Suicide Squad - Review

Suicide Squad

Principally starring Will Smith as “Deadshot”, Jared Leto as “The Joker” and, Margot Robbie as “Dr. Harleen F. Quinzel aka Harley Quinn”, the highly, highly  anticipated “Suicide Squad” opened this weekend under the unfortunate weight of reviews that were, shall I say not very flattering. Well, I for one was really hoping for a good imaginative piece of new entertainment here, so I chose to buck my pretty reliable “Rotten Tomato opinion score and be the sacrificial lamb to assess this film for myself.   

As you all probably know the plot revolves around an urgent and desperate need by the federal government to assemble a team of the world’s most dangerous, incarcerated Super Villains. Led by a U.S. federal intelligence officer named Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and group leader Captain Rick Flagg, together they convened this incarcerated criminal group of disparate, despicable individuals with absolutely nothing to lose. They would be provided with the most powerful arsenal at the government’s disposal with the goal of sending this “odd squad” off on a mission to defeat an enigmatic, insuperable entity with the small chance of them of surviving.

REVIEW: The “RT” score of 26 is a tad low in my opinion as I was never really bored. It’s problem is simply with the Director who I think could not squeeze in that many characters into a 2 hour – 10 minute time frame and give them all some degree of plot relevance. So he (Director David Ayer) gave them something to do and say that was forgettable. Analogy speaking, it would be like me stopping to check air pressure on one obvious low tire and then subsequently stop and checking all four tires every five miles for pressure just because you want the other 3 tires to get some attention. The result is a chaotic hodge-podge of action scenes that really never take you anywhere of importance and dialogue of supporting cast who have absolutely no real importance to the overall film, the overall moment or the overall plot itself…………..Suicide Squad is burdened by being a squad.

WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE DONE was have the story evolve around Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Jared Leto characters and then I believe you would have had a more interesting and thrilling effort.

Smith and Robbie had natural chemistry together and Leto was a good enough Joker (Heath Ledger Joker is still the best ever). Smith in particular had some smart, funny and interesting scenes – he was very engaging and seemed real. The result was his acting created the much depth and humanity to this film that was severely lacking throughout. Smith was especially effective when he and Robbie’s character were engaged in funny sarcastic banter aka “Harley Quin” and vice versa to his “Deadshot”. NOTE TO FUTURE CONSIDERATION, Smith’s “Deadshot” has enough depth where a real movie could actually revolve solely around him.

Overall “SS” is forgettable. Mostly because it’s just visually messy from the weight of way too many fire fights, too many moving parts and too many humans and “things” that don’t add up to much – just too many supporting “SS” characters you end up caring less about. Structurally SS feels terribly bloated by a screenplay that awkwardly transitions into frantic kinetic action sequences as a substitute for real emotional substance.

If there is a sequel I would offer to the producers the following suggestion. First there is a lot of promise in this odd ball group of miscreants working meaningfully well together but I suggest they just pair it down to 3 bat “sh%t crazy” personalities as they purse a good cause. And secondly get a better Director and screen writer who won’t treat the promise of a good idea as “business as usual - throw up against the wall - see if something sticks” format.

“Suicide Squad”, there are some hints of a better movie here but you have to be smarter next time not to overloaded it for it to ultimately materialized. Sometimes less is more.

2 – 1/2 Stars