Many DC fans were skeptical to say the least about the latest comic book film brought to the big screen, "Suicide Squad." As this title suggests, and as many people came to discover after watching the film, it felt off. In many cuts, scenes, transitions, the film felt awkward, rushed and occasionally out of place. Aside from the cinematography, there were other key mistakes, that this movie should have altered or cut. Before going into detail of what left many viewers disappointed with the film, it is important to give credit where credit is rightly due.
The film held a star-studded cast that carried this movie from beginning to end. Will Smith played a surprisingly great role as Deadshot. This wasn't surprising because Will Smith's abilities as an actor are in question, but he hasn't had the best roles in superhero movies, (cough cough "Hitchcock" cough) Margot Robbie turned everyone's heads, cast as well as audience, with her revealing Harley Quinn outfit. What troubles me isn't the perceived lewd costume she adorns in the movie that many people objected and criticized as sexist. If you take a look at the array of comics she is first introduced in, to the ones that have been made more recently, it doesn't drift incredibly far from her original style. Also, her outfit resembles what one might expect from a crazed individual constantly seeking attention. What does trouble me is the dynamic her and the Joker have, but more of that later.
El Diablo was by far my favorite character portrayal in this movie. His origin story was compelling and he was without a doubt one of the most unique characters, and also the most badass. When you couple the horribly tragic origin story of how he incidentally murdered his wife and two children in a fit of rage, and the unbelievable powers he possesses, it's hard not to gravitate towards this character who ultimately is seeking redemption, at first through non-violence, and finally in a climactic battle. The rest of the members of Task Force X also had their moments. Boomerang provided excellent comic relief, not that there was desperate need of any, but it was still appreciated. Katana, a name so unimaginative that it verges on the creator's stereotypical knowledge and views, also has an engaging back-story and dilemma with her lover's soul trapped in the sword she uses which prompted sympathy and intrigue. It would have been nice to have more on Waylan Jones, Killer Croc, and the rest of the characters that came out as more flat than round, as they have often been portrayed, but there lies the rub of having multiple characters and struggling to get some form of a plot developing.
Now we begin the transition into the areas that the makers of this film could have used more time and help developing. As mentioned previously, the dynamic of the Joker and Harley Quinn is not what was represented in this movie. "Suicide Squad" portrayed the two psychos as a sick, twisted, couple which was a good start, yet diverges, with a jarringly, symbiotic, mutually shared, and acknowledged love. Historically, this contradicts the core nature of specifically how the Joker treats his number two. Joker has abused and used Harley as yet another tool in his anarchistic dreams and desires. Harley has a case of sickness that suggests peculiarities of one with extreme Stockholm's and battered syndrome. Now it is entirely possible for the makers of this movie to not have had the time to develop and accurately showcase this horrible relationship the King and Queen of Crime shared. After all, you might very well see as much of Jared Leto's Joker in the purple Lamborghini music video as in "Suicide Squad." However, it does no justice to the true reason for the existence of Harley's character if it continues to be so misrepresented. Harley was and is a demonstration for all women to bear witness to the dangers of being in such a detrimental, abusive relationship which will never bear any real fruit and only yield pain and mistreatment. There is also the possibility that the film makers are deviating from the Harley so many of us have come to know or even the Joker we often have seen and interpreted, but that would be an egregious err on their part.
The plot, or lack thereof, is another point that needs to be addressed. What can be said in a nutshell is that a very evil, manipulative woman, Amanda Waller, caused everything bad to happen. If you take away her desire to advance in government operations, her lunatic idea for experimenting with grouping together bad guys as some special task force that she has no way of controlling other than implanting grenades in their necks, and tormenting and using violence and threats of violence on an unbelievably powerful goddess that she has next to no knowledge of, then there is no plot. But she did all that. Let's move past that and examine the rest of what transpired. After the Enchantress escapes from being kept under the oppressive, cruel thumb of Waller (who would have guessed..), she sends the team of terribly gifted people that hate her into some Ghostbuster-resembling vortex of light piercing the sky, with a ring of levitating trash and garbage rotating around it, to save some unidentified person. It must be clear here to note that the mission was explicitly not to save the town or the people that no one knows where they went or what became of them. They had a clear objective to only save one person. Spoiler alert: it is her, Waller. So in addition to being a bad guy in a good guy disguise, she is also selfish. I can't really blame her there though because everyone is self-centered when it comes to survival. But then she kills the agents working for her? And doesn't Batman know/hear her say this, or read it in the files when the two are having dinner as the framework for this whole story? Now, say what you will about his voice, but the Christian Bale/Christopher Nolan Batman would be having absolutely none of this. On top of that, it gets even worse. She survives the bondage trap of cosmic energy the Enchantress had placed her in. Well, there lies the power of quasi-main characters and their ability to survive whatever gets thrown at them because "Suicide Squad 2: The Second Suicide," has contracts already tied to it. Not entirely sure that this is true, but it is an educated hypothesis. However, if this proves false, and June Moone doesn't appear in the second "Suicide Squad," then when the Enchantress' heart was crushed, Moone should have died.
Aside from some unfortunate deaths and some more unfortunate or less than satisfying survivals, repetitious fight scenes, awkward pacing, overly drawn out and melodramatic slow-mo shots, and an attempt to create a plot out of literal and metaphorical garbage, "Suicide Squad" was an entertaining movie that peaked just enough interest for audiences to return to the sequel that is more than likely already being drawn up. Our only hope is that they let the second movie be as character driven as the first and provide more scenes in the beginning when they are being forced to submit against their will which proved to be hilarious, and also scenes like at the bar which served excellently on multiple levels; back story narratives, bonding between comrades, comic relief, and a well needed cut in tension and period of rest and downtime before the big battle.
