Is Suicide Squad a home run for DC?

Warner Bros. Pictures

Suicide Squad is the third and latest addition to the DCEU (Or DC Extended Universe for the uninitiated). Directed and written by David Ayer, the director of Fury and writer of Training Day. Suicide Squad is the story of Task Force X, a group of super-criminals brought together by government badass Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) to go to the worst places and do the things the United States government can’t be seen doing. Manipulated and forced to do Waller’s bidding, Task Force X is the worst of the worst … what could go wrong?

Task Force X’s roster of villains includes Master of Ropes (apparently that’s a thing) Slipknot (Adam Beach), fiery chulo El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), the magical Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), the master assassin Deadshot (Will Smith), and of course the vexing Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). Dear God that’s a lot of characters. Oh wait, there’s also the sword wielding Katana (Karen Fukuhara), Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman), and the previously mentioned Amanda Waller. Plus we haven’t even mentioned The Joker (Jared Leto) or several other supporting characters. So basically this movie is packed to the gills.

Now one of the things that most impressed me in the lead up to release was the amazing marketing job Warner Bros did. Trailers were well cut, fantastic music chosen as a backdrop, and most importantly they didn’t give away the whole damn movie (looking at you BvS!). While I’ve seen a number of reviews give away all the plot twists of the film you don’t have to worry about that here.

The biggest question most people have is, “Is Suicide Squad better than Batman v Superman?” The answer is a resounding … kinda? Yes, once again DC has delivered a mixed bag and that will, once again, divide audiences. The good news is this movie is a ton of fun, yes fun! Yeah, the dour gloomy rain soaked scenes are in there a bit too, but there are jokes! Actual funny ones. Plus no one is named Martha! There is a direct through line from BvS to this film and a link to the upcoming Justice League (stay for the mid-credit tease), but nowhere near the forced inclusion of cameos that BvS had.

With an ensemble film like this the team interactions can make or break the film. Lucky for us the team part of Suicide Squad is where its greatest strength lies. The fun bantering, just screwing around moments, are the highlights of the film. I would have been happy dropping all the action set pieces just to watch this group being bad guys and messing around. They have great chemistry and while some may get significantly less to do than others, every member has at least one great stand out moment.

On the flip side, when the action kicks in, especially the third act, the movie gets plain out boring. Scenes of super-powered criminals using guns to fire at adversaries who are also shooting guns feels more like a war film and less like a comic book movie. That, and David Ayer committed what I consider a cardinal sin in filmmaking. When facing a large homogeneous antagonistic force, aside from the leader, the big bad, you need clear recognizable generals in the fray. A perfect example I always give is any of the Lord of the Rings films. Every major battle had hundreds of indistinguishable orcs and the like. But every battle also had some general or squad leader who had a unique standout look. That way when the heroes finally take them down it has that satisfying feel for the audience. A bunch of nobody soldiers who we never feel threatened by get mowed down, who cares?

While I said the action is the weaker aspect of the film, I mean mainly the larger gun battles. The smaller one-on-one stuff is really well shot. Actually the whole film looks great. Say what you will about DC’s films but when it comes to cinematography they always give us some amazing visual flare, especially when compared to the incredibly competent but uninspired shooting style of Marvel films. Again though, the great look is marred by some of the same sloppy editing and overuse of CG that BvS suffered from, though not nearly as badly.

On top of the sloppy editing, the pace and plot could have used a few more pass-throughs. While the first act of the film is fantastic, the second and third are mashed up into almost one giant third act. By the time the final confrontation is over you’re exhausted. On top of that there’s the music. A number of pop songs are used throughout the film and at some times, perfectly. But when some scenes have four or five music cues over a two minute period, what was a clever and effective use of music becomes distracting.

Some other things on the positive side David Ayer achieved: Will Smith and Jai Courtney. When’s the last time you really enjoyed Will Smith in something? Okay, before Focus. Yeah, it’s been awhile. Will Smith is a delight, back to a bona fide movie star in this role. While his role is a bit larger than I would have liked (sacrificing screen time for other characters), it’s Will Smith, of course they want their money’s worth. Then there is Jai Courtney, the poor man’s Tom Hardy. Jai Courtney is actually good in this. All this time Hollywood tried making him a leading man when he was actually supposed to be the jackass comic relief. Honestly, Captain Boomerang is one of my favorite things about this film. Not overused but just enough cheeky shenanigans to keep you laughing.

The other big standout is Harley Quinn. While there was a moment or two I could have done without, Margot Robbie was, by and large, perfect casting as the deranged doll face. Balancing her sexualization and psychotic disposition, and managing to be both funny and heartbreaking. Harley is a huge character for the DCEU and she nailed it.

But what about The Joker you say? Well Jared Leto is just incredi … fine, he’s just fine. After all the hype and internet furor over the Clown Prince of Crime, he did a perfectly fine job. I’m very excited to see him go toe-to-toe with Batfleck, but he just didn’t get enough screen time to do anything as iconic as Ledger, Nicholson, or even Caesar Romero. He’s The Joker, just like you would expect, no real surprises. Then again for such an iconic character anything that isn’t a loss is a win!

In terms of bravery, credit where credit is due. DC has introduced full on magic into their world in just the third film in this universe. While Marvel’s cinematic universe is eight years old and about to be fourteen films in, introducing us to the world of magic in Dr. Strange, DC had the guts to do it in this film. While a bit jarring at first, as far as plot devices it worked fine and didn’t come off nearly as silly as I would have thought.

So should you pay your hard-earned cash and see Suicide Squad? Do you like comic book movies? If so then hell yes! While uneven and in need of a good script polishing, Suicide Squad is a fun time. Will it become a classic that you’ll want to revisit over and over? No, probably not, but some movies just need to be fun and then go away. If we get a Suicide Squad sequel they need to focus on the team and leave the rest of the baggage behind. A definite step forward for DC while still showing that there are many growing pains to overcome.