On Tuesday, a group of friends and I went to go see an anticipated movie of the summer, "Suicide Squad." This movie has critics saying it sucks, it doesn't work, or even DC Comics should reboot their superhero universe. Honestly, it’s a step up from "Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice." Not that "Batman V. Superman" was terrible in my eyes, it was just poorly executed. Even though I believe the plot of "Suicide Squad" is repetitive from all action films nowadays, the characters made you ultimately forget about the countless cliches. The villains and Batman are the best part of DC so far. They are finally starting to tap into their potential as live-action storytellers.
Let me talk about some of their achievements. Batman is usually DC’s main man, and though his appearances in the film were few and far between, him being there was justified and made sense. This was the first time Harley Quinn made a major live action appearance and she was done exceptionally well. I loved every time she was onscreen. Deadshot I wasn’t worried about since I thought Will Smith would do what he does best and approach the film as best he could, and that was more than enough. My favorite character, which was a surprise even to me, was El Diablo. I never thought I’d root for “the Devil,” but his backstory makes you sympathize for him almost immediately.
The biggest worry I had about this film was Jared Leto’s take on the Joker. From the initial revealing photos of his Joker, everyone had things to say before actually seeing his performance. The gangster take on Joker was interesting and was well done. You could still see him as the Joker. He was intimidating and unpredictable just as the Joker should be. His relationship with Harley wasn’t exactly the abusive boyfriend that was shown in the animated series and comics. You could see that he cared for Harley and didn’t just use her when she was “a part of the plan."
If this is how DC plans to change things around and execute ideas, I’m all for it. To be fair, I am a major Marvel Comics fan and always will be, but I enjoy different superheroes from different franchises as well. Actually, scratch that, I’m a major superhero fan. If it were me, I would continue to go out and support this movie wholeheartedly. Go see it with an open mind and not just focus on what critics are saying. Be an individual and decide how you feel about the film, all chatter about the major motion picture set aside. Ultimately, all of this is my opinion on the film. All I ask for you as readers is to decide how you feel about whether the film reflects negatively or positively on the franchise, and to do so on your own.
