Suicide Squad

Magic at last. DC has managed to pull ahead of Marvel with this movie. Suicidal editing sacrificed integrity for tempo. I see the diabolical hand of the producer in this. A forced, soundtrack of songs (I admit that they’re great songs, hats off) often clumsily accompanies the introduction of characters to give them greater “dynamism", but it drowns out what might have made those flashbacks interesting. Make the opening longer not shorter and give it a purpose in addition to the obligatory introductions. Ayer handled the interplay of the self-centered assholes extremely well, even though Will is still a good guy (so they’re killing people, so what?), all team scenes work flawlessly. Unsurprisingly, it’s Harley who steals the whole movie. Margot Robbie is perfect and her storyline with the Joker is romance of the highest caliber (even if it goes a little against the aim of the comic concerning domestic violence). This movie would have been great with an R-rating, particularly in the Joker torture scene. Suicide Squad suffers from New 52 syndrome (from klutzy Geoff Johns, who also oversees the movies), when DC lost its balls while trying to please the younger public. Ayer is fighting against this, and the characters presented are all super. Jai Courtney in a live role! The Enchantress/Flag storyline spoils the ending a little, whereas the creators shouldn’t have been afraid to bring it to an end, but I say that the magic separates Suicide Squad from the rest. Overall, quite content, but they could have done better. They had the team for that. I hope there will be a director’s cut that will return the missing scenes from the trailers and give it a stamp of originality. Trying to be like Guardians of the Galaxy just doesn’t suit this movie. (03/08/2016)

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)

The DC Universe hasn't even had time to be born and it's already dead. The dramaturgically-incompatible group at Warner Brothers craves a more discerning audience, but with their results, they're looking at a target audience of 13-17, who (given the earnings) probably won't care that the plot makes no sense at all, that the team doesn't work as a team even once, and that the ass-kicking isn't a highlight for which to praise a character. I want to go to the alternate universe where Ayer made it in his own way, and it’s one hour longer and does away with the moronic humor. In many of its details (the clear action, a decent portion of darkness and suspense) it looks like a prelude to a major comic book film, but someone in the editing room screwed it up in an absolutely monstrous way. The most interesting character in the finale is Killer Croc. I want him to have a solo movie. (07/11/2016)

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)

They put together a plethora of people dumb enough to be characters in their own stories, which means that not a single character was fleshed out enough for you to know more about them beyond what they like (their kid, the other nutcase, the unicorn, etc.). In truth, I wasn't entertained by the film, it just became a backdrop to keep the room from being quiet – it fulfilled this function perfectly, as it was well voiced. But that's the only great thing about this movie; otherwise it's pretty average, below average. Many heroes and anti-heroes were created, but it just doesn't reach any dizzying heights. It had a great advertisement that lit up the work and drove it to the heights of heaven, but the truth is otherwise... (15/11/2016)