Suicide Squad

RATING: F

So this is only the third entry in the DC Extended Universe; and we've gone from the gritty Superman solo film to Batman v Superman, which tried to cram about 4-5 movies' worth of material into 2.5-3 hours (depending on what version you watched), and now to the antihero film with the villains as protagonists that more people have been asking for than I ever realized. (Of course, Deadpool probably started that whole thing.)

Unlike the last couple of films, this one doesn't really have much to do with the whole "Justice League" storyline as it basically lives to introduce villains we might or might not ever see again, and to be a fan service film. That's all it really is. And ultimately, it's a pretty disjointed effort that we get. Apparently, it had a rather troubled production, and it does show at times.

The film deals with Amanda Waller, a government officer who builds a task force of villains to be used as "disposable assets..." hence the whole "suicide squad" thing, since no one cares if they die. Their first mission comes up when one ridiculously powerful one goes rogue (surprise!) and tries to destroy the world with one of the most vague doomsday weapons in recent memory and also the dumbest looking zombie army I've probably ever seen. The "suicide squad" is comprised of Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Boomerang, El Diablo, and Killer Croc. And there's this girl Katana who's brought in by the "good guys" (the government) but eventually fights alongside them anyway. Oh yeah, and the Joker's in it too... for about ten minutes total screen time.

The plot itself is rather thin; considering that these "bad" guys' motivations are changing all the time. At first they're only fighting because they die otherwise (literally), and then they actually decide to help save the world... even though one of the good guys could probably do it themselves. Deadshot's really the only one who I understand wanting to help save the day. Guys like Harley and Boomerang? Nope. Makes no sense whatsoever. Elsewhere, the script's pretty ridiculous too. The editing is a bit choppy/odd at times, and it feels like we get a new pop song every two minutes or so... which gets annoying fast.

Even though watching the combat can be occasionally fun, the action sequences aren't ultimately that great either. One fight with the zombies basically feels like multiplayer in Left 4 Dead, and then most of the climactic battle with Enchantress is shown with fog all over the place, so you have no idea what's going on. The fight with Incubus fared a bit better, though.

The casting is hit or miss. Will Smith is one of the very few decent things about this movie as Deadshot; Margot Robbie does nail the character of Harley Quinn, even if I don't appreciate that character as much as others. Jai Courtney? Not so much. Most everyone else? Nope. Jared Leto's Joker is extremely spastic, changing within seconds from absolutely nailing it to being absolutely ridiculous. (Still not a fan of his look, either.)

Even if the movie actually had been better made, there's still one slight problem: the protagonists are *bad guys.* Aside from maybe Deadshot, they're not even really antiheroes, they're straight up villains whom you can't really root for. (Well, Killer Croc isn't too bad, but he has little personality in general; he just spouts random things.) Even they admit it. One key scene has Harley randomly smashing a window and stealing a bit of jewelry; and saying "What? We're bad guys. It's what we do." She's absolutely right. So remind me why I'm supposed to root for these guys again?

Suicide Squad is probably a film that was never going to work except for the hardcore DC fans who have no problem with bad guys as protagonists. Even if I did want to root for these characters somehow, though, this just isn't a good movie in general. Mediocre plot, ridiculous main antagonist and zombie army, and the inconsistent feel of the film overall... there's just no saving this movie. Regardless of how well they make these movies, though, they should just stick to the actual heroes in the future.