Saturday, August 6, 2016

The Suicide Squad - Review

Movie: The Suicide Squad



Rating:
PG-13 (for sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behavior, suggestive content and language)

Genre:
Action & Adventure

Directed By:
David Ayer

Written By:
David Ayer

In Theaters:
Aug 5, 2016 Worldwide

Runtime:
123 minutes

Studio:
Warner Bros. Pictures

The Suicide Squad is a story from the DC Comic universe that depicts convicted criminals such as Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, and Killer Croc (among others) as reluctant heroes.

The movie's pacing (to me at least) felt very...off. I would've preferred a bit more screentime into each character's backstory (in particular, Adam Beach's character "Slipknot" also known as Christopher Weiss who, SPOILER ALERT, ends up proving that Amanda Waller wasn't kidding about the bombs in everyone's necks).

Amanda Waller (portrayed by Viola Davis) and Captain Rick Flag (portrayed by Joel Kinnaman) manage to make the unlikely heroes seem more human than the media lets on as the move progresses. The problem I had with this movie is that from my moderate understanding of Amanda Waller's character, it was far too predictable for her to be the cause and solution to the plot's premise.

*SPOILERS FOLLOW*

It was somewhat similar to the Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014) animated film in that the Enchantress, ends up being an asset and a liability much like the Riddler would've been in the Asylum. Thus, she sends Task Force X to essentially "eliminate" the problem that she herself had a hand in creating. So, it was a bit predictable to me after about a third of the way through the film.

Other than that, I enjoyed watching. Well, for the most part, I suppose. To be honest, I had a largely mixed reaction (much to my chagrin). I had to really ponder whether or not the time was well spent on the production. (Also, I decided to see the film in 3D because if fit my own personal schedule far better than a later viewing time so that may have put my perspective in a more positive light.) There was quite a bit of action and I rather liked the dialogue at times from characters such as Will Smith's Deadshot and surprisingly enough, Jay Hernandez's Diablo, however, many of the problems from the film end up being due to poor execution. Katana doesn't appear until the action just about starts.

The Joker felt far too homicidal and not so much "Clown Prince of Crime". I would've preferred more cynical comedy rather than a poor imitation of violent Heath Ledger.

Overall, it's definitely worth a rental, but I'm not so certain about say, a DVD or Blu-ray purchase for repeated viewing. On a scale of 1.0-10.0 I'd give it a 6.5 (D+ grade).