by Matt Sernaker, Managing Editor

Following the disaster that was Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice, DC Entertainment is ready to make another attempt to create a positive impression with audiences with their new release: Suicide Squad!

With Superman out of the picture, the world is in need of heroes. ARGUS Director Amanda Waller has decided to implement “Task Force X”, a team of the most ruthless villains in the DC Universe, and sends them off on a suicide mission to rescue a high value target from the clutches of a mysterious threat. Can these misfits work together long enough to make it out alive?

This one does include minor spoilers…You have been warned.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the Suicide Squad comics, the team is usually comprised of a mixture of rogues from the Justice League, and controlled by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). The lineup for this film includes Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), The Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and Slipknot (Adam Beach). This group of villains was led by Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and Katana (Karen Fukuhara).

You are probably wondering if the film is better than Batman V. Superman, and I can assure you that it is in fact a better film (but that isn’t saying much). While the story overall is better than the last DC Universe installment, it is still a pretty mixed bag. Let’s review:

The Good

Amanda Waller – Viola Davis is without question the best part of Suicide Squad. Amanda Waller is tough as nails, and might actually be the most ruthless character in the DC Universe. She will truly do whatever it takes to achieve her goals, and she will go through anyone that stands in her way. If DC Entertainment is smart about their future plans, Amanda Waller needs to become the Nick Fury equivalent in their cinematic universe.

Harley and Mr. J – The dynamic between Harley Quinn and the Joker is one of the highlights of the film. Margot Robbie was perfectly cast as Harley, and Jared Leto was a perfect choice for her Clown Price of Crime. For the most part, Harley acts the way fans would expect her to behave (especially around The Joker). It is unfortunate that there are several questionable scenes where they over-sexualized her character, because the film really didn’t require it to sell the relationship. The fact that Joker spends the majority of the film attempting to rescue his damsel in distress was a pleasant surprise, and it definitely added to the fun.

There has been a lot of internal praise regarding Leto’s performance leading up to the release, but I have to say that I wasn’t that blown away. It was good, but it wasn’t anything ground-breaking. His take was a mix between Heath Ledger and Mark Hamill, with a gangster-esque style. While the tattoos didn’t bother me as much on screen, his “grill” was very distracting. It didn’t take away from the performance, but it was an eyesore.

Deadshot – Will Smith was a fun addition to the cast, and it was very interesting to see him as a villain. While I enjoyed his role in Suicide Squad, he really was just “Will Smith, in a costume, with guns”. This wasn’t a big leap for him as an actor, but they did demonstrate that Smith still can be a bad-ass action star when he wants to be.

Batman Returns – It is no secret that Ben Affleck returns as Batman for Suicide Squad, and I am very happy with how they used the Caped Crusader sparingly. This is a film about villains, and the creative team was clever enough to show our hero capturing several members of the Squad via flashbacks. While Batman V. Superman was a pretty bad experience overall, I felt that Affleck was the best part of that whole film. I am very much looking forward to his return as Batman in future DC films, and his inclusion in Suicide Squad will hopefully excite you as well. Keep an eye out for another Justice League cameo as well earlier in the film, and stay for the mid-credits sequence (one of the best interactions in the whole movie).

The Music – As demonstrated in the trailers, the music selection in the film is pretty stellar. Popular music selections are used pretty heavily throughout the release, and it was definitely a highlight. You will probably want to go buy the sound track after you see this one.

The Bad:

The Setup/Threat – There is no way around spoilers on this one…The Enchantress breaks free of Amanda Waller’s control, and unleashes her brother (who is never actually named in the film…but called “The Adversary”) upon the unsuspecting citizens of Midway City. The character designs, motivations, and implementation were pretty much awful. Cara Delevingne was probably the worst choice they could have had for this role, as she was completely unconvincing as the “big bad” of the piece.

The story as a whole is pretty weak, and never managed to justify the use of this particular group given the task at hand. Had the creative team focused on more of a caper style scenario, forcing each member of the team to utilize their particular skill sets to achieve a goal, I think the the film would have been much stronger (think Ocean’s 11, but with super-villains). The story is definitely a one-off, without any significant impact the world-building desperately needed for future DC Entertainment films.

Rick Flagg – If there was one thing I hated more than the villain of the movie, it was Joel Kinnaman as Col. Rick Flagg. Kinnaman was unconvincing as the military hero leading the group of villains, and it felt like he didn’t know how to act. This character demanded a stronger actor in the role, and I honestly would have preferred it if Will Smith had played this character instead (again, his version of Deadshot was good, but this could have been great).

Captain Boomerang and Killer Croc – Talk about under-utilized characters. These two got a few moments in, but they really didn’t have much to do in the story. The Killer Croc character design was pretty great, and I did enjoy the few scenes where he was featured. Courtney as Boomerang was entirely wasted in this role (to no fault of his own), and it was disappointing that this iconic character was never given a chance to shine.

Overall

When DC announced Suicide Squad, it was definitely out of left field. This seemed like a film that could be the equivalent to Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of obscurity, and if it was done right, they could have had a massive hit on their hands. In the aftermath of Batman V. Superman, Suicide Squad feels like it once again had too many cooks in the kitchen, with everyone attempting to make up for past mistakes. It was most certainly lighter in tone, and featured much more humor as well, but the story at times felt forced. It felt like it made every attempt to “be cool”, but never really earned it (which seems to be the biggest problem with all of the DC films). We know the Powers-That-Be want to achieve the same “Cinematic Universe” status that Marvel has reached, but they don’t want to take the time to build their universe and create a piece that demonstrates an understanding of why these characters are loved in the first place.

Suicide Squad isn’t a bad film, but it isn’t a great one either. I think this film would have done much better had it been released after more work had been done in establishing the DC Cinematic Universe. There are definitely parts of the film that I really enjoyed, and I do think it is worth seeing, but it doesn’t necessarily need to seen in theaters.

Rating:
ComicsOnline gives Suicide Squad 3 out of 5 minimal threats to the DC Universe.