would imagine. Leto's Joker obviously pales in comparison to the brilliant and mesmerizing psychotic take on the role that earned the late Heath Ledger his posthumous Oscar statuette. In all fairness, nobody could inhabit the Clown Prince of Crime as Ledger uncannily did with committed concentration. Still, Leto's Joker--although viciously off-balance--felt recycled and furiously empty at times. Robbie's turn as Joker's misguided main squeeze merely comes off as a bratty Barbie Doll with synthetic edginess. The other Squad participants settle for the back burner more or less which is a crying shame because they should have been more engaged than the tepid material allowed them to be initially.

Woefully sketchy and missing the fueled opulence that one would expect emerging from this cockeyed costume caper Suicide Squad is a detonating dud for the missing explosive DC Comics movie brand that needs to step up the pace if they expect to make a consistent and challenging impression on the devoted fanboys at the box office looking to move beyond the sardonic fantasy-based realm of another redundant serving of a Batman/Superman entry.

Suicide Squad (2016)

Warner Bros.

2 hrs. 3 mins.

Starring: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margo Robbie, Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman, Jay Hernandez, Jai Courtney, Scott Eastwood, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Common, Cara Delevinge, Karen Fukuhara, Adam Beach

Directed and Written by: David Ayer

MPPA Rating: PG-13

Genre: Superheroes Saga/Action & Adventure/Comic Book Fantasy

Critic's rating: ** stars (out of 4 stars)

(c) Frank Ochieng (2016)

— Frank Ochieng

Suicide Squad is the third and latest entry into the DCEU, and is about a bunch of bad guys that are rounded up to fight for someone else. And just like this year's BvS, this movie received overwhelmingly negative reviews by the critics and was divided among the fans. I was super curious to watch it because unlike many, I actually enjoyed the DCEU till this point. Enjoyed both Man of Steel and BvS. But unfortunately, this one's a mess.

The majority of the movie just feels choppy, editing was all over the place. Like they had a final product but because of disagreements, they took out a lot of scenes, shorten the runtime, and added others, making a giant choppy mess in the end. Scenes don't properly flow, including the flashbacks. Some scenes feel like they were added later (Probably the re-shoots) and they definitely didn't fit, particularly the elevator scene with Harley. The songs were all over the place as well. Some worked with their respective scenes, but most of them didn't, and again it felt like something added later, to give the movie a more jolly feel. And difference between development given to each member of the squad is astounding. Some were completely left in the dust, while some got a bit of line here and there, while some got a lot more development. Basically, to me it felt like that the movie reeked of studio involvement.

Also, the focus was just off. Movie is called Suicide Squad yet there is a whole lot of other stuff that gets way too much screentime. The whole end of the world plot was totally generic, uninteresting and unnecessary. The villain wasn't good, and the movements were weird, and not in a good way. Joker-Harley romance was also something padded on, and could have been removed in exchange for more screentime with the squad.

Speaking of the Joker, he and his whole weird mafia/gangster lord type vibe didn't work for me. Jared Leto felt like he was trying too hard at times. There were moments where I saw the Joker I wanted in him, but those moments were swiftly followed by over the top feel that he gave most of the time. And that laugh....Yeah NOPE!!

Even the action was mostly OK, apart from a couple of good scenes. There was no proper thrill, no proper buildup. Too many cuts. Say what you want about Snyder, but you have to admit that the dude can atleast direct amazing action sequences.

And all of that sucks because there is stuff in the movie that works, like the main squad. Will Smith as Deadshot was great. He played his usual cool self and it worked. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn was sexy and mostly good, because there were few instances where her dialogues gave me cringe. These two had a good chemistry together too. Also liked other members like El Diablo, Killer Croc, and captain Boomerang, all of whom were likable, had some fun moments etc.

Plus, among all the mediocrity, there were glimpses of what the movie could have been like. Fun moments between the squad, some touchy moments, rare cool action sequences, full group scenes or rather a scene, the bar scene and such.

Ultimately, The movie is like a mediocre cake covered with a thin layer of good frosting. The overall taste isn't bad, but it isn't good either. You enjoy the good frosting for a short while, and then have to deal with a whole lot of mediocre tasting body of the cake. I was disappointed. I really REALLY wanted to like this film. Pushed back all the negative or positive criticism and went in with an open mind. I'm not too hopeful what the extended cut will improve as 13 mins of footage isn't much, and I'm guessing it is Joker footage mostly.

It's funny that after watching this, I respect MCU more now considering what they were able to do with the more risky project: Guardians of the Galaxy.

6/10

Blog Post Link: http://reviewsreactor.blogspot.com/2016/10/suicide-squad-2016-movie-review.html

— Asadullah Khan

Some semi-interesting visuals and a few characters I'd like to get to know, but an absolute mess of a movie. The thing feels like a trailer, or a clipshow, or a music video or some other sort of two-hour long promotional material for the actual Suicide Squad that comes out later.

Final rating:★★ - Had some things that appeal to me, but a poor finished product.

— Gimly

They are not superheroes, they are supervillains.

It's nothing against DC, but overall I'm starting to think the todays cinema is getting crowded with the lots of superheroes. Just like any pollution or the over population on the earth's surface. It needs stability, but nobody cares about it other than money making agenda. I also think it's going to last for only a few more years, when this trend going to end like that happened in the 70s, 80s and the 90s. And the space travel era to begin which is already kick- started. So DC or Marvel and others, they should be careful, for far they could take their products.

Like the title say, it's not just about the film characters, the film itself a suicidal. I'm not saying the film was unnecessary, but the plot was dragged too much. There are too many pauses, or you can call time wasting moments. I could not take another blowing up city concept. And that swirling thing in the sky, I don't know how long they are going to use it in the superhero films. I did not like the supernatural concept which is supposed to be a pure science fiction action adventure. At least Thor was from another planet, more like he's an alien, but the witch in this film, ruined my appetite.

The actors were not bad and so the graphics, including the stunt sequences. The story was very familiar. It was more or less, same as the animated flick 'Monsters vs Aliens'. It can be watched for entertainment purpose, the majority won't say it's their favourite or one of the best of the year. But surely there are people who would love it. It was a massive box office hit and I don't see any hurdle for its sequel, but all I hope is it to get better in the follow-up. So finally, it's not a bad film or boring, but it just did not have the midas touch that all the superhero films had. That means a watchable film, only for once.

5/10

— Reno

Aka NEEDLE DROP: THE MOVIE

SUICIDE SQUAD is a mess. But an entertaining, well-cast mess.

— ColinJ

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

Suicide Squad has a horrible script. First, there was the story--such as it was--itself: A super villain with the power to end the world goes to work in a universe that has established Batman and Wonder Woman. So what do the authorities do? Call up Batman and Wonder Woman? Of course not! Hire a bunch of criminals to save the world.

It would be like if the U.S. was invaded by China, and we went and got the Taliban to protect us.

So, from the very bones of the story, the movie fails. Add in a tell-and-don't-show approach to characterization, and horrendous dialogue, and this film was doomed before it got off the printed page. I really wanted to like this film, but I just couldn't.

So, let's go back to the tell-and-don't-show approach to the characters. Instead of seeing and experiencing anything, we're told what such-and-such is all about. It's an incredibly boring and lazy style of writing. Look at he scene where the principal characters all sit around and tell stories while they have a drink. But that's the thing: They shouldn't be telling us anything. Everything that is told to us as if we're a classroom of elementary school students instead of adults who can put two and two together, should be revealed through each character's dialogue and actions. But that would require some actual writing. This movie seems like it simply filmed the first draft of the screenplay. And then there's the dialogue itself. "I've already killed one family; I won't kill another." Who wrote this? A high school kid who thought he was being deep? Flagg refers to the love of his life as the girl he "was sleeping with." Serious? You're risking your life to save some broad you're banging? And then after two hours of watching Harley pine for Joker and reject the rest of the members of her "squad", she's finally given the chance to be with the Joker and live happily ever after. Well, despite everything we've seen for the past two hours alluding to the fact that that is exactly what she wants, she rejects that for "her friends." She's never shown any sort of friendship so far in this movie. But, dialogue.

It's typical fill-in-the-blank writing. So, Harley didn't show any love for her "friends" but did for Joker. And then chose her "friends" over the Joker. So, I guess it's up to the audience to "fill in the blank" and decide what Harley's change of heart was all about? It shouldn't be the audience's responsibility to do the writer's job.

The characters themselves were boring and uninteresting. Despite wasting the first 20 or so minutes on the film trying to make us love the psychotic Harley Quinn and mass murdering Deadshot, I didn't care. I just couldn't care for anyone or anything happening. It was like there was an invisible barrier between me and the screen. I just couldn't get into the movie. And since no one other than Harley, Deadshot, and Flagg got a pointless backstory introduction, the audience feels, subconsciously, that these are the characters that will carry the story. They don't. The only character that was even remotely interesting was Katana. And despite a few flashes here and there of decent martial arts and kenjutsu action, the character is wasted.

And speaking of wasted characters, let's talk Joker. Jared Leto was upset how much of the Joker was cut from the film. If you can cut such a big name and charismatic character down to the point where the actor playing him complains, and still get away with a finished film, the problems with the script become apparent. Joker was wasted in this film. You cut him out entirely, the overall story doesn't change. So, why include him in the first place? Because shared universe...maybe? Or something? I don't know. And neither do the filmmakers.

And while I know almost everyone on the planet--including those who despise the movie--praise Margot Robbie's Harley, I found her shtick getting old rather quickly. And then to top that off, she reneges on her established motive, thus making her a totally pointless character.

And, before we move on from the topic of bad characterization, what was with Amanda Waller (a good guy...I guess?) executing FBI agents? I feel like I missed the most important scene in the movie--the one that shows something that makes the entire movie make sense. But then again, Amanda Waller doesn't make good choices. She has a folder, inside of which is a list of the upcoming DCEU characters: Aquaman, Flash, Cyborg, etc. She actually has dinner with Batman. But she puts the world's fate in the hands of Diablo, Boomerang, Harley Quinn and Deadshot. It's like calling the police because of a problem, and then scouring death row for the people who will actually solve this problem. Yeah, I'm confused too.

But let's go to the ending. Because the ending shows us one thing: That the Suicide Squad's involvement in all of this was totally pointless. Simple bombs end up saving the day. Bombs. Man made, average, everyday bombs. Satchel charges. Any idiot in a uniform can detonate a bomb. So, why let out a bunch of mass murderers to save the world, if saving the world only involves setting off satchel charges? I mean, why not call the Air Force in, have them drop a couple of bombs, and send a guaranteed-to-be-disappointed-audience-anyway home early? One phone call to the Pentagon, and the ENTIRE MOVIE is UNNECESSARY. But, DC.

In the end, this movie was a total disaster.

— in_the_crease

Suicide Squad could have been more if the studio hadn’t interfered in production, but what we got still entertained and debuted some amazing actors bringing these wild characters to life.

The Suicide Squad comics are some of my favorites. C-list villains are forced to run shady impossible missions for the government with the hopes of having their prison sentences reduced. The comics were so fun because everything was so unpredictable, with characters dying in almost every comic. So seeing those comics come to life was an absolute delight for me. Unfortunately, the unpredictability was minimized, and the plot was fairly cliche, but I still loved this movie. Will Smith as Deadshot brought real swagger to a less-developed character. Margot Robbie’s debut as Harley Quinn took everyone by surprise, bringing Harley to live-action with near perfection. Viola Davis as Amanda Waller was a brilliant casting as well. Finally, I enjoyed the faceless monster villains as canon fodder for the Squad to demolish effortlessly, showcasing their skills at violence. I understand that Suicide Squad wasn’t the greatest comic book movie of all time, but it gave me what I expected from the film and more because of the exceptional casting.

— The Movie Mob