Suicide Squad Review

In case you live under a rock and haven't seen the fifty billion ads that have been everywhere, Suicide Squad came out this past weekend. Though it opened to absolutely abysmal reviews, it made $135 million it's opening weekend. This breaks the all time box office record for an opening weekend in August. I saw the movie this weekend, and have a lot to say, especially about each villain in the movie.

(WARNING: Minor Spoilers Below)

The Joker

Okay so the first thing to tackle is the Joker. There is one actor in a generation who can tackle the role of the Joker, and Jared Leto is not that actor. Being reduced to a silly comical gangster, Leto's performance was utterly forgettable. From what I understand from reading interviews, Leto said there was enough Joker footage left on the cutting room floor to make it's own film. Maybe this would have helped flesh out the character, but utterly, they took perhaps the greatest comic book sociopath of all time and made him boring.

Harley Quinn

When Margot Robbie was announced for Harley Quinn, I knew she would fit perfectly for the role. Robbie's Quinn was absolutely spot on with what I know of Quinn. However, in the second half of the film, Quinn was reduced to a quippy character that produced silly and whimsical one liners. Had the writing been better, Quinn could have been perfect. 

Deadshot

Will Smith's box office star has been rapidly diminishing. After the failure of After Earth and Concussion, it seemed like Smith's stardom might be over. However, Smith reminds us of the charisma and charm that made him famous. Given one of the best fully developed stories, Deadshot was absolutely awesome, and it was cool to see him (briefly) face the Dark Knight himself. Smith's Deadshot as the villain leader was one of the highlights. 

Slipknot

Why the fuck was he in this movie? Stupid and pointless. Moving on.

Killer Croc

When I first saw the design, I thought this design was absolutely repusilve. With all of the CGI today, Croc could've looked so much scarier! That being said, I think Croc was oversimplified. Waylon Jones had an interesting background story, and making him a stupid brutish thug wasn't my favorite choice of the film. I can see where writer/director David Ayer could struggle to make Croc a well played character. 

Katana

Having a screaming Asian woman just fight was kind if a weird choice, and I was surprised that racism wasn't brought up by every Social Justice Warrior on the internet. Her fight scenes were badass though, so I'll take it. 

Captain Boomerang

Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang was the silly, borderline alcoholic of the group. Paired with a stuffed pink unicorn, Boomerang didn't do too much of the fighting, but helped with the comic relief. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Diablo

Words cannot state how underrated I thought Jay Hernadez's Diablo was. Being one of the characters I was least excited about seeing in the movie, Diablos suprised me with the best backstory in the movie, and being the best written and subtly amazing character in the movie. I was a huge fan of this performance.

Amanda Waller

Amanda Waller is a bad woman. That's what Suicide Squad tried to sell me over and over again. Thought Viola Davis was great as always, I just felt that the writing for her character was absolutely lame at best.

Rick Flag



Take any white, male actor, and they could probably play Rick Flag the way he was written. Seriously, to think that Tom Hardy was once attached to this mundane character was an absolute joke. Super boring romantic subplot also. 

Enchantress

Jesus, this might have been the worst character in the movie. For a movie about how bad villains are supposed to be, the main villain was an absolute joke. There's once part where Enchantress summons demons by belly dancing. I'm not shitting you here. 

Overall, Suicide Squad was okay. The writing and directing of the actual story was horrific. The plot was so loosely based, as the movie wanted to focus more on the far more interesting backstories of every character. For a superhero movie, there still weren't any amazing fight scenes, and too much drama. Though it was better than Batman vs. Superman, and better than the critics gave it credit for, the 3rd installment in the DC Universe only gets a D+ from me.

Grade: 6.9/10