Only days before the anti-hero flick was released, the critics came out in swarms. The good reviews were overshadowed by the bad ones. Fans even started a petition to get Rotten Tomatoes, a movie reviewing site, shut down.
As a longtime comic book fan, I didn't blame them at all. It’s incredibly frustrating and unsettling when a movie you’ve been waiting so long for gets slaughtered by critics. And I’d understand the hate if the movie warranted it.
Don’t get me wrong; "Suicide Squad" wasn’t perfect. But the bad reviews of it don’t seem fair. Yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but the critics are being exceptionally brutal to a film that doesn’t deserve it.
The good: "Suicide Squad" did an exceptional job with casting. Harley Quinn was the perfect role for Margot Robbie. She truly brought the character to life while staying true to the comics. Jared Leto as The Joker was what I was most looking forward to. He gave me chills. He brought out a new side to DC’s best villain that I didn’t know I needed, but I’m really glad that I got.
I knew going in that I would at least love Will Smith, and he didn’t disappoint. He was made to play Deadshot and did so incredibly.
On top of those great performances, I have to say that the rest of the Squad’s acting and character portrayals were spot on. Cara Delevingne was a pleasant surprise as Enchantress and Jay Hernandez deserves some kind of award for bringing so much to a character that could have easily been overlooked by the others. Overall, I think the casting agency did a phenomenal job.
The bad: "Suicide Squad" is pretty much an origins movie and, like most origin movies, it put the plot aside do background stories of the characters. While seeing the history of the characters was great, the plot simply wasn’t the focus of the movie and therefore was somewhat flimsy.
They also didn’t utilize some characters as best they could (i.e. Captain Boomerang and Katana). Both Captain Boomerang and Katana have abilities that are really unique and would add a lot to a cool fight scene, but I didn’t see enough of that. I’m thinking this has a lot to do with post production editing, so maybe I’ll see more of them in deleted scenes.
The ugly: Overall, I was impressed with the movie’s CGI. It was better than what reviews were making it out to be. But there were some points where the special effects could have used some work. This was mainly towards the end of the film on one character in particular. Also, Killer Croc was incredibly ugly, so it was great to see him fairly true to his comic book look.
Honestly, I’d give this movie an 8.5/10. Despite its harsh reviews (I’m looking at you, Rotten Tomatoes) it was a thrilling movie that satisfied my comic-loving, fangirl heart. I’m even prepared to say it’s in the top five best movies of 2016.
