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Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad: Another Swing-and-a-Miss For the DC Extended Universe

  • Cara DelevingneJai Courtney...
  • 3DComedy...
  • David Ayer
reviewed by
Marija Loncarevic
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Suicide Squad: Another Swing-and-a-Miss For the DC Extended Universe

As one of the most talked, blogged and tweeted about movies of 2016, whether the latest entry into the DC Extended Universe, Suicide Squad, was always going to struggle to live up to its overblown hype. Written and directed by David Ayer, the story is an energetic and a spirited comic-book adaptation, though beyond the interesting aesthetic, doesn’t really have much going for it.

Following the events in Dawn of Justice, no-nonsense government official Amanda Waller (Davis) has decided to respond to growing security concerns,by pressuring officials to form a team of merciless supervillains to combat informal operations that are deemed too dangerous for the U.S. military. Recruiting Deadshot (Smith), Harley Quinn (Robbie), Killer Croc (Agbaje), Captain Boomerang (Courtney), El Diablo (Hernandez) and Slipknot (Beach) to duty, the crew are supervised by military-man Rick Flag (Kinnaman) and his sword-swinging side-kick, Katana (Fukuhara).

All hell breaks loose when witch Enchantress (Delevingne) – a six-thousand year old entity who has been using Flag’s lover June Moore’s body as a host – decides to cause havoc in Midway City, reconnecting with her equally powerful brother, Incubus (Chanoine) in order to create a super-machine that will destroy all humankind. Meanwhile, the Joker (the overworked Mr. Jared Leto) has his own agenda, as he tries to reunite with his beloved Quinn.

The setup is relatively basic, but David Ayer’s overly-complicated and messy approach leaves the film with zero focus or the necessary creative edge to deliver the otherwise interesting backbone through. Trying to balance out the long-list of back-stories and motives for the characters, nothing in Suicide Squad that sticks like it should and the story jumps from one idea to another without any sense of direction. The action sequences, however, are executed slightly better and there are a couple of whacky moments of dark comedy that stand out; but these are all just fleeting flashes and not something that the movie’s overall success can really rely upon.

As the only two Squad members who are given anything to work with, Smith’s Deadshot – a merciless gun for hire who never misses – embodies his character with enough poise and wit to make an impression whilst Robbie’s Quinn – minus the wandering New Yawk accent – is deliriously unhinged as the former psychologist who fell under The Joker’s spell. Speaking of which, Leto’s appearance in the Squad is limited to only a few scenes and while you can see the commitment devoted and appreciates Leto’s on-screen charisma, his character’s impact is relatively weak – an issue that sums the overall sum of the film’s parts. 

Like This? Try

Batman v Superman (2016), Man of Steel (2013), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)  

360 Tip

Jared Leto got so immersed in playing The Joker and he wouldn’t break out of character on set even when he wasn’t filming. He even sent his fellow cast members “Joker-like” presents: a rat to Margot Robbie and bullets to Will Smith and a dead hog for the whole crew.

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