Trying to keep up with the plot of this movie is like chasing a moving train. Except even when you think you've caught up to it, you're not sure you want to get on board.
As someone who went into this movie with tempered expectations thanks to negative critical reviews, yet also hope it would have some redeeming moments due to the overall positive IMDb user reviews, I can honestly say that the critics may have won on this one.
Suicide Squad has a number of issues, but is not a total loss for comic book fans. The performances by the actors is not what stops this film from being a success, but it doesn't stop their characters from going in the wrong direction.
1. THE PLOT: The plot was pretty much a mess. This was a common complaint about the Batman V. Superman movie: the plot defied logic and had too much trivial sub-plot due to the amount of characters. Suicide Squad runs into a similar problem. I feel like they compensated logic to simply include scenes that would satisfy comic book fans, however it's at the sake of the film's success as a whole. Nothing is ever explained that you want explained. And somehow the movie is a confusing blend of predictable yet unclear. I found myself constantly asking "Why wouldn't you just do____?"
2. Not enough screen time for the other squad members: The rest of the squad (Other than Harley and Deadshot) are not fleshed out well. And the movie's feeble attempts to add background, dimension or complexity to the characters fails, with flashbacks and random monologues that don't elicit any sort of empathy from the viewer. I found myself easily not caring about the squad or its success at all. (Example in point 6)
3. PACING: I think the attempts to flesh out the characters failed also because of the way the movie is paced. It's about 2 hours, yet feels like a 30 minute movie. Scenes jump around quickly and what they do choose to drag out (flashbacks amongst other things) may be fun to watch but is unnecessary.
3. Overuse of Music: A little more nit-picky, yet nonetheless something I noticed. Now I'm for every character having a cool theme, and soundtracks are great but... Suicide Squad utilizes loud, distracting, CONSTANT music... over dialogue, over key scenes.... music accompanies everything. Or at least that's what it felt like. Don't get me wrong sometimes it works.
4. THERE ARE NO STAKES INVOLVED WHEN YOU'RE FIGHTING MONSTERS MADE OF GOOP: I worried about the antagonists of this movie when I saw the trailers. None of the fight scenes have any real tension or meaning, because of the type of monsters they're fighting. Faceless, CGI, magical goop.
5. Uneven Dynamic of Power: This is a big issue I have with the movie. A lot of the characters seem extremely unnecessary and frankly misplaced, due to the disparity of power between all of them. In Batman V. Superman, people worried about how Batman would stand next to Superman, Wonder Woman and Apocalypse. In Suicide Squad it just felt wrong that a girl with bat and a guy with a boomerang were even within two feet of a guy who can breathe fire and a woman who can tear a hole in the sky. You simply don't believe Harley, for example, is needed in the group, which throws the logic of the film out of wack. Or that her bat can rip apart monsters, when Waller's bullets don't pierce them or Katana's sword. Not sure if this is a popular opinion, but the thought definitely occurred to me.
6. Katana : Out of all the characters in this movie, Katana's character was the biggest wasted opportunity (Boomerang is a close runner up). I'm not too familiar with her character in the comics, but I've looked up a couple strips and she's speaking English. THEY FREAKING SUBTITLE HER IN THE MOVIE. She can't even communicate with the damn squad. She could have been a character that could bond with them and be pretty cool, but she's reduced to a non-English speaking, body guard. And the film's attempts to humanize her couldn't be more ineffective. I had hoped this character would be utilized stronger and better.
7. The Joker : I never thought I'd say this in my lifetime, but this film should not have included the Joker. He should have full gotten his own movie or only been in certain scenes. Jared Leto does a great job, and he's definitely a scene stealer. In fact, I could see people leaving this movie thinking he was the best part or the only redeeming quality (Which in my mind is actually Will Smith), but I did enjoy watching the Joker. But his appearances made no sense in the context of the plot and felt fairly forced and random. I was expecting complex schemes from him or maybe an interesting sub plot, but that's not what I got from the movie.
8. Still Fun to Watch : The movie with all its faults is nonetheless fun to watch at times and the performances aren't bad. There are particular moments that I think are done well or include nice cinematic details. Batman v. Superman is overall a better film, but Suicide Squad is definitely more exciting.
In conclusion: It was difficult to keep this review fairly spoiler free, but I think I did it. Suicide Squad may become your next "guilty pleasure bad movie" film, but I think the average viewer will definitely find the film to be subpar. I did, and I hope this review helps you.
As someone who went into this movie with tempered expectations thanks to negative critical reviews, yet also hope it would have some redeeming moments due to the overall positive IMDb user reviews, I can honestly say that the critics may have won on this one.
Suicide Squad has a number of issues, but is not a total loss for comic book fans. The performances by the actors is not what stops this film from being a success, but it doesn't stop their characters from going in the wrong direction.
1. THE PLOT: The plot was pretty much a mess. This was a common complaint about the Batman V. Superman movie: the plot defied logic and had too much trivial sub-plot due to the amount of characters. Suicide Squad runs into a similar problem. I feel like they compensated logic to simply include scenes that would satisfy comic book fans, however it's at the sake of the film's success as a whole. Nothing is ever explained that you want explained. And somehow the movie is a confusing blend of predictable yet unclear. I found myself constantly asking "Why wouldn't you just do____?"
2. Not enough screen time for the other squad members: The rest of the squad (Other than Harley and Deadshot) are not fleshed out well. And the movie's feeble attempts to add background, dimension or complexity to the characters fails, with flashbacks and random monologues that don't elicit any sort of empathy from the viewer. I found myself easily not caring about the squad or its success at all. (Example in point 6)
3. PACING: I think the attempts to flesh out the characters failed also because of the way the movie is paced. It's about 2 hours, yet feels like a 30 minute movie. Scenes jump around quickly and what they do choose to drag out (flashbacks amongst other things) may be fun to watch but is unnecessary.
3. Overuse of Music: A little more nit-picky, yet nonetheless something I noticed. Now I'm for every character having a cool theme, and soundtracks are great but... Suicide Squad utilizes loud, distracting, CONSTANT music... over dialogue, over key scenes.... music accompanies everything. Or at least that's what it felt like. Don't get me wrong sometimes it works.
4. THERE ARE NO STAKES INVOLVED WHEN YOU'RE FIGHTING MONSTERS MADE OF GOOP: I worried about the antagonists of this movie when I saw the trailers. None of the fight scenes have any real tension or meaning, because of the type of monsters they're fighting. Faceless, CGI, magical goop.
5. Uneven Dynamic of Power: This is a big issue I have with the movie. A lot of the characters seem extremely unnecessary and frankly misplaced, due to the disparity of power between all of them. In Batman V. Superman, people worried about how Batman would stand next to Superman, Wonder Woman and Apocalypse. In Suicide Squad it just felt wrong that a girl with bat and a guy with a boomerang were even within two feet of a guy who can breathe fire and a woman who can tear a hole in the sky. You simply don't believe Harley, for example, is needed in the group, which throws the logic of the film out of wack. Or that her bat can rip apart monsters, when Waller's bullets don't pierce them or Katana's sword. Not sure if this is a popular opinion, but the thought definitely occurred to me.
6. Katana : Out of all the characters in this movie, Katana's character was the biggest wasted opportunity (Boomerang is a close runner up). I'm not too familiar with her character in the comics, but I've looked up a couple strips and she's speaking English. THEY FREAKING SUBTITLE HER IN THE MOVIE. She can't even communicate with the damn squad. She could have been a character that could bond with them and be pretty cool, but she's reduced to a non-English speaking, body guard. And the film's attempts to humanize her couldn't be more ineffective. I had hoped this character would be utilized stronger and better.
7. The Joker : I never thought I'd say this in my lifetime, but this film should not have included the Joker. He should have full gotten his own movie or only been in certain scenes. Jared Leto does a great job, and he's definitely a scene stealer. In fact, I could see people leaving this movie thinking he was the best part or the only redeeming quality (Which in my mind is actually Will Smith), but I did enjoy watching the Joker. But his appearances made no sense in the context of the plot and felt fairly forced and random. I was expecting complex schemes from him or maybe an interesting sub plot, but that's not what I got from the movie.
8. Still Fun to Watch : The movie with all its faults is nonetheless fun to watch at times and the performances aren't bad. There are particular moments that I think are done well or include nice cinematic details. Batman v. Superman is overall a better film, but Suicide Squad is definitely more exciting.
In conclusion: It was difficult to keep this review fairly spoiler free, but I think I did it. Suicide Squad may become your next "guilty pleasure bad movie" film, but I think the average viewer will definitely find the film to be subpar. I did, and I hope this review helps you.