Contrived, Pandering, & Aggressively Dull

Rating: Null/10 (3 June 2017)

Despite this review's title and score, I do not hate this film. I can actually understand why some people like it (from a distance). The concept is good, there's some humor, generally audiences will like the song inserts, and Will Smith is charismatic as expected. I think a casual moviegoer could be justified in liking this film, but maybe not in loving it.
However, while I don't hate this film, I am frustrated by it. The foundational concept is a pretty good one, though there's an incurable studio presence and a fundamental lack of genuine inspiration and sincerity throughout. The end product is very mixed, and frankly, very dull.
This is actually the first David Ayer film that I've seen, and at no point did I feel like I was experiencing a directorial vision of any sort. It feels as though the shoehorned omnipresence of pop music and the tacked-on, lifelessly colorful visual flair were contributions by studio executives rather than actual filmmakers, made only to pander to teenagers and the "hip" crowd (or whatever you call it, jeez). Seeing as how David Ayer was given six weeks to write a script, and that extensive reshoots and multiple cuts of the film were produced, I have a hard time believing that filmmakers were involved at all. In fact, the theatrical cut was edited by a trailer company late in post- production, and it shows. This isn't a David Ayer movie, and whichever David Ayer film I see next will be the first David Ayer film I see, as far as I'm concerned.
The story was aimless, and overall the plot lacked the fundamental "so what?" (the significance of it all). The plot feels like a contrived tangent with no significant, actualized goal, and lacks convicted direction. Part of the reason it's hard to care is that the characters were all generically written, and relatively little was provided about them to convince me to care, with maybe the exception of Deadshot and El Diablo. The subplot about Deadshot's daughter has a small, but minimally effective theme of family. El Diablo's subplot, though compelling in concept, lacked believability in its execution and felt borderline cringeworthy. Considering the subject matter (supervillains) I can definitely see how getting audiences to sympathize is a challenge. Many of these characters are supposed to be psychopaths, sociopaths, murderers, etc. . . , but rather than tackling the challenge of getting the audience to sympathize with those kind of personas, the characters are made out to be rational and morally aware individuals, avoiding the nuance of the aforementioned challenge in its entirety. Everything about this screenplay screams that the studio/filmmakers needed to give this film more time to solidify and become realized.
The performances, though with a talented ensemble, group roughly around a minimally competent. Not much stands out, and the actors basically just follow the script. Will Smith is about as charming as Will Smith is at his most average (still pretty charming, to be fair), and Viola Davis, though cheesy, is good in her role (yet after seeing her performance in Fences, I can't help but feel that her talent was wasted). The Rick Flag character struggled with line delivery, and Leto's Joker, while not overtly bad, felt underwhelming and uninspired—which is a shame, considering not only his predecessors, but what he did to "get into character". Yikes! Margot Robbie and the supporting cast are generally fine, though at times over-acted and clichéd. There aren't really any standout performances overall.
The score by Steven Price is only allowed minimal development, as the studio unfortunately thought that shoehorned pop music was more fitting. Price provides a competent score, which is maybe the best in the franchise up to this point (though not by a significant margin necessarily), and from what the film allowed me to hear, is memorable enough for temperamental thematic development—meaning that you can recognize the themes within and throughout the film, but it's not like the tunes are earworms or anything. Word is that the score in its entirety (because large portions were cut to make room for pop music), was to an extent, satisfying, and unlike the previous DCEU films, maintained cohesive thematic development since Price was the sole composer.
Back to the soundtrack: though maybe appealing on album, it feels lifeless in the film. After the success of Guardians of the Galaxy, the studio felt as though a high presence of popular music was a good direction, and would thus have more of a pop-culture appeal. Unlike Guardians of the Galaxy though, Suicide Squad doesn't have the visual flair, charm, direction, or foresight to pull it off. It feels distinctly as though it was a creative decision made on behalf of the studio following up on the Bohemian Rhapsody trailer, and seldom does a song feel like it actually belongs in the scene it's being fitted to.
Nothing about the sets really stood out for me, though I actually really liked some of the visual concepts surrounding the Enchantress. The shadow hand reaching out from the tabletop for example was nice to see, and was perhaps the best aspect of the film. The CGI definitely was less than you'd expect from a big-budget studio production, but at least the film was wise to use it in moderation. The costumes/make-up were fine, though at times a little forced (like Will Smith's bowler hat and suit, which felt out of place). So visually it wasn't bad overall, but certainly wasn't Oscar-worthy.
I watched this film to work towards an Oscar Highlight badge, and to satisfy my tragic, internal completionist before I see Wonder Woman. If the studio gave this film more time to solidify, it could have been a more enjoyable, fun movie. I wouldn't expect anything necessarily great out of it even then, but there's entertainment value hidden in there somewhere. Instead, it's just dull.
Score: 4/10