*Spoiler Free*
I hate to say it, but Suicide Squad is an absolute mess. Hold on! Before you turn away in disbelief, hear me out. Not all messes are bad. There are certainly some positive elements that came from the movie, but for the most part, DC’s latest jaunt into the (anti) superhero genre failed to meet my expectations due to a litany of issues that somehow seemed to go unnoticed.
Let’s begin with the positive. Any semi conscious person could tell you that the cast of Suicide Squad is absolutely stellar. Will Smith’s performance as Floyd Lawton a.k.a. Deadshot, was spectacular and not surprisingly one of the best parts of the film. He always managed to bring a smile to my face whenever he let loose one of his many zingers that sliced through the otherwise bland dialogue that plagued most of the characters. The same goes for Margot Robbie, who’s portrayal of the questionably insane Harley Quinn was interesting enough to validate the price of my (overpriced) admission ticket. To the uninitiated, her character can easily come off as over sexualized, crude, and downright silly. But isn’t that kind of who Harley Quinn is?
If there is any reason to see Suicide Squad, it would be to see Jared Leto as Joker. Trust me when I say you will get chills down your spine the moment the Clown Prince of Crime enters the fray. I can’t quite put my finger on why I liked Leto’s take on Joker, but I think that is exactly why it is so spectacular; it simply can’t be put into words. Even better was the exceptional track, “Gansta” by Kehlani that consistently underscored Joker’s sadistic, but enticing interactions with Harley Quinn. Unfortunately for me, that is where the praise stops.
The rest of the movie makes little sense at all. Suicide Squad doesn’t really add anything to the existing universe set up by Man of Steel and Batman V Superman. True, it is a chance to explore some otherwise lesser-known characters, but I didn’t see where that opportunity was taken advantage of. For example, not all of the character’s backstories are fully explained in the least bit. In a series of vignette style sequences, we get a small glimpse into who these elite “baddies” are and how they came to be. The issue is that for the majority of the cast, that simply doesn’t happen. I was in shock to learn of Killer Croc’s origin in a single sentence that went something along the lines of “He’s evolution that took a turn for the worse”. The same can be said for Katana, a sword wielding femme fatale that quite literally comes out of nowhere (with minimal explanation) to join our anti heroes on their quest to save the day.
I definitely expect for some people to disagree with me. But for my taste, Suicide Squad fell a little flat. Sure, there were several moments where I found myself laughing and enjoying the ride. But for each one of those moments, there were two more where I found myself scratching my head as I tried to recall whether or not I had missed something crucial due to the fast pacing of the story and the underdevelopment of minor characters. At the end of it all, I just felt like Suicide Squad didn’t have to exist. The motivating force as to why these villains team up in the first place doesn’t really pay off, and makes me wonder who signed off on the final cut of the film. Nevertheless, I can’t wait to see more of Jared Leto’s Joker when he undoubtedly returns for future installments in DC’s ever-growing expanded universe.
For more articles like this, subscribe!
theactorsmonolith.com 