Suicide Squad isn't as bad as they say...
...But it ain't livin' up to its massive hype. I was fortunate enough to see the pre-screening as an invitee from our good friends at WB Games Montreal. I cannot stress this enough; I am grateful for the event and the free movie, but my opinion has to remain objective. To be fair I've also seen Star Trek Beyond this week and it didn't impress either. No hard feelings, guys.
Media Blitz
In the last year we've been bombarded with endless trailers and featurettes for what would be DC's "Guardians of the Galaxy", a mandatory story about a band of anti-heroes. The select music and incredible cast performed honorably in creating summer blockbuster expectations yet the final cut falls short on laughs and action, the two main elements it boasted about so often. Use Ballroom Blitz or Bohemian Rhapsody all you want but please make sure the end product reflects their quality. In a way they simply wanted to convey the movie would be goofy yet serious, but that's no excuse.
Star Power
There's no denying Warner Bros haven't spared a dime on the cast; they have to compete with the likes of MCU's Downey Jr, Johansson, Cumberbatch, Jackson, Evans, Pratt and countless others after all. Will Smith does a pretty good job in the lead while Margot Robbie embodied her character the best. I just wish they didn't sexualize her as much. An adaptation of her jester costume would have been just fine.
Margot "Harley Quinn" Robbie is slowly becoming one of my favorite actresses. She's just so much fun!
The supporting cast presence is well balanced and even Jai Courtney provided a certain je-ne-sais-quoi. My only disappointment was the flat rendition of Leto's Joker. The uninspired laughter was forced and every of his scenes felt like fillers. I don't want to sound cliché but this performance will not cast a shadow on Ledger's, but it will certainly provide perspective. No argument here; that posthumous Oscar was well earned.
If the formula ain't broken....
Suicide Squad is as formulaic as they come. I'm no writer, but even I could tell the beats were copy pasted from any given superhero film. Besides a rather bold intro and one decent twist mid-way in, a blind dog could bark the next line of dialog without skipping a beat (see what I did there?). Do not expect to be blown away by originality because it didn't show up, which is unfortunate given the material's potential.
The action was sub-par in my opinion; a lot of generic shooting and run-of-the-mill powers at play, nothing super about it. Deadshot is so "OP" very few fights even provided a sense of danger. Harley Quinn has some cool melee encounters that outshined Katana's, but they just felt out of place. I understand she's a main character but someone will have to explain to me why one goes from psychiatrist to professional ass kicker in such a short time. I feel like I'm missing some lore here, but so will the other casual fans. It was a major storytelling flaw that no amount of flashbacks could resolve. At least it looked cool and I guess that was the goal.
The Verdict
DC's latest attempt at making its own place in the heavily crowded market of superhero movies isn't the worst experience ever and it is totally undeserving of RottenTomatoes' current 31% metascore. IT could be very entertaining when it wanted to. Some jokes definitely stuck and there were a few bright spots revealing the license's great potential. Hopefully the almost-guaranteed sequel will learn from its predecessor and refine its ways. If you are a die hard fan I would recommend you go see Suicide Squad right away, but the casuals might just want to wait for cheapy Tuesday.
