As a comic book fan I had been anticipating this movie since it was first mentioned in late 2014. I have to admit that I did have doubts about the movie early on when some of the casting was announced. We all know that Will Smith can sell out audiences alone, but his action titles are usually lackluster. When he was cast as Floyd Lawton a.k.a Deadshot I was almost immediately let down. Knowing Deadshot to be a more serious character in the DC universe I did not expect Smith to turn in the performance that he would later on. I thought director David Ayer would let Smith have free roam over the character, but Ayer seems to have reigned in Smith and let him know exactly the Deadshot that he wanted for this movie and the rest of the DCEU. I also feel as if we all had our doubts about Jared Leto playing the new Joker. I will save my opinions on him later.
This leads to a second assumption I held prior to seeing the film during the Thursday night premier. The director appointed to the "Suicide Squad" project was David Ayer as I have previously mentioned. You may know Ayer from works such as; "Fury" (2014), and "End of Watch" (2012). Both of these movies were very real and gritty. I did not know the direction that Ayer would take the film let alone handle the rising need to add more comedy to the film. The lack of lightheartedness was the main complain of most critics that reviewed "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" that premiered back in March 2016.
I think most comic book fans such as myself wanted to keep "Suicide Squad" as much connected to the original comics as possible while keeping the storylines fresh. Ayer has done this perfectly. He also has made sure to not give away too much of the plot with trailers. This allowed all of us viewers to go in almost completely blind. Not knowing the amount of destruction Enchantress and her Brother would summon in their plan to take over the Earth was completely a shock to me. I was hoping to see more of Enchantress in the DCEU, but maybe she will make a second appearance somehow. My doubts about Will Smith turned in a great performance and exceeded my expectations by a country mile. The rest of the supporting cast turned in great performances. My only conflict with any casting still lies with Jared Leto's Joker. I want to make excuses as to why I did not like this Joker. I feel as if it is because we were not exposed to enough Joker in this film. Maybe we will see more in the first Batman stand-alone that is rumored to take place in Arkham Asylum.
My overall thoughts on the film are that Ayer is a genius. Not only was he able to perfectly balance the grittiness that "Suicide Squad" needed. He was also able to help implement the use of comedy perfectly. All characters were included other than Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). I am perfectly fine with this. Waller is stern and almost evil in DC. In other words, Viola Davis gave a supporting performance to remember. I also enjoyed the cameo made by the Flash (Ezra Miller). This let the audience have a little taste of whats in store for us in Justice League. The visual effects that were used throughout the film were gorgeous and dark. This perfectly connected the theme throughout the DCEU so far.
There just isn't much more to say. I hate repeating myself, but Ayer is seriously a genius. Do not form your opinion from what critics at The Rolling Stones or Rotten Tomatoes have to say. If you want a true opinion about a comic book movie then just look at what the fans have to say. Then and only then will you get a true unbiased opinion. I we are upset we will let you know. As for what I would rate "Suicide Squad" at would be a 4 out of 5 stars. This is due solely to the lack of story telling in some areas. For most of the movie we were not exactly given much backstory to the characters which could leave some viewers lost. Other than that the film is well crafted and beautifully put together.
