REVIEW - Suicide Squad
August 06, 2016
Suicide Squad, about a team of reluctant villains forced to band together to fight for the government, is not your standard superhero film. Initially passing off as a serious superhero film with an intensely gritty Comic Con trailer last year, its entire tone look a crazy 180 degree shift this year, with a more upbeat marketing campaign including a Bohemian Rhapsody-heavy trailer, along with more colourful yet expressive posters. The newer trailers were among my favourite teasers in recent memory, and expectations were at a fever pitch as the months rolled by to August, especially with the introduction of several of DC's rogue gallery, and a new incarnation of the Joker eight years after the late Heath Ledger's. So, after the tepid reception towards Batman v Superman, could David Ayer's Suicide Squad be the saving grace that finally gets the DC Film Universe up and roaring?
The motley crew of anti-heroes on display in Suicide Squad are definitely the crown jewels in this adaptation, no less led by the charismatic personalities of Will Smith (Deadshot) and Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn). Will Smith, playing a baddie for the first time in a long career, is pretty much playing himself as the skilled marksman, with plenty of quips to pass around along coupled with some cool action sequences. Margot Robbie surprisingly steals every other scene she's in, in what is a faithful onscreen representation of the original jester on Batman: The Animated Series, complete with tragic backstory and a mischievous persona. Both her and Smith's characters get extended backstories in the rather lengthy intro, and their involvement/importance in this film is just as front and center as you'll imagine.
Other than the two FOCUS co-stars, the likes of El Diablo (Jay Hernandez) and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) are the the surprise packages among the remaining cast of troublemakers. The former has a rather somber/compelling character arc, but comes full circle with plenty of stand out scenes as the film drags its way over the finish line. Meanwhile, in what may be my favourite Jai Courtney performance (which isn't saying much), his portrayal of the boomerang wielding supervillain injects humour aplenty as a literal comic relief character (don't mind his fetish though).
The same can't be said for the rest of the crew, with Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Katana (Karen Fukuhara), Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) and Slipknot (Adam Beach - arguably this film's MVP) looking like cannon fodder in this expensive line-up of talent. Even the supposed 'leader' of the pack Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) pales in comparison to his wicked co-workers. The real commander, Viola Davis is menacing as Amanda Waller, the cunning brains behind the Task Force X program, and I particularly look forward of seeing her in potential sequels or other films in the franchise, either leading/manipulating the Squad again or against other DC heroes (could you image Oprah in this role?). Overall, this assemble share great chemistry, coupled with a great dynamic that we hope doesn't end here, as there is still much to explore between them, especially arcs among the smaller characters.
Such a shame then, that these colourful set of characters are thrown into such a meek setting, complete with a now cliched third act. While much of the humour and lighter tones are derived from the opening 45 minutes (with a number of great cameos), it is from there that all the goodwill its garnered slowly gets lost by the time it's 'Squad Assemble!'. To recap, Avengers did the whole 'faceless CGI army war amid st a portal in the sky' scenario to great effect in 2012, while Avengers 2 replicated that a 'been there, done that' vibe, so by the time a similar third act reared its tired head in Suicide Squad, the sentiment was less 'third time's the charm' and more 'for f**ks sake again!?'.
The antagonists (without spoilers) are worse off, passing off as dour and uninspiring adversaries, even more so than the lukewarm efforts as seen by the Marvel Studios villains since 2008 sans Loki, and are perhaps even some of the worst antagonists in recent comic book film memory. For a film with many different lesser known characters within the ensemble, a more prominent villainous opponents may have helped raise the stakes of the film (perhaps a maniacal clown?), which were virtually non-existent here.
Speaking of which, the common enemy faced by the Suicide Squad may not even be the dull storyline, but the jarring displacement of the film's tone and pacing. Our anti-heroes lacked any sort of urgency or motivation in saving the day, and merely traverse through the a barren wasteland when the plot required to go from point A to B. More so, if reports are to be believed, the lukewarm reception to Batman v Superman prompted, along with the well-received, Queen-backed trailer, allegedly prompting the higher ups at Warner Bros. to forces some comedic elements to Ayer's original version. The result is akin to a horror mash-up, between David Ayer's melancholic adaptation with a clearly Guardians of the Galaxy-inspired dose of witty banter, which don't necessarily mix well when not combined effectively. This is especially notable in the addition of stylized intros for the characters (with bright pestle colours similar to the later trailers), and the addition of licensed soundtrack music from Eminem to The Rolling Stones to Kanye West peppered along the opening act, to both perfectly timed yet sometimes jarring in transition.
Jared Leto's much hyped take on the Joker is borderline excessive (or batshit crazy, pun intended), whether it's the added pressure of succeeding Heath Ledger's Oscar-winning take, or to distance itself from previous portrayals, this new Joker is downright unlikable, passing off more as a manic psychopath than a scheming villain. It's perhaps the best comic book version of the 'Crown Prince of Gotham' (the crazier incarnations anyway), but sometimes comic pages don't translate exactly as well to the big screen. 
Given that he's barely around in Suicide Squad, with around only 10 minutes of runtime across between 4 to 5 scenes (which has its pros and cons), adding that he never directly interacts with any of the other characters (bar Harley) makes this new take of the Joker more of an overhyped affair (think Jason Statham weaving around the story in Furious 7). This surely isn't the last we'll see him, as there's plenty of improvement/improvisation (without the terrifying method acting) that could be done for this iconic character. A return in the Batman standalone film, anyone?
Considering how the DC films are trying its darnest to stray away from the more cheerful nature of the Marvel films, Suicide Squad has shown that DC is willing to follow the similar beats of the Marvel Studios film, while trying to retain the darker elements laid out by Zack Synder in BvS. Apart from the very interesting roster of baddies performing heroics, the foundation of Suicide Squad is as generic as it can get, and as mentioned earlier, the end product is a Frankenstein's monster between the first (SDCC 2014) and subsequent trailers.
The mass exodus of scenes left on the cutting room floor is apparent too, looking at the trailers, which may suggest an unnecessary Ultimate Edition in the future to again compensate for another lackluster DC theatrical cut. Whether it's the studio interference or just a victim to sky high expectations, Suicide Squad should have been rewarded for attempting an adaptation such as this, yet feels like a missed opportunity hindered by the negative norms of its predecessors. The colourful casts of characters are a big plus in this, and if a sequel doesn't go ahead, I'm hopeful that this isn't the last we'll see of this welcomed incarnation of evildoers.
The real winner out of Suicide Squad? The team who made that amazing Queen-filled trailer, and they deserve every penny of the incoming box office trove). If BvS and Suicide Squad has begun to show an unwelcoming trend of 'great DC films trailers ultimately not living up to expectations' pattern, I'll better start worrying for the upcoming Wonder Woman.
5.5 / 10
Winner for Best & Most Misleading Trailer 2016
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