"Why wait for the Justice League to get their act together, the Suicide Squad just saved the day"
/5 Reviewed by Adi MursecThe Suicide Squad movie is very different from any other comic book movie I can think of, it has a very unique lineup of characters and cast mixed into some strange situations which make it one of the most interesting comic book movies t have come out in recent years.
Although this is the first Suicide Squad movie it isn’t the first time we’ve seen them in live action. They had a team on Smallville and in Arrow too fairly recently. What is new is how the team are introduced in this movie. We know they are mostly comprised of super villains which are forced into doing some good by a secret organisation but this time we see their backgrounds and a bit of an explanation as to why they turned to evil, they even develop a mysterious family bond throughout the movie which helps you feel sorry for them.
It’s the ultimate anti hero movie, we’ve seen superheroes in movie for years, it’s a very old template where an everyday person gets superpowers and feels the urge to do good with them, with great power comes great responsibility. But why? The Suicide Squad are more realistic superheroes, year they have powers and they use them to benefit themselves. In reality who wouldn’t. If you had the option to make some money or put your life on the line which would you choose. That’s the concept which makes the Suicide Squad such an appealing and new concept.
It does have a lot of the classic antihero tones where we see their darker past and then the trouble they go through for retribution and a second chance. It’s nice to see a superhero team movie where we haven’t had to invest into several stand alone movies to see where they came from. Suicide Squad is very much self contained, you don’t need to know any of their powers or past it’s just a fun story and I think that’s something a lot of comic book movies miss nowadays. Marvel have made a few Iron Man movie trying to recreate the buzz the first one had but they can’t due to the fact they don’t make self contained movies anymore. Everything needs to lead onto sequels and spin-off movies.
While the movie was in production we saw a lot of news stories on how close the cast were, sending each other gifts (wanted or not) and at one point even tattooed each other. I think it really helped as you can see throughout the movie the developing team dynamics which were important to make the characters seem closer. They start off a solo criminals and end up as a team and even make up for their past villainous acts.
The cast work really well, we’ve seen Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn on posters everywhere but I don’t think anyone went to see this movie expecting her to be as fragile as the is in the movie. Harley has this exciting mix making her the perfect marriage material, she’s so deeply and dangerously in love with the Joker she changes her whole life to be with him, along the way she goes a little crazy on the outside but remains wishful for a normal life on the inside. The costume was a good choice and for all those classic fan we do get to see her in a jesters outfit for a moment.
Will Smith pretty much leads the movie as Deadshot, I hope we get to see him in future DC movies but with this one being very stand alone it might be unlikely unless he shows up in a Batman movie. Deadshot is probably the closest thing we have to a hero in this movie, he only seem to kill bad guys even though he’s a hired assassin and throughout the movie we are reminded he just does it for his daughter.
Cara Delevingne maybe the biggest model turned actress at the moment plays June Moone an archaeologist who is possessed by the Enchantress. Usually when they cast a model to play a role in a movie you don’t expect much other than a background character but Cara has done a great job of bringing the Enchantress to the movies, especially in the first half or so of the movie, she was one of the characters I hoped would get a stand a lone movie as they play her up to be one of the most old and powerful being to walk the Earth.
There has been a lot of hype about Jared Leto playing the Joker and to be honest I have a lot of respect for him taking on the mantle. Following in the footsteps of Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson there is a lot to live up to in this role. Personally I didn’t it worked as well as Heath Ledgers Joker but the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight movies were based on realism, they wanted us to believe it was set in the real world where science exists. In the new DC movies we are very deep in a fantasy world where magic and science are the same thing. Leto’s Joker is more close to the comic book than Ledgers but it’s still a new take on the Clown Prince of Crime. In this film the Joker is almost weak as he is in love with Harley and risks his life several times trying to save her which is something I haven’t seen before.
The rest of the team were well cast too, I loved the humor that Jai Courtney’s Boomerang brought to the movie along with the Flash camero which shows Barry Allen in the same costume we saw in the Justice League footage from comic con.
For David Ayer to both write and direct this movie I have a lot of respect for him. He’s walking into a movie franchise with the likes of visionaries like Zack Snyder and he has produced a good film with characters most people haven’t seen before, he’s introduced us to them, told us their story and shown us what they can do. To fit that into one movie without it looking rushed must have been a difficult job and I hope WB bring him back to do more.
Although I did love the movie there was still a few things that could have been improved. The fact a lot of scenes looked heavily edited in a similar way Batman Vs Superman did. Even to the point where a lot of bits we saw in the trailers didn’t show up in the movie. Jared Leto mentioned a lot of his Joke scenes were removed from the movie and I think a lot was adapted so it could get a lower age rating.
Overall the Suicide Squad movie is a great teaser for what we gave to look forward to coming from WB and DC. It’s not goign to change your life and leave you pondering about the universe but it will leave you hyped and excited to see more DC movies.
Posted by Adi Mursec on August 7, 2016
Super Robot Mayhem 2008-2022. This site is a none profit blog made for fun and to promote the arts. Privacy Policy. Contact us to request a comic review.