“Suicide Squad” opened Aug. 5, 2016, and to many mixed reviews.
First, to get the obvious out of the way, DC tried their best to catch up to Marvel’s status in the cinematic super hero world. With Marvel’s excellence in creating incredible solo hero films that eventually lead to an action packed team, Marvel has got it down.
Superhero movies are becoming increasingly popular and the world sat at the edge of their seats waiting for the possibility that DC would travel down the same road. Christopher Nolan set the bar high with the “Dark Knight” series.
With the announcement of a new “Man of Steel” movie, hopes were high for a future “Justice League” film. However, the road traveled by DC has been a bit rocky.
“Man of Steel” was new and dark, trying to piggy back on the feeling “The Dark Knight” gave us, but it lacked any real connection. Then, it was announced a “Batman v Superman” film was finally in the works. But that too lacked a true story, a true plot and true character development.
Most recently fans received “Suicide Squad.” Now, this movie wasn’t as horrible as the rest of the recent DC films. It was fun, it was entertaining, and there were some great characters.
Will Smith’s performance as Deadshot actually held it all together. Smith, a new DC family man made villain, loves his daughter but also leads the life of a talented and skilled assassin, and actually fights with Batman. Badass right? Others like Diablo, DC’s human torch, shared a similar background story to empathize with.
However, a few moderately developed characters and cool back-story wasn’t enough to save “Suicide Squad.” This movie is an over packed suitcase filled with unnecessary scenes that may seem necessary, but really add no value. As irrelevant plot devices, background stories, and pointless artistic shots pile up, the movie’s flaws are exposed and the audience is left yawning. While it tried to be flashy and bright with gunfire and limited dialogue, everything about the film seemed rushed.
The addition of the Joker was a bit of a joke. There’s not much to say, because there wasn’t much to watch. From what was promised in the trailers promoting this wild and crazy movie, there was very little wild and crazy scenes involving the Joker. From what was shown, Jared Leto was going for something very different.
The lack of Joker in the film made more room for Margot Robbie’s performance as Harley Quinn, Joker’s deranged girlfriend.
As fun and accurate as she played her role, the lack of her character and the Joker barely establishing a relationship added to the movie’s downfall. With “Suicide Squad” out to see, it’s an action crammed film that will leave you entertained, but scratching your head afterwards wondering what the heck you just watched, and feeling a little let down.
Justin Johnson can be reached at