Suicide Squad Movie Review

Released: August 5th 2016 (Worldwide)

Length: 123 Minutes

Certificate: 15

Director: David Ayer

Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jared Leto, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Karen Fukuhara and Cara Delevingne

Suicide Squad is the third main entry in DC’s cinematic universe and the first to feature mostly villains in the starring roles. The pressure is on for the film to deliver but reactionary measures have left it far from the wacky, creative ride we were all expecting.

In the aftermath of Batman v Superman, Intelligence operative Amada Waller (Viola Davis) devises a clever (or foolish) plan for a defence contingency; bringing together several unsavoury characters to form a disposable team. This group initially includes the marksman Deadshot (Will Smith), deranged Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Diablo (Jay Hernandez) and the scaly Killer Croc (Adewale  Akinnuoye-Agbaje). After a few uncooperative events the team is eventually brought together to take on an ancient threat in Midway City which is out of the government’s control. It’s a relief to see a single central plot in Suicide Squad; the first and second acts are straightforward and understandable, occasionally dipping into flashbacks as we’re introduced to the characters. While the plot is certainly easier to follow, the pacing still needs a lot of fine-tuning; it’s clear that Suicide Squad was trimmed quite a bit before general consumption. The film’s central antagonist (which I won’t spoil here) appears out of nowhere without any kind of build-up or development. The final act doesn’t really flow; instead it shuffles from one action scene to another, dropping to an unnecessary pause before the final battle. Refusing to bounce between two or three different plotlines is a welcome improvement but Suicide Squad finds trouble when it comes to keeping the audience fully invested.

There are many different characters in Suicide Squad but the film doesn’t really use this to its advantage. Will Smith turns in a pretty good performance and Viola Davis is suitably ruthless but by far the best actor here is Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn who absolutely nails the crazy, happy-go-lucky villain. Sadly just about every other character is incredibly underdeveloped and never receives their moment to gel with the group. Case and point; there’s one character who is put down only one scene after he’s introduced. The leader of the group, Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) is little more than a simplistic military grunt, his personal ties to the antagonist being impossible to sympathise with. Courtney (who isn’t really too bad here), Hernandez, Adewale and the others can never capitalise on the individual personalities of their characters and their backstories are all hastily thrown at the screen before the action takes over. All being told there just isn’t enough chemistry between the characters to make them feel like a team we would root for; most of the time you see them breaking off into pairs rather than getting to know everyone equally and this really hampers the film’s goal as an ensemble production. Then there’s Jared Leto’s Joker, who pretty much crashes out of the movie before he has the chance to make his presence felt; many of his scenes were cut before release and it’s a huge shame that he didn’t get to share his crime boss styled interpretation fully.

Much like the films that came before it, Suicide Squad boasts a suite of capable special effects that mostly rely on computer imagery. The destruction of Midway City is always on display, highlighting the power of the antagonist and the action is perfectly viewable, despite being fairly pedestrian. Make-up work is also a strong point here with Joker, Harley Quinn, Diablo and Killer Croc all being very detailed (if only their on-screen chemistry was better!). The soundtrack for Suicide Squad is rather puzzling though; it features a list of lively tracks, but the film seems to mistake this choice for an instantly light-hearted tone. With the script and characters often falling well short of the comedic relief promised, it feels as if the songs were shoehorned in as a cheap method to lighten the mood. The overall style of the presentation is mixed too; a strange collection of strobe effects (probably intended to highlight the unhinged nature of the characters) mixed with a plain filter makes the look of Suicide Squad quite inconsistent at times. The colourful credit sequences that mark the beginning and end of the film are a sign of lost potential, a promise that Suicide Squad fails to fulfil, despite its eye-catching special effects.

If you were looking for some sort of redemption for DC’s rocky cinematic roadmap then Suicide Squad is not it. Despite having a more focused plot and a few decent characters, the film still ends up feeling incredibly rushed and messy as a result of some studio interference. For all the emphasis placed on big selling points (especially the new Joker and a more light-hearted tone), the film is very disappointing. Check out the film for Deadshot and Harley Quinn if you enjoy them as characters but other than that it’s not really worth watching.

Rating: 2/5 Stars