Suicide Squad (2016)

Review

123min

Genre:      Comic-book, Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Director:   David Ayer

Cast:        Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto…and more

Writer:     David Ayer

-Synopsis-

In exchange for preferential treatment; a ragtag group of expendable jailed super-villains are recruited and coerced by a shadowy government organization to execute dangerous secret missions against even greater threats, in this DC Comics all-action birth of the “bad guy” superhero flick from the director of ‘Fury’ and ‘End of Watch’.

Having launched the “DC Extended Universe” with 2013’s ‘Man of Steel’ and this year’s superhero clash/team-building exercise ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’; Warner Bros. have commendably taken a risk by adapting the cult hit comic book series and giving writer/director David Ayer free rein of his own superhero ensemble piece… with a dark twist.

After seeing the success of ‘Deadpool’ and where comic-book movies can go, like fans of the unique ‘Suicide Squad’ comic incarnations we were intrigued by the concept and looking forward to a new experience which bleeds into the DC universe. But this maybe one of the few and most vivid examples of why sometimes you shouldn’t give a director full creative control, and god forbid should actually embrace filmmaking by committee.

We were initially sceptical of this film’s critical reception after disagreeing with the scathing general critical consensus for March’s ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’; but despite being characteristically harsh and extreme, this is an occasion where the critics have got it right, with ‘Suicide Squad’ unfortunately being quite the derivative mess of a summer blockbuster.

As the 80’s comic incarnation was; Ayer’s ‘Suicide Squad’ is hugely “inspired” by the Lee Marvin World War II antihero flick ‘The Dirty Dozen’, but this film “borrows” from so many movies it’s hard to keep count. There’s something from basically every ensemble hero piece here, plus a bunch of other genres which leaves something like ‘The Avengers’ meets ‘Ghostbusters’, with ‘Gods of Egypt’ and a splash of ‘Deadpool‘ thrown in, and the result is a poorly mixed melting pot with a sour taste.

Will Smith stars as the de-facto leader of the piece “Deadshot”, appropriate for the biggest star in the film and founding character of the “Squad”, and he does his best to bring to life the mercenary assassin with a conscience, with limited success. Margot Robbie shines as “Harley Quinn”; the insane disciple of ‘The Joker’ who was a recent and fairly marginal addition to the comics, but steals the show here with the a look and the few legitimate dark comedy turns in an otherwise dreary affair.

Disappointingly Jared Leto’s “Joker” is used rather sparingly, giving us only glimpses into an iconic super-villain which harks back to Cesar Romero’s version in the camp 60s TV show, with a sinister modern edge of course. Although it never reaches the maniacal heights of Heath Ledger’s definitive turn in ‘The Dark Knight’, we hope to see much more of Leto’s “Joker” in the upcoming Ben Affleck-directed solo ‘Batman’ movie.

Thanks to an uninspired script and thinly written characters, none of the other stars really get a chance to shine and the main supernatural villain is as underwhelming as it gets. Even Viola Davis as “Amanda Waller”, the ruthless government handler and puppeteer of villains and “Metahumans”, is rather wasted and hardly as intimidating as all the hype.

There’s plenty of beautifully shot action on show of course, explosive and dynamic CGI-enhanced sequences to behold; but it’s nothing we don’t see on a regular basis from any big-budget production, and all the classic rock songs and hip-hop beats can’t hide the cracks in the frame. People kicking ass to the sounds of “Queen” is great in a trailer, but you soon realise that this is a clear Ayer strategy here and it starts to look like a two hour-long music video.

For all the talk of ‘Suicide Squad’ being an unconventional “good vs. evil” film which subverts the regular superhero narrative;  the real heart of the movie is transparent and pedestrian, in the end an anti-hero is still the hero and the antagonist is still the villain.

David Ayer tries to blur the lines by unconvincingly making our “heroes” seem despicable and then humanizing them with cringeworthy dramatic attempts; but ‘Suicide Squad’ is ultimately a flashy and moderately entertaining, but poorly executed run-of-the-mill comic-book blockbuster, a messy jumble of themes with style but no real edge.

There’s no doubt Ayer & co. had a tough task on their hands with ‘Suicide Squad’, and despite being a disappointment, this is still a $175 million film with an embarrassment of riches which makes it an entertaining time-killing popcorn movie experience… and a profitable one at that. We just hope that the rumours of the sequel being R-rated are true and the director truly commits to the “bad guy” angle, or else it’ll be just another variation on a well-worn theme.

The Bottom Line…

Despite being a well-shot, loud and flashy all-action piece which introduces us to an interesting new world of comic-book characters; ‘Suicide Squad’ is a derivative, over-stuffed and under-written superhero romp which is as conventional as a supposedly unconventional narrative gets, perhaps a rich vein for the DC Extended Universe to mine but a disappointing experience on its own.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

In a world reeling from the discovery of a god-like alien on Earth and its destructive repercussions, Gotham’s Dark Knight turns Kryptonian-hunter in a conflict that will blind both caped crusaders to the real danger that has gathered to threaten humanity.

Directed by Zack Snyder and starring Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill and Amy Adams among others.

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