Suicide Squad
2.5 out of 5
DC Comics long awaited Suicide Squad hits theaters this weekend, and Warner Brothers is hoping it can do what Batman v. Superman could not — fully capture the movie going audience’s approval and propel it into a commercial and financial success. More on that later…
The film launches by reminding us a bit about what has just happened with Superman and Batman, and how the world was woefully under prepared to protect itself had Superman been here for bad reasons. Now, with Superman dead and buried, the government is concerned that things could go sideways very quickly should another person like Superman arrive with bad intentions — and that something must be done. Viola Davis, playing a cold, calculating and powerful Amanda Walker, has a solution that is viewed as dangerous and extremely risky — but convinces the upper brass of the military that it is worthy of a try — coincidentally just in time to confront an evil that is ready to unleash itself on the country. During this presentation, Walker goes through a list of some “meta-humans” who were up to some pretty bad stuff when they were captured and stowed away in a secret prison. This is where we meet Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoy-Agbaje), Diablo (Jay Hernandez) and The Enchantress (Cara Delevingne). The idea behind using the group of bad guys is that they’re expendable — and they have the skills necessary to confront things that otherwise might be untouchable for the government. If anything goes wrong — it’s easy. Kill them and blame the aftermath and carnage on them. The final point and approval is delivered when June Moone (who is possessed by the Enchantress — and evil witch over 6000 years old), presents the military with documents from Tehran, Iran, that they have been seeking to get their hands on for years, by simply letting the witch take over her body and go where she pleases.
Unbeknownst to them — the Enchantress has other things in mind, when she takes over June’s body later to release the spirit of her brother, so that she can develop a weapon to take over the world. This is when the Suicide Squad, also known as Task Force X, is assembled and made aware of what they are facing — and their certain death if they don’t comply.
Notice how I didn’t mention anything about Jared Leto’s portrayal of the Joker — you know, the one we’ve seen pictures of, short movie clips of, and have been chomping at the bit to see if he can upstage Heath Ledger? Remember all the stuff we heard — about how he didn’t break character, how he played cruel tricks on the cast, and how even some of the crew were scared of him during the filming of the project? Remember that? Yeah…Me too. The thing is — he’s a side story in this movie. He’s only there to set up another movie. And as for his version of the Joker. Heath Ledger wins — period. End of story. Leto, more than once, made me think he was doing an impression of Jim Carrey doing an impression of the Joker.
As for the rest of the cast and the movie on a whole, I just felt let down. Not long after it started — I knew how the story would end, and the cast and plot just didn’t do much to make me care to see it all the way to the end. Margot Robbie provides some bright moments, as she is funny and does a nice job of playing the crazy Harley Quinn. Will Smith’s Deadshot is just like every other Will Smith character you’ve ever seen, and the rest of the cast seems as though they’re barely there. Viola Davis, to me, played the most kick butt character in the movie. I wanted to see more of her doing her thing.
Unfortunately, with big expectations comes big letdowns sometimes, and that’s what happens here. The movie just didn’t do anything to separate itself from the rest of the pack of super hero movies that we’re being fed at the moment, and to be honest — it’s toward the bottom of that list. Director David Ayer has had some hits in the past, such as Fury, but this movie might be named Suicide Squad for the wrong reasons. It’ll open big — but just like Batman v. Superman — will crash fairly quickly thereafter.
