Recently the latest installment in DC Comics' new cinematic universe, Suicide Squad, did remarkably poorly garnering mixed reviews from audiences and critics alike. Every time a movie fails many critics can often point to one specific point in the film or the production as a whole where everything went off the rails. Unfortunately the latest trend in disappointing blockbuster releases is the overabundance of studio meddling before the final product is released. Having seen Suicide Squad several times I can certainly see why people love it and why many hate it to kingdom come.
There's so many problems with the movie: the characters, the structure, the plot, the pacing, all in all the movie just feels off right from the get-go. However despite the film's glaring issues I still had a great time in the theater time and time again watching some of my favorite comic book villains do what they do best. The writing was pretty sharp from time to time too, there were just as many laugh-out-loud funny moments as there were cool action sequences. However all of this comes with a few bumps along the way. Simply put, if you're looking for the most average run-of-the-mill action to blow two hours on... this is the movie for you. It's nothing special but it does at least satisfy on some degree, which is more than I can say for DC's latest movie releases, both live action and animation.
Each time I saw the movie I walked out with a different critique or different point of view on what worked and what didn't. By the time I watched my 5th and final viewing of the film I came to my final conclusion that the overall product was average at best when compared to other action films, both in and out of the comic book genre. However when I think back to the gritty, awesome, spine-tingling Comic Con trailer last year I remember that it wasn't meant to be this way. Suicide Squad always looked like a game changer from the very beginning and had all the ingredients needed to spice up a very repetitive genre. So what went wrong?
After Batman v Superman, the launchpad of this massive movie franchise, flopped both critically and financially DC's parent studio Warner Brothers knew they needed to make some changes. DC higher-up Geoff Johns was hired to oversee the future of the DC Extended Universe, one of Johns' first executive decisions was to clean up Suicide Squad. Rumors and confirmed reports of re-shoots plagued the movie's reputation for about a month until a new trailer calmed the fans and dissenters down a bit. The trailer made the final product look like a blast and a half, that fans would have a ton of great DC content coming their way in August.
Fast-forward to the aftermath of Suicide Squad's initial critical scorn and you'll see that all cast members but one kept saying that this movie was made "for the fans." I'm a DC fan, and I'll admit that this movie did provide a ton of fan service but it ultimately felt like a good chunk of the film was added in later by WB or that important information was removed entirely. The only cast-member to say that the criticism was warranted was Jared Leto who poured months of his time and energy into portraying a new iteration of The Joker. According to him Warner Brothers apparently cut about 90% of his scenes reducing his screen-time between 10 and 15 minutes. Given that he provided enough Joker scenes to create a solo film for the character really says a lot about what was cut.
Even if you didn't want to go on the word of Jared Leto or many other sources you can actually see that some of the coolest scenes and lines showcased in the trailer are nowhere to be found in the theatrical release. Much like Batman v Superman Warner Brothers tried to cater to everyone by tampering with the film and everyone walked away disappointed and unsatisfied. Rumors are now circulating that the studio actually refuses to release an extended cut of Suicide Squad unlike BvS Ultimate Edition which provided scenes and context that greatly improved the overall flow and narrative a ton. If these rumors are true then we may never get to see the true potential of Jared Leto's Joker, Suicide Squad's deleted scenes will just have to remain on the cutting floor forever. Or will they?
Unknown to the public a novelization of the film was actually released alongside the film with a few minor tweaks. Writer Marv Wolfman was actually given the original script for the film before WB tampered with the project which means that almost every scene cut from the film is showcased in the book. True it may not exactly be the on-screen adaptation of the Suicide Squad that we wanted but like with the movie we got sometimes it just goes to show that the book is sometimes better.
