By Trey Alessio
CREDIT: Warner Bros./DC
(contains many spoilers)
This is one of very few reviews in favor of “Suicide Squad.” But before you roll your eyes and hit that “x” in the corner of the page, let me back it up.
First of all, “Suicide Squad” is a very entertaining film. It has a very quirky, sarcastic vibe intertwined with epic visual effects and action scenes. And honestly, what else could you really ask for in a superhero movie?
For all the Marvel die-hards: what is one of the biggest reasons you love Marvel movies? I’d be willing to bet that one of the main things you enjoy about the Marvel universe is the humor embedded throughout the drama and the action. Well, “Suicide Squad” is no different. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) had me cracking up. Deadshot (Will Smith) had me smirking throughout the whole movie with his smart-a** demeanor. Even Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) had little moments of humor.
But aside from the bits of humor, I really did think this was a good movie. “Suicide Squad” scored a 26 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 41 percent on Metacritic. Why? I really don’t understand all the hate. Now after going back and watching “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” a couple more times, I can understand the bad reviews—plot holes, overdramatic name realization, iffy ending, etc. But what’s wrong with “Suicide Squad?”
First of all, “Suicide Squad” is a very entertaining film. It has a very quirky, sarcastic vibe intertwined with epic visual effects and action scenes. And honestly, what else could you really ask for in a superhero movie?
For all the Marvel die-hards: what is one of the biggest reasons you love Marvel movies? I’d be willing to bet that one of the main things you enjoy about the Marvel universe is the humor embedded throughout the drama and the action. Well, “Suicide Squad” is no different. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) had me cracking up. Deadshot (Will Smith) had me smirking throughout the whole movie with his smart-a** demeanor. Even Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) had little moments of humor.
But aside from the bits of humor, I really did think this was a good movie. “Suicide Squad” scored a 26 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and a 41 percent on Metacritic. Why? I really don’t understand all the hate. Now after going back and watching “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” a couple more times, I can understand the bad reviews—plot holes, overdramatic name realization, iffy ending, etc. But what’s wrong with “Suicide Squad?”
I don’t think you can argue that it jumped around too much (another one of the beefs I had with “Batman v. Superman”) because there had to be background information for each character. I actually really liked how they introduced each character. As Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) explained each character and why they needed to assemble this “Suicide Squad,” the film inserted some colorful text for each character and then cut away to get a glimpse into their past. I thought it worked—it wasn’t too messy or too jumpy, in my opinion. I really thought it meshed with the vibe the movie was going for.
I also don’t think you can argue that “Suicide Squad” leaned too heavily on the weird magic that stemmed from Enchantress (Cara Delevingne). I can’t really explain my thought process other than the popular phrase, “It is what it is.” While the magic was quite strange, at the end of the day, it was magic and anything can really happen—and it did as Enchantress made out with troopers and turned them into bubbly-faced black ghost things. But I thought David Ayer and the writing staff did enough to explain everything that was going on during “Suicide Squad.” And before all the die-hard Marvel fans come at me with pitchforks and lit torches, I’d have to remind them that Marvel will enter this weird, trippy realm of magic with the upcoming “Doctor Strange” movie. Things might get messy—and then again, anything could happen and be backed up with the “it’s magic” explanation. But as for “Suicide Squad,” I didn’t really find anything confusing as I did at times during “Batman v. Superman.”
I’d also like to point out how great Will Smith and Margot Robbie were in this movie. It’s safe to say they carried “Suicide Squad.” They both played their characters perfectly, and I’d go as far as to say, I wouldn’t mind if DC broke off and did standalone movies for both Deadshot and Harley Quinn. The Joker (Jared Leto) surprisingly didn’t steal the show, but rather, his ride-or-die, Harley Quinn did. She was funny, she was sexy and she played an integral part in the success of the “Suicide Squad.”
I also don’t think you can argue that “Suicide Squad” leaned too heavily on the weird magic that stemmed from Enchantress (Cara Delevingne). I can’t really explain my thought process other than the popular phrase, “It is what it is.” While the magic was quite strange, at the end of the day, it was magic and anything can really happen—and it did as Enchantress made out with troopers and turned them into bubbly-faced black ghost things. But I thought David Ayer and the writing staff did enough to explain everything that was going on during “Suicide Squad.” And before all the die-hard Marvel fans come at me with pitchforks and lit torches, I’d have to remind them that Marvel will enter this weird, trippy realm of magic with the upcoming “Doctor Strange” movie. Things might get messy—and then again, anything could happen and be backed up with the “it’s magic” explanation. But as for “Suicide Squad,” I didn’t really find anything confusing as I did at times during “Batman v. Superman.”
I’d also like to point out how great Will Smith and Margot Robbie were in this movie. It’s safe to say they carried “Suicide Squad.” They both played their characters perfectly, and I’d go as far as to say, I wouldn’t mind if DC broke off and did standalone movies for both Deadshot and Harley Quinn. The Joker (Jared Leto) surprisingly didn’t steal the show, but rather, his ride-or-die, Harley Quinn did. She was funny, she was sexy and she played an integral part in the success of the “Suicide Squad.”
Yes, this movie definitely has its flaws. I wasn’t blown away by Cara Delevingne’s performance as Enchantress. I didn’t really buy into her evilness toward the end, and, if I’m going to nit-pick, it kind of seemed like they didn’t perfectly sync the doom-like voice with Delevingne’s. I also don’t think the Joker lived up to his potential, but I also don’t think he was supposed to in this movie. I really enjoyed the different kind of Joker with the purple Lamborghini, the strip clubs, the tattoos, the suits, etc., but I don’t think “Suicide Squad” was his time to shine. Just wait for the Batman standalone movie. I’m going to go out on a limb and guess that he and another villain or two will make a significant appearance in the upcoming Ben Affleck-Batman movie.
Another beef I have with this movie is the bad villain among the other good villains. You could argue that Enchantress and her brother weren’t the strongest of bad villains among the star-studded cast of bad (but really good) guys the movie was focused on.
Overall, “Suicide Squad” was very entertaining and a solid movie. Was it deep and dark like “The Dark Knight?” No. But did it get the job done? I think it did. I also thought it was really cool how they intertwined Batman and the Justice League into “Suicide Squad.” The post-credit scene got me really hyped for the future of DC.
DC will live on despite the unnecessarily low-scoring reviews. We still have “Justice League,” “Wonder Woman,” “The Flash,” “Aquaman” and the unconfirmed-but-definitely-in-the-works Batman standalone movie, among others, to look forward to. And for all the strictly pro-Marvel, anti-DC people out there, I leave you with this: until Marvel does a “Thunderbolts” movie, can you really talk smack about Marvel villains over DC’s?
Another beef I have with this movie is the bad villain among the other good villains. You could argue that Enchantress and her brother weren’t the strongest of bad villains among the star-studded cast of bad (but really good) guys the movie was focused on.
Overall, “Suicide Squad” was very entertaining and a solid movie. Was it deep and dark like “The Dark Knight?” No. But did it get the job done? I think it did. I also thought it was really cool how they intertwined Batman and the Justice League into “Suicide Squad.” The post-credit scene got me really hyped for the future of DC.
DC will live on despite the unnecessarily low-scoring reviews. We still have “Justice League,” “Wonder Woman,” “The Flash,” “Aquaman” and the unconfirmed-but-definitely-in-the-works Batman standalone movie, among others, to look forward to. And for all the strictly pro-Marvel, anti-DC people out there, I leave you with this: until Marvel does a “Thunderbolts” movie, can you really talk smack about Marvel villains over DC’s?
CREDIT: Warner Bros./DC
THE DON'S GRADE: B-
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