Spoiler-Free Review - Suicide Squad

By DJ Momo

Guess what? The DCEU just released a suicide letter! Or was it Suicide Squad? Either way, same thing. Suicide Squad was one of the movies I waited for the most since probably when it got announced but I am unhappy to say that I am heavily disappointed. The movie did not deliver on its promises at all and in fact, kind of went the other way. No wonder Warner Bros. is getting sued for false advertisement. The movie is nothing like the trailers showed.

First of all, let’s start with the directing of the movie. David Ayer is known for his extreme work behind the scenes. Back in “Fury”, he made most actors go through extreme boot camps and stay in their role. So much so that Logan Lerman, who played a rebellious kid in the movie kind of pushed his idol, Brad Pitt away. Well, Suicide Squad is no different. David Ayer apparently pushed things to an extreme behind the set to get the actors into their characters, probably, for most, for no reason whatsoever. Then there is the editing of the movie, which unfortunately brought him a lot of scorn. The movie showed its best scenes in the trailer and, while that will normally cause me to feel too spoiled and like the “best has already passed”, the scenes did not even appear in the movie.

Moving on the plot, it is necessary to note that it is lacking in every way. First of all, the plot had multiple unexplained holes in it that made you question, how and why stuff happened or, in multiple cases, didn’t happen. Plus, for a movie about villains, their enemy was, unfortunately, terrible. One of the biggest selling point of the DCEU and DC in general are their villains and how they are better than Marvel, but, the one movie that should have an amazing villain had, unfortunately, the most terrible one. The plot was also too burdened by the huge amount of characters it presented in the Squad, most of them there to fill spots. I can count at least 5 characters right now, that could have been erased without changing the story. Plus, most of their motivations were not well explained. The movie supposedly makes us feel that those characters evolved to feel like a family so fast after meeting each other. Plus, the Joker, who had most of his scenes cut, should have had all of them cut. I’m not talking about Jared Leto’s performance (more on that later) but on the fact that his inclusion was completely forced. Honestly, the movie would have done better if the characters were introduced before in the DCEU.

In acting, its very touch and go. People were mostly waiting to see three roles in the movie: Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Jared Leto’s Joker and Viola Davis’s Amanda Waller. All the other characters were either badly acted in the movie, looking here mostly at Jai Courtney, just plain useless and pushed to indifference, Killer Croc and Katana, or were just okay, Joel Kinnaman and Cara Delevingne. Also, there was Will Smith acting perfectly as a Will Smith (Hitman Version). Let’s start with Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Before the movie, I would have bet that Margot was the perfect casting for the role and you know what, I would have won that bet. Margot hit it out of the park with her performance of the Harlequin. I honestly felt I was watching Bruce Timm’s incarnation of the character brought to life. Not only did she pull off the look and the craziness but she gave it just a bit more with her mix of an Australian accent with a Jersey accent. Not too little, but not too much to change the role in a way you would hate. Then there was Jared Leto’s Joker. While I am a big fan of Jared Leto and while I wouldn’t dare belittle how much work he put in the role (I’m too scared after all that press), Jared Leto’s Joker did not work for me. Maybe it is because his scenes were cut and there isn’t much to see to judge but I honestly expected better. His Joker felt like a mix of a mafia boss and a kid drunk on power but not in the crazy way, but more as in the “evil for the sake of being evil” type of way. To put one thing clear, the only things crazy about him are his looks, his laugh and his sense of interior décor. The character was way too serious and felt more like a man in love than a man who inspires fear and craziness. Finally came Viola Davis’s Amanda Waller. BEAUTIFUL. PERFECT. AMAZING. BEST CASTING EVER. Viola Davis is Amanda Waller in every sense of the way. She inspires fear. She inspires hate. She is the woman you want on your side but you wouldn’t turn a blind eye to. Everything Amanda Waller is supposed to be and Viola brings this side of the character perfectly. There is honestly no down side to that casting choice and honestly, in my heart of hearts, I am hoping that we see her more often in the DCEU.

Finally, it is important to note that with the huge amount of negative comments I am giving, I am still optimistic about the DCEU and the future of the Suicide Squad franchise. I feel like this is just a dirty beginning for the movie series that will lead to better stuff. The movie was, mostly because of Viola Davis and Margot Robbie, a good experience but it honestly got me hoping and thinking about the awesome direction in which that franchise can go. While the experience was good though, I still have to give that movie a 3/10.