Suicide Squad (2016)

"Puddin'!", 28 November 2017

In the aftermath of the events played out in Batman v Superman, some in the government are concerned about handling the next meta-human crises the world might face. Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) puts together a team of super criminals, each with their own unique power/talents to deal with such a threat. The newly formed Suicide Squad is called in to action almost immediately when one of Waller's recruits turns and threatens to destroy the world. 

When I first caught wind of Suicide Squad, I was excited. My excitement started to wane as I read more and more about the movie. By the time it hit theaters and I read the initial reviews, I decided to wait to watch it. I finally sat down with it last night. And while it's not as bad as some would have you believe (I mean a 1/10 is an absolutely ridiculous rating for this movie), overall, it's a bloated mess of a film. The end result is a mostly unentertaining and quite often boring film. A lot of the problems with Suicide Squad could have been remedied with some judicious editing, a more streamlined cast, and baddies with better defined purpose. 

Editing – There are many useless moments in the film that seem to exist only to extend the film's ridiculously long runtime. For example (and I could cite dozens), right out of the gate, Waller is involved in two separate meetings to discuss the possibility of forming the Suicide Squad. Why not one? Why did we need to see her make her case twice? Totally unnecessary. 

Cast – The cast is far too large. Some of the characters are unnecessary to the film. Why include them? The Suicide Squad could have easily consisted of Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and El Diablo. Characters like Captain Boomerang, Katana, Slipknot (why bother with him in the first place), Killer Croc and even Joker (yes, even Joker), could have been eliminated without changing a whole lot of the film. All these characters only serve to take up screen time, confuse the issue, and extend the film's runtime. I'm thankful they weren't all given the same detailed backstories like Deadshot and Harley – otherwise, this would have been a 3+ hour movie.

Baddies – The baddies, Enchantress and her brother, are so poorly defined that I still have no idea what they were up to. I know they were trying to destroy the world, but why? What was their endgame? Maybe it's explained, but if it is, it's not explained very well. How about a baddie with a real plan? If you really want Joker in the movie, make him the baddie. The conflict Harley would have been forced to go through would have made for a better movie than this.

Those are my three main points, but there are more I could get into if I wanted, like: bad CGI, some ridiculous dialogue, the gooey minions that reminded me of a Power Ranger's villain (and were about as threatening), and a soundtrack that, though it includes some great songs, got annoying real quick. All of these negatives overshadow any fun that might have been in the script and the solid performances from Viola Davis, Margo Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, and Jay Hernandez. In the end, I consider Suicide Squad a wasted opportunity for DC to bring in some new fans. The original idea and the trailers promised so much more than was actually delivered. I'm rating this one a very disappointing, but generous, 4/10.

4/10