Movie Review - Suicide Squad

   It looks like the folks in charge of DC's movies finally realized that it was time to try something different. Rather than another overly dark, gritty movie about a lone superhero with an hour-long origin story, we've instead got Suicide Squad, a buddy-action film about an all-star cast of villains. It seems to have gotten pretty dismal reviews so far, but is it really as bad as the critics say it is? Let's take a look.

   Suicide Squad tells the story of a bunch of supervillains who are press-ganged into running black ops missions too dangerous for regular special forces. As with a lot of other DC movies lately this one's first half hour does a lot of jumping around. Things move along very quickly. What's cool is that the film does tie itself into the greater DC Extended Universe with numerous references and nice little cameos. And while it is nice to finally see a DC movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, I found that very few of the jokes worked well. At least the action is good and it all builds up to a satisfying climax.

   Now for the character roll call. Deadshot, Katana, El Diablo, and Amanda Waller are alright. Enchantress, Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang, and Rick Flagg are all... meh. The “Joker” – if you can even call him that – sucks. Everything about him from his weird voice and strange way of breathing to his downright gangsta/meth addict appearance just plain sucks. He's a pimp daddy-type character who doesn't even laugh that much. Similarly, Harley Quinn was rather disappointing. I know being annoying is kind of her thing but in this movie it seems like she's trying too hard to be funny. And let's not get started on her lacklustre (not to mention, uncomfortable looking) costume. And then there's the main villainess: it's hard to take her seriously, let alone figure out what she's doing most of the time. So yeah, most of the characters in Suicide Squad are written too thinly or are too clumsily portrayed. Pretty much the only interesting character is Will Smith's Deadshot (and possibly El Diablo).

   Finally let's talk about the soundtrack, which has been getting a lot of attention. It includes a lot of classic rock and other popular songs à la Guardians of the Galaxy, but the songs are played too loudly and they change too frequently. The music often overpowers the drama going on in the scenes, making it feel like you're watching a trailer instead of a movie. It's part of what makes up the movie's style, and yet it more-or-less stops halfway through the film.

   And that's Suicide Squad, a sporadically funny film with a bunch of bland characters but some decent action. I don't think it's quite as bad as the critics make it out to be and I would much rather rewatch this film than a lot of other action films that have come out this summer. I guess I could recommend it to Will Smith fans or die-hard Harley Quinn fans who've been waiting their whole lives just to see her on the big screen. Otherwise, Suicide Squad is not necessary viewing.

Grade: two and a half out of five.