Suicide Squad - Review

A colorfully violent group of super villains are forcibly brought together to work as a black ops team for the U.S. government, all under the thumb of ball-busting official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). Their first mission: enter an evacuated city to retrieve and extract an important target and if they have some extra time, maybe deal with that weird glowy thing bursting into the sky. SUICIDE SQUAD is frankly a miracle, as it is the first decent movie of the bungled up calamity that is the DC Extended Universe. Make no mistake, this film is flush with some really noticeable problems, the least of them being it clearly was trimmed down from a R rating. Many of the characters are just blank baddies and are completely pointless to the entire plot, with the king of them all clearly being Jared Leto's Joker, who is nothing more than a snore. The Queen naturally has to be Katana (Karen Fukuhara), who's just there as the government's secondary watchdog. The main threat is absolutely laughable for a big superhero movie, having the same danger level as a monster of the week in an episode of Super Friends and making the lame one-and-down Marvel Cinematic villains excellent by comparison. The editing is badly handled, often repeating things we already know or inserting random pop songs that don't always fit the mood at all. I mean, Eminem's "Without Me" during a suit-up montage? Really? Plus, the movie is made more egregious to the senses once a darkly lit action sequence happens or when you reach the pathetically thought-out climax. Despite these big setbacks, I still had a fun time with David Ayer's demented vision of THE DIRTY DOZEN. The playfully dark interactions may not be on the same level as John Ostrander or Gail Simone's take on these characters but you do warm up to them and their crazy antics, even when killing a few innocents. The movie clearly basks all of the attention of its two movie stars, Will Smith and Margot Robbie as Deadshot and Harley Quinn respectively, who respond by being true delights and quite fitting as their famed felons. The action may be obscured at times but then Ayer presents a scene of badassery that will have you cheering. And there are many artfully great shots that help liven up the proceedings, from the recreations of artwork by Daniel LuVisi and Alex Ross to a cameoing hero receiving an underwater surprise. Overall, SUICIDE SQUAD is an enjoyable mess and what you would want from a summer blockbuster. It's like attending a punk concert: you're at first dismayed by the lack of complete polish and the out-of-tune instruments but you just dig the violent energy and unconventional merriment.


FINAL REVIEW: 3 / 5