Worst Heroes Ever

Rating: 7/10 (4 August 2016)

After the whirlwind that was Batman v Superman, DC needed a hit to restore faith in their product going forward. While Suicide Squad is far from the darling that I think fans were hoping for, it's also far from the disaster some predicted.
Although I'm not the Zack Snyder hater that a lot of people are, I welcomed a change of pace in directing in the choice of David Ayer. His style didn't overpower the action or story like some of Snyder's choices do, but I also don't think he made a particularly fond impression on me either. Suicide Squad is an ensemble piece at its core, and I loved the way Ayer directed each and every one of these actors, but he allowed the plot around them to meander a little bit too much.
Speaking of the wonderful cast, pretty much everyone came to play. Of course, there were expectedly great performances from Margot Robbie and Will Smith as Harley Quinn and Deadshot respectively, but supporting performances by Jai Courtney and Viola Davis nearly stole the show. Courtney, who's never sold me in any role, ended up being a nice comedic foil for the team. Davis' turn as the uncompromising Amanda Waller is just about as picture perfect casting as you can get.
As for those aforementioned performances from Robbie and Smith, who already starred in a film together, they carry the bulk of the character depth from Ayer's script. Though the fear of Smith's ego taking over the majority of the screen time seemed legit; make no mistake, he proved to me he's still a huge movie star who can lead a film based on his charisma alone, even if he is a hit-man. Robbie on the other-hand, does her best at trying to make the case for a Harley Quinn led Birds of Prey film or even a prominent role in the upcoming Batman solo film. Either way, I want to see more of these characters.
Sadly, its characters are the single most (and perhaps the only truly) compelling thing about Suicide Squad. Ayer gets off to an exciting start by seamlessly introducing all of the "worst heroes ever" in the first 30 minutes, but the film's plot becomes less interesting as it progresses. There's no question Ayer creates a more fun world than what was set up in BvS, but the execution was just as messy. With that said, the humor is much more earned in Squad, and it hits way more than not.
With all the good, there's always some bad. With Suicide Squad, they completely botched the villain. The trailers didn't give much away at all in terms of the villain, besides the Joker, so I won't go into detail, but it was poorly handled. The villain reveal is nothing special, and we once again aren't really given any details on the villain's motivations at all. It's a common mistake some comic book films make, and Suicide Squad was no different.
I guess I have to at least address Jared Leto's version of Joker. I have to admit, I'm actually not totally sure how I feel yet. He's completely different from Ledger's iconic turn in 2008, but he also doesn't really have enough screen time for me to form an opinion on him just yet. So for now, I want to see more of him.
As a whole, Suicide Squad is a fun time at the movies, but it's nowhere near the film I wanted it to be. Besides the cast, it doesn't have a whole lot going for it. There's a bit too much meandering in storytelling along with a disappointingly botched villain. Here's hoping DC can right the ship with Wonder Woman next summer.
+Robbie is a revelation
+Smith kills it
+Humor and fun tone is realized
+First 30 minutes is a blast
-Plot meanders
-Villain is a big miss
7.0/10