REVIEW: Suicide Squad

Every superhero has to have their arch-nemesis. Superman has Lex Luthor. Batman has the Joker. And the DC Expanded Universe, it seems, has a team of Warner Bros executives. After two less-than-good entries from Zack Snyder, the DCEU was sorely in need of a critical hit. While it's true that these films continue to be financially successful, a profitable but continuous weakening of DC's brand likely isn't the best course of action for this series to pursue. To many, including yours truly, David Ayer's Suicide Squad appeared to be the film that would break free from the constant drudgery we'd gotten thus far; most of the problems with Man of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice could be attributed to the distinct talents of Zack Snyder and David S. Goyer. If any live-action DC film stood a chance of being any good this year, Suicide Squad was definitely that film. Unfortunately, it's worth noting that every other problem with Man of Steel and especially Dawn of Justice can be attributed to blatant executive meddling.

Based off of the comic of the same name, Suicide Squad follows a team of convicted supervillains assembled by one Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) for the express purpose of defending the United States from the emerging threat of metahumans. The logic here being that, should the Squad fail to fulfill their duties, they can be succinctly thrown under the bus, taking the brunt of the blame while the government gets off scott-free. The team, comprised of various rogues including Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), is placed under the command of Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and deployed to Midway City in response to one of the Squad members, The Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), going AWOL and attempting to bring forth a cataclysmic event unto the world. Why the Flash doesn't just take care of it (considering he seems to be on top of just about everything from Central City to Australia), I'm honestly not sure.

This movie truly feels like the next chapter in the tragic comedy that is DC's attempts at a live-action adaptation in recent years. Following the mountains of negative feedback BvS received for being a dour, self-serious slog of an experience, Suicide Squad went through a number of reshoots and edits in order to inject more levity into the film. This seemed like a fairly smart move (since plenty of quality films have gone through reshoots in the past, not to mention how obviously well the "witty action team-up" formula has worked for Marvel), but alas, the gods of fate did not see fit to smile on DC. When the film attempts to establish a dour or dramatic mood, it actually works well (unlike the entirety of the gray, drizzly melodrama found in Dawn of Justice). This sense of atmosphere is shattered on a regular basis thanks to the addition of unfunny, lazily-read joke lines that were clearly added in in a daft attempt to ape the Marvel formula. Every bit of "levity" that was added in the reshoots sticks out like a sore thumb, since it doesn't mesh in the slightest with the rest of the film (not to mention, it all sounds like it was written in an afternoon by someone with only the loosest grasp on the concept of comedy). 

Thanks to the studio-mandated reshoots and edits, the pacing of this film is left a complete and utter wreck; the first act was my favorite part, since it features some really strong worldbuilding, but even I must admit that the way it was put together was amateurish at best, embarrassing at worst. We jump from scene to scene, location to location, pop song to pop song with all the smoothness of a pint of spoiled milk. Call me a cynic, but this brightly-colored film about a gang of misfits and marauders who come together to save the world from a poorly fleshed-out villain in a stupid outfit who hopes to use glowy blue cosmic energy to destroy a planet (all to the tune of instantly recognizable chart-toppers) at times really just comes off as a blatant rip-off of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy. I really have no idea how I came to that conclusion, but I just can't shake this feeling of familiarity. It's especially tragic, since the film honestly really works when it's doing its own thing. There are parts of this movie that exemplify exactly how DC should be handling their various film properties; not copying the Marvel formula outright, embracing the fun and color of the source material, but still producing something that feels unique. There are aspects of this movie that I love, but they are all handicapped by the intrusive meddling of studio executives (who, if certain leaks are to be believed, are responsible for leaving various scenes and moments of character development and growth on the cutting room floor).

As much as the studio interference put a damper on things, I must say that this film features a host of genuinely strong performances. While not everyone feels entirely necessary to the plot (Killer Croc and Katana, I'm looking in your direction), the characters we spend the most time with are appropriately endearing. Will Smith does his usual thing here, but I must say it fits the role well. It's been a good long time since we've seen this kind of classic, smart-ass Will Smith, and it's nice to see him back in action. Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang was a personal favorite of mine, remaining just as over-the-top and deplorable as his comic book counterpart (though some less-savory aspects of his personality were reportedly edited out and will hopefully be restored in the inevitable Director's Cut). I was also pleasantly surprised by Jay Hernandez as the pyrotechnic Diablo; I knew absolutely nothing about this character or actor going in, but he ended up being easily one of the best aspects of the entire film. Margot Robbie was the one I was most worried about, seeing as how the character of Harley Quinn has lost her way somewhat in recent years (going from "tragically sympathetic villain" to "basically Deadpool, but with more cheesecake"); I wasn't entirely sure if this interpretation of Harley would be one I would enjoy. However, I am glad to report that Margot Robbie completely and utterly nails it here. This is the classic Timm/Dini-era Harley I know and love and I'd honestly be hard pressed to imagine a better way to depict Harleen Quinzel in live action form. 

The real MVP of the cast by far, however, is Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. Her character is known for being cunning and ruthless in equal measure, an angle that Davis pulls off flawlessly. She completely dominates any scene she's in, giving a performance that perfectly adapts the Wall from the page to the screen. That said, despite every strong performance, despite every spot-on characterization, this movie does have a glaringly obvious weak link. Which brings me to Jared Leto, as the Joker.

I will not mince words here. Jared Leto is, by far, the absolute worst live-action Joker ever committed to screen. Putting aside how his character barely has any relevance to the plot (aside from the obvious connection to Harley Quinn), his performance comes off as bland and derivative, while at the same time feeling as though he's trying way too hard. I could get past the oh-so edgy design if only his characterization made him feel like the Clown Prince of Crime, rather than a common gangbanger with a clown motif. The Joker has never struck me as the kind of guy to own a trendy night club or wear copious amounts of bling; that always seemed more like something befitting the Penguin or Two-Face or even Carmine Falcone. Basically, the kind of chump mobsters that the Joker typically eats for breakfast. This is a Joker that is trying very hard to be "cool", which is precisely why it doesn't work. This is not a Joker who would be found hanging around an abandoning carnival or poisoning crime lords. This is a Joker who wears fashionable clothes and has legitimate feelings for Harley Quinn. I understand that my argument here essentially boils down to "this isn't the kind of Joker that I like to see", but that's only because I like to see a Joker who's at least somewhat faithful to the source material beyond his name and taste in hair color.

To be perfectly fair, considering he's in the film for a collective ten minutes at most, Jared Leto really doesn't have enough screentime for me to fully judge his performance (especially considering we don't get to see how he plays off of Ben Affleck in the batsuit). However, I can say with 100% honesty that, going off of what I saw, I'm very much hoping for a drastic redesign in time for the standalone Batman film. No matter what David Ayer says, it's not too late to say he really WAS Jason Todd all along and that the REAL Joker was just over there, being played by Willem DaFoe this entire time.

Suicide Squad is a film that I almost feel bad condemning. With the exception of Jared Leto, no one really gives a spectacularly bad performance, the direction was solid, the action was fun, and you can really tell that there was a half-decent movie there at one point. However, thanks to the ineptitude of Warner Bros, a potentially fun, solid comic book flick was chopped up and stitched back together in the sloppiest way possible. There are aspects of the film that work perfectly, but that doesn't excuse the obvious problems that are present here. I feel as though a Director's Cut would (and hopefully will) be objectively better than what I saw, but all my wishful thinking doesn't change the fact that the supposed final product released into theaters is heavily, heavily flawed. It's the best DCEU movie to date by a fairly wide margin, but then again, that's not exactly saying much.