So Suicide Squad

I went to see this movie specifically so I could review it, so I guess I better get it done. I’ve been sort of dreading writing it up because while I enjoyed watching it, I can’t say I really thought too highly of it. But I guess I’ll start with the good and go from there:

I liked the parts that were stylized. I wish that it would have carried through past the first twenty minutes and that it had been integrated more seamlessly into the movie, because it ended up seeming like some heavy-handed reminder that the film was supposed to be fun! cool! and wacky! instead of actually making it so.

Same goes for the music choices. I liked the songs and the tone they gave each individual scene, but taken as a whole that sort of pop-rock gimmick ended up being over-used and falling flat by the end of the movie.

I liked the production design. It managed to be dark and realistic while still interesting and fun. But I won’t applaud them for putting the men in sweatshirts and bullet proof vests while the women are baring their midriffs sans pants. That doesn’t make sense.

I liked Amanda Waller, Harley, and Will Smith (note: I didn’t say Deadshot). Will Smith is just really likeable, and I think he definitely made the writing for Deadshot watchable, although I actually was not a fan of the character. Same goes for Viola Davis and Margot Robbie, really. They did a great job with what they were given, but each one could have taken much more on and the movie probably would have been better if any one of them had been given more to work with. On the other hand, I didn’t care for Flag’s character at all, even though he was clearly supposed to be a big part of this story.

It’s like the movie couldn’t decide who the main character was. And the ensemble wasn’t strong enough for it to be a successful ensemble film. The ensemble didn’t click together the way it needed to (I scoffed when El Diablo referred to them as family, because it just wasn’t). And the characters didn’t get enough development to have my interest or compassion. That one guy was literally just canon fodder. He didn’t even get an introduction. I hate that. Katana did literally nothing but look pretty. Killer Croc was just there to show how these “villains” were hated and abused, but they didn’t even follow through on that thread. His characterization was basically nonexistent. Add to that the fact that the actor was totally covered up by prosthetics and voice distortion and it really subtracted from the movie for me. Also, I couldn’t understand what he was saying sometimes, and that sucks.

El Diablo’s backstory was interesting (if a tragic example of fridging) but was just shoved in just in time for him to die. I think the actor did great, but I won’t forgive the writing. He was just too background for me to care about him or his death, which by the way was super predictable and not as compelling as it should have been.

I would have just totally cut Captain Boomerang. I thought he was mostly annoying and gross, and that’s just when I could actually understand what he was saying. His purpose seemed to be to complain about how he wanted to leave to up the tension or something, but it didn’t work because WE KNEW HE COULDN’T LEAVE. He seemed like he could have been a good option to infuse humor, but he wasn’t funny. He could have brought some flair to the action scenes, but he didn’t. 

In fact, the action scenes were all pretty lame. First of all, it was dark and foggy and hard to follow. The editing did it no favors. And then there’s the fact that they were fighting faceless blob people and who cares about blobs. It would have been much more interesting if they looked like the innocent mind-controlled humans they were. And then the movie could have actually examined the moral choices it was making instead of glossing over them. 

IMO the most compelling part of this story is the question of who is worse, Amanda Waller and the government that lets her kill and control people, or the criminals who are saving the world. There was so much potential in that and the movie just threw it away. 

The main villains could have been a great vehicle of discussion for what it means to truly be evil, but they weren’t. They were nothing. They just SUCKED. Most forgettable DCEU villains ever, boring even during the movie, no purpose, no motivation, no clear plan, weirdly CGI… I could go on. 

Also, why was Incubus even there? Apparently he was so unnecessary that they didn’t even bother to tell us his name. I get that he goes with the mythology of Enchantress, but in a movie already over-saturated with characters I wish they would have just taken him out and used his screen-time to actually make Enchantress compelling. 

Also, side-note: Enchantress was uncomfortably sexed up. From her costume to her physical characterization, to her stilted romance to the fact that she used kissing as a form of mind control. If we had to have this in the movie, why wasn’t Incubus similarly portrayed? The two go hand-in-hand, and if one of them should be sexual, it should probably be him. His name has a clear sexual denotation, whereas “enchantress” is only tangentially sexual. Enchantress did not have to be as sexual as she was. Enchantress did not have to be in a bikini—and in fact did not wear a bikini in the comics. So what was the purpose behind that change if not to objectify her?

And there was a whole host of other problems I could go into detail on but won’t because this is making me sad: 

The editing was off, the second half was rushed and the plot had some holes; the jokes were not funny to me (at best they just didn’t land—at worse they were actually gross. Sorry not sorry I didn’t laugh when women got punched in the face.) The Joker did not fit well into the movie and was not as big a part as the trailer hyped him to be; Jared Leto was nothing special—although he did make me uncomfortable, which I guess is true to the character…) There were some gross characters (I’m looking at you, prison guards) with no exploration of how they fit into the ethics of the story and no subversion whatsoever. And there just was no purpose to the story, no theme or through-line. If the point was just to have fun, they didn’t even do that all that well. 

Overall I just think that the movie failed the characters. I enjoyed watching it, but I didn’t like it.

1.5 out of 5.