Suicide Squad

I can’t say that a witch out of a 1980s fantasy B-movie is what I've been missing from current comic-book flicks. In fact, she is a completely interchangeable DC villain who wants to destroy the world simply because she can. Not even the (unintended) creation of the evil Enchantress by those who are supposed to protect the world is innovative by today’s standards (which immediately gives away the point of the film, which is that working with villains can backfire on you). Most of the film’s other elements are also interchangeable, as Ayer mixes them together willy-nilly, albeit with a certain sense of rhythm. The first hour comes across as a condensed recapitulation of a ten-part series – all exposition, no development. In terms of time and space, the second hour is a slightly more cohesive super-villain variation on war movies in the mould of The Dirty Dozen and westerns like The Wild Bunch (including fatalistic dialogue before the final conflict, but without any significant development of the relationships between the characters or their ability to work together). Though the prologue indicates that Deadshot and Harley will be the protagonists of the narrative, their private dramas (their relationship to the daughter/Joker) do not drive the narrative, but rather slow it down, as they have minimal impact on the direction of the plot. The Joker, who looks like a goth who’s off his meds and inspires more sympathy than unease, always just shows up, does a little damage and disappears, like the returning bosses in some computer games, which seemed to be a source of inspiration for Ayer when he was slapping the plot together on the fly (or at least it seems so). Nothing would change if the Joker wasn’t here. The whole film is still needless and half-assed and unpolished, and while it manages to get and hold your attention with its witty characters, driving soundtrack and slightly psychedelic visual stylisation, the end result is merely two hours of loud, colourful distractions without any serious points of interest. 55% (04/08/2016)

I'm going to repeat myself, but just like in The Legend of Tarzan, Margot was the best thing about the whole movie. It's not that I didn't enjoy the others, but next to her everyone is just dead weight. The beginning is awesome, all very stylish and crazy, as the times demand. From the awesome music to the funny and cruel lines to the costumes, everything suggested this was going to be a total blast. It's a shame that the whole film is based purely on this. The plot unfortunately doesn't offer anything new, the characters don't go deep enough, and the final denouement is a bit off. A weaker 4 stars. (10/09/2016)

It would like to be a comic book version of the Dirty Dozen, but it's more like the Devil's Brigade. I mean the unconcealed copy-cat of a more famous and better original, which is worse in everything (from motivations to action), worse but not so bad that it would force you to grab the remote and change the channel, even if you already know that you won't remember anything from this movie as soon as the final credential start. You will remember it only when you come across it in the TV program again. And that's exactly what the Suicide Squad is, characterization is one-dimensional at best (great cast did amazing job in saving the movie), there is no story line (and if there is one, it's full of lapses and illogicality), motivation and goals are barely implied, action is as intense as interchangeable and the style is so hectic as aerobatic flying. But it's not bad (especially thanks to the first half, pace and acting). Only incomplete in terms of that dirty antihero concept and, moreover, significantly shortened in a way that strikes even the layman. However, what is the worse part about it (apart from the poor final scene), is the existence of the animated movie Assault on Arkham, which did the same but much better with grace. (04/08/2016)

I was expecting something brisk and cheeky, and I got a hilarious mash-up of elements that work in Marvel movies, but not in DC. Their new multiverse is confusing and disjointed pulp that gives the impression of something born in the heads of suits at table and not in the head of a person who really has an overview and a clear vision of what the whole should look like. Someone like Kevin Feige is missing here (DC Sandbox guardian Snyder is not even able to look after his films, let alone the whole universe). Ayer is desperately groping in terms of directing and the screenplay (the only twist in the zero plot is the scene the viewer saw shot after shot an hour before, wtf?), the types of sociopaths are rather good at first and often unused (Leto's over the top Joker as a romantic filler?). The soundtrack is so puffy and eclectic that it fades out into nothing. Scenes with Deadshot mainly kick ass, which Will Smith made into a pure pleasure (because ***) and a few scenes with sexy Margot Robbie. Otherwise, this wannabe radical slap to the competition is just a sweaty affirmation of the superhero status quo which, unfortunately, is not even half as amusing as in the case of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The attempts to create a dark picture of the world, which is ruled by the brutal bitch Amanda Waller instead of Nick Fury... sorry, it feels so convulsive that it can't be taken very seriously. DC is groping (and it’s still not fun). (03/08/2016)

I probably don’t even have to mention that I was really looking forward to Suicide Squad. After the ghost town that the cinema has been these last few months, this movie was exactly the one standing out from the rest of the new releases. And the trailer’s made it look kickass. I’ll admit that my expectations were similar to Watchmen – a politically incorrect comic movie that swims against the tide. But it would have to be a completely different movie for that to be true. Let’s start with the upside which were definitely the actors. Suicide Squad is – as expected – an interesting gang and they’re hard not to love. Jared Leto is absolutely amazing as Joker, perhaps the scariest Joker in all of movie history. But the issue is that he’s barely in the movie at all. Now to get into the downsides, the movie doesn’t come up with a story that’s innovative in any way and it tells it very awkwardly. The first third is an episodic introduction of the individual characters. The second third is an introduction of an alien entity the Squad will be up against. And the last third is one big team fight. You won’t be able to find any deeper meaning there. However, the action shots are pretty solid. The director David Ayer has not filmed such scenes for the first time. But after watching this, I felt as if I’ve just finished watching another completely ordinary comic movie that are thick on the ground lately. Or maybe my expectations were too high. So that’s why I’m giving it three stars. Oh and the soundtrack may be nice, but it sounds so forced that it doesn’t even end up fitting in. (16/08/2016)