As everyone with a TV or Internet access knows, "Suicide Squad" just premiered. Being interested in superhero movies, I went and saw it. I will start out by saying that I almost had no expectations because before the movie trailer was released, I had no idea that "The Suicide Squad" was even a thing in the comic book world. But I enjoyed "Batman v. Superman" so I decided to give DC movies another go.
Overall I liked the movie, as I am not too picky. But put up against the build up from the movie marketers and fans, the film didn’t quite live up to those elevated standards. I really liked the beginning of the film, where Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Diablo, and June Moone/Enchantress’s backstories were shown, but obviously not everyone gets a backstory for time and interest reasons.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
However, I thought that the concept of the Enchantress needed to be explained a little more. The leap from her being controlled by Amanda Walker happened so quickly I didn't entirely understand where it came from. I am sure that the movie was written with a build up of resentment, but because of time constraints it was probably cut. So then the Enchantress runs off and makes her “brother.” Which again I wish that the backstory would have established that she had a “brother” that was still contained in one of the little idols.
Another part that left me wanting more was the process of the Suicide Squad becoming a squad. For violent criminals they are all too accepting of being thrown together and told to walk into a death trap. You would think that one or two of them would have a beef with another person, but they all accept their fate a little too quickly (even if there is an exploding device in their necks). For a majority of the movie, it is "Bad Guys vs. Amanda Walker and Rick Flag." Then magically Flag acts like a human and they have a lackluster unity moment.
Even more unsatisfying was the ending. So obviously they beat Enchantress and her “brother” and are essentially sent back to prison with minor requests that they get for saving the day. Like Killer Croc gets a TV with BET, and Harley Quinn asks for an espresso machine. But essentially they are all thrown back in prison to wait to be needed again, there are no marked improvements on their situations like you expect to see for having redeemed themselves a little bit.
Like I said in the beginning, I did like the movie. It was just not as mind blowing as it was made out to be. I did really like Harley Quinn and the Joker. I thought they nailed crazy-people love, and they also played the crazy well. I was also surprised to see Batman and The Flash make an appearance which is cool, because now we know the Justice League is not too far away. The fight scenes were pretty cool too. They weren’t too dramatic but conveyed the chaos very well. This wasn’t a movie that over-relied on CGI, which I also liked. CGI was only used where it needed to be, it wasn’t like they were looking for excuses to overdo something.
On an Scale from 1-10 I would give this movie a solid 6. Meaning I don’t regret seeing it, but I wouldn’t see it again or buy/rent it. Now onto the "Justice League"!
