An entertaining flick with its share of hiccups.

Rating: 5/10 (25 August 2016)

Suicide Squad was panned by critics but seemingly beloved by fans. This movie was nowhere near as bad as critics said it was. As a whole, the film really slows down once the squad enters the smoldering ruins of the city. The pacing is inconsistent, either being fun and action-packed or dull and dreary. The film spent a large portion of its run-time trying to find its identity without fully succeeding. That being said, most of the cast was terrific. Viola Davis, Margot Robbie, Will Smith, and Jay Hernandez all delivered memorable roles. Jared Leto's Joker was enjoyable despite the fact that the dynamic in the Joker-Harley love story was scrapped and replaced by WB execs for that sweet, sweet merchandise money. I wasn't a huge fan of the lovey-dovey Joker-Harley love story but it was Oscar-worthy compared to that of Rick Flagg-Enchantress. This pitiful attempt at a love story served as nothing more than a crummy plot device. Zero chemistry and little background was given to this toilet paper tapestry of love. Joel Kinnaman did not sell me on Rick Flagg and the model playing Enchantress was basically just CGI that was dubbed over. This was by far the weakest portion of the film's story and unfortunately made up a large part of the plot. Was this film bad? No, but it had its shortcomings. I left the theater entertained but slightly disappointed. The more I hear about WB forcing director David Ayers to re-shoot and edit certain scenes make me want to see a director's cut. I feel like Ayers' original vision would surpass the watered-down cut many audiences saw.