What is it about? Suicide Squad is about a group of notorious supervillains recruited by a stone cold government agent named Amanda Waller (played perfectly by Viola Davis) to fight missions that will likely result in their deaths. These “metahumans” (superhumans), include: Deadshot (played by Will Smith), a hitman with incredible aim; Harley Quinn (played by Margot Robbie), a woman whose insanity and gymnastic skills make her lethal; El Diablo (portrayed by Jay Hernandez), a metahuman that can manipulate fire; Captain Boomerang (played by Jai Courtney), a thief that is incredibly skilled with boomerangs (trust me, it’s not as ridiculous as it sounds); Killer Croc (played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a human crocodile (yes, you read that right); and Slipknot, a man who’s…good at climbing ropes (yeah, this one is actually ridiculous). They are led by Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman and joined by samurai Katana (Karen Fukahara) whose sword “captures the souls of its victims”. They are sent to capture/stop a extremely powerful villain, whose identity is a minor spoiler. However, the Joker (played by Jared Leto), who has a romance with Harley Quinn, threatens to set the mission off-course.
How is it? 7.8/10 Suicide Squad is a great, albeit flawed, movie full of awesome action sequences, lots of humor, and definitely more than Batman v Superman, an amazing cast, and great characters. The movie benefits from an overall fun tone, and is a super enjoyable, entertaining movie. Another plus is the movie’s soundtrack. Although some say the movie relies too heavily on music to make it better, I feel like some of the songs actually go with the tone very well. However, one down to the movie is that it does have some plot holes, and some parts don’t make sense. Also, the movie lacks a definite three act structure, and the entire second and third act is sort of just one (big) scene. How they occupy that scene, I don’t have problems with, but it is messily structured.
How is the acting, chemistry, and characters? 8.5/10 The performances in Suicide Squad are excellent. Margot Robbie definitely shines as insane psychiatrist-turned-supervillain Harley Quinn with an amazing performance and adds lots of humor along with the rest of the cast. Another great performance was Will Smith as Deadshot. Will Smith also adds humor, while perfectly delivering his character’s role. Another gem in this movie is Viola Davis playing Amanda Waller: she spotlessly illustrates the coldness and ruthless of her character. Jai Courtney is also actually pretty funny as Captain Boomerang. Jay Hernandez, as well, does a great job of showing how El Diablo is haunted by his unfortunate past, in which he accidentally killed many through his powers. Jared Leto is, honestly, OK as Joker. He does a relatively good job of playing Joker, and is definitely the right amount of scary at times, but his character suffers from not nearly enough screen time- the movie would’ve been the same without him. Also, Deadshot and Harley Quinn also have amazingly well-developed characters: Deadshot and his relationship with his daughter, whom he can’t see anymore, adds humanity and heart to the film, as well as Harley at times, when the movie shows her (twisted) relationship with the Joker. Also, the movie benefits greatly from the cast’s excellent chemistry. However, a major downfall is the movie’s villain, whose motivations and plan are generic and muddled. The character also lacks largely in development.
How is the action, special effects, and humor? 8.5/10 Suicide Squad benefits from generic, but definitely fun and enjoyable action. It’s climax may be very similar to other movies but the action is still solid. The special effects in the film are nothing special: they are just as good as any of the other blockbusters this year. Finally, the humor, as I mentioned before, is great, and is present throughout; that is, when the movie gets dark, it still generates humor to lighten the mood.
In conclusion, Suicide Squad is a great movie, with action, lots of humor, and a great cast.
10/10 would recommend
Looking to see how Jared Leto plays the Joker and whether his acting is comparable to Heath Ledger. Glad to know that this movie has a great mix of both action and comedy. Thank you for your review.
Great review…question for the expert, do you think more of these “anti-superhero” movies are going to become more mainstream?
Well, DC actually just announced yesterday that they have one more DC anti-hero movie planned to come out in the future called Justice League Dark. And then there was Deadpool(Marvel and Fox) in February this year.
Cool review! Definitely going to check out the movie.