Suicide Squad

I can’t say that a witch out of a 1980s fantasy B-movie is what I've been missing from current comic-book flicks. In fact, she is a completely interchangeable DC villain who wants to destroy the world simply because she can. Not even the (unintended) creation of the evil Enchantress by those who are supposed to protect the world is innovative by today’s standards (which immediately gives away the point of the film, which is that working with villains can backfire on you). Most of the film’s other elements are also interchangeable, as Ayer mixes them together willy-nilly, albeit with a certain sense of rhythm. The first hour comes across as a condensed recapitulation of a ten-part series – all exposition, no development. In terms of time and space, the second hour is a slightly more cohesive super-villain variation on war movies in the mould of The Dirty Dozen and westerns like The Wild Bunch (including fatalistic dialogue before the final conflict, but without any significant development of the relationships between the characters or their ability to work together). Though the prologue indicates that Deadshot and Harley will be the protagonists of the narrative, their private dramas (their relationship to the daughter/Joker) do not drive the narrative, but rather slow it down, as they have minimal impact on the direction of the plot. The Joker, who looks like a goth who’s off his meds and inspires more sympathy than unease, always just shows up, does a little damage and disappears, like the returning bosses in some computer games, which seemed to be a source of inspiration for Ayer when he was slapping the plot together on the fly (or at least it seems so). Nothing would change if the Joker wasn’t here. The whole film is still needless and half-assed and unpolished, and while it manages to get and hold your attention with its witty characters, driving soundtrack and slightly psychedelic visual stylisation, the end result is merely two hours of loud, colourful distractions without any serious points of interest. 55% (08/03/2016)

I probably don’t even have to mention that I was really looking forward to Suicide Squad. After the ghost town that the cinema has been these last few months, this movie was exactly the one standing out from the rest of the new releases. And the trailer’s made it look kickass. I’ll admit that my expectations were similar to Watchmen – a politically incorrect comic movie that swims against the tide. But it would have to be a completely different movie for that to be true. Let’s start with the upside which were definitely the actors. Suicide Squad is – as expected – an interesting gang and they’re hard not to love. Jared Leto is absolutely amazing as Joker, perhaps the scariest Joker in all of movie history. But the issue is that he’s barely in the movie at all. Now to get into the downsides, the movie doesn’t come up with a story that’s innovative in any way and it tells it very awkwardly. The first third is an episodic introduction of the individual characters. The second third is an introduction of an alien entity the Squad will be up against. And the last third is one big team fight. You won’t be able to find any deeper meaning there. However, the action shots are pretty solid. The director David Ayer has not filmed such scenes for the first time. But after watching this, I felt as if I’ve just finished watching another completely ordinary comic movie that are thick on the ground lately. Or maybe my expectations were too high. So that’s why I’m giving it three stars. Oh and the soundtrack may be nice, but it sounds so forced that it doesn’t even end up fitting in. (08/16/2016)

The titular Suicide Squad is composed of a cool bunch of badass individuals that are intriguing due to their style and grimaces, but the “story” doesn’t give them the opportunity to develop or bring something into it. Especially when you see the efforts of the great Jared Leto, whose Joker is just an iconic sidekick, you’ll be disappointed. Funny catchphrases, which were supposed to be the main flavoring of the film, are also pretty rare here. A delicious-looking Margot Robbie and soundtrack hits remain the highlights of Suicide Squad. On first viewing, they are literally caption. On second viewing, when the viewer looks deeper under the pretty cover, they turn out to be the only elements that keep the movie afloat. (08/09/2016)

They put together a plethora of people dumb enough to be characters in their own stories, which means that not a single character was fleshed out enough for you to know more about them beyond what they like (their kid, the other nutcase, the unicorn, etc.). In truth, I wasn't entertained by the film, it just became a backdrop to keep the room from being quiet – it fulfilled this function perfectly, as it was well voiced. But that's the only great thing about this movie; otherwise it's pretty average, below average. Many heroes and anti-heroes were created, but it just doesn't reach any dizzying heights. It had a great advertisement that lit up the work and drove it to the heights of heaven, but the truth is otherwise... (11/15/2016)

Magic at last. DC has managed to pull ahead of Marvel with this movie. Suicidal editing sacrificed integrity for tempo. I see the diabolical hand of the producer in this. A forced, soundtrack of songs (I admit that they’re great songs, hats off) often clumsily accompanies the introduction of characters to give them greater “dynamism", but it drowns out what might have made those flashbacks interesting. Make the opening longer not shorter and give it a purpose in addition to the obligatory introductions. Ayer handled the interplay of the self-centered assholes extremely well, even though Will is still a good guy (so they’re killing people, so what?), all team scenes work flawlessly. Unsurprisingly, it’s Harley who steals the whole movie. Margot Robbie is perfect and her storyline with the Joker is romance of the highest caliber (even if it goes a little against the aim of the comic concerning domestic violence). This movie would have been great with an R-rating, particularly in the Joker torture scene. Suicide Squad suffers from New 52 syndrome (from klutzy Geoff Johns, who also oversees the movies), when DC lost its balls while trying to please the younger public. Ayer is fighting against this, and the characters presented are all super. Jai Courtney in a live role! The Enchantress/Flag storyline spoils the ending a little, whereas the creators shouldn’t have been afraid to bring it to an end, but I say that the magic separates Suicide Squad from the rest. Overall, quite content, but they could have done better. They had the team for that. I hope there will be a director’s cut that will return the missing scenes from the trailers and give it a stamp of originality. Trying to be like Guardians of the Galaxy just doesn’t suit this movie. (08/03/2016)