What was supposed to be the biggest summer blockbuster of 2016 ended up becoming one of the biggest summer flops. Movie fans all around the world were anxious and excited to see “Suicide Squad,” DC Comics response to Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” when DC announced it was part of their extended universe in 2014. However, these same fans were disappointed when terrible reviews started swarming in and the rumor mill started swirling about what exactly went wrong from extensive reshoots to premature release dates. While the majority of viewers liked “Guardians of the Galaxy,” the same cannot be said about “Suicide Squad.“ Here are some major issues that I saw with the film and what it could mean for the DC Extended Universe. Warning: There are spoilers.
1. The characters were not gritty enough.
Wait, isn’t this a team of super villains? What DC had been doing right with the Dark Knight trilogy was completely lost with this movie. When this movie was first announced, fans expected to see that same grittiness that Christopher Nolan brought to the table to be revived with a group of villains. Instead, the studio went with a lighter tone to try and please the audience, ultimately having a different effect. They made heartless assassins into heartfelt stories. For example, dead shot is supposed to be ruthless and a cold blooded killer, in this movie he was solely a father that wanted to provide for his daughter. A story that has been told numerous times but fell flat in this movie. The other characters followed the same sort of pattern, none of them seemingly like super villains, just good people doing bad things when it is supposed to be the opposite.
2. The humor was cringe-worthy.
Since they went away from being a gritty movie, the audience expected it to be somewhat funny. Sadly, even the jokes flopped. The only jokes that were noteworthy were the ones we had already seen in the numerous commercials. This also highlights the flawed writing especially with countless horrific one-liners. A prime example of this is when Enchantress, an ancient spirit inhabiting a scientist, says “You don't have the balls.” I'm sure this was supposed to seem like a bad-ass moment but it seemed more like awful script writing. And if it was supposed to be a funny line, people mainly laughed because it was so cringe-worthy.
3. There was a terrible flow.
From the start to finish, the movie was all over the place and didn't have a comprehensive linear story to it. At the beginning, instead of starting the main story, they tried to copy Quentin Tarantino's style and introduce the characters one at a time, thinking that it would please the audience. However, it started what would become a jumbled mess. The story ended up being lost in the title cards and cameos and backstories that barely had relevance to the actual issues. What was meant to be cool, ended up being corny and forced, taking away a lot more than it brought.
4. The love story was awful.
When talking about forced, the love story between June Moore and Rick Flag comes to mind. It was as if it was added after the movie was finished to add some emotion. There seemed to be no chemistry between the actors and their acting was awful. If their romance was taken out of the movie, it could be addition by subtraction. What was supposed to bring emotion to the movie added some of the only laughs.
5. We’ve seen this villain before.
Oh no! A big hole in the sky that is sucking up parts of a city! Huh, where have we seen this before? The answer is almost every superhero movie, most notably “Avengers.” What could have been truly an original idea with the team of villains, was overshadowed by this recycled idea of what a super villain is supposed to look like. It's like they completely forgot about the Dark Knight Trilogy which was rooted in the real world instead of fantastical events. That's what made those movies so good as it exemplified a true psychopath, with the Joker being a thrilling character rather than silly. “Suicide Squad” set up forgettable villains doing forgettable actions. That was the most disappointing part to me, especially since the Joker image was also smeared in this movie.
