Let down by DC Comics again! An impressive start followed by a dull ending. Poor script!

Rating: 5/10 (7 August 2016)

Expectation: Gee! I was desperately waiting for this movie ever since the trailer was released and it was really SOLID. Hell, who can resist a good dose of Jared Leto (remember his Oscar winning role in "The Dallas Buyers Club") and Will Smith. So it's prudent to say that the expectation was really high. After the last DC Comic's disastrous "Batman vs Superman", this movie was supposed to be the Redemption. Plot: Viola Davis ("How to get away with murder"), an U.S Intelligence Officer forms a highly volatile yet "talented" misfit team of sorts to fight the next Supernatural Force. So Task Force X is born with criminals who are already serving multiple life sentences and hence the name "Suicide Squad". Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Jay Hernandez as Diablo, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, and Karen Fukuhara as Katana fight together, despite their wishes, against the evil duo aka Enchantress (Cara Delevigne) and Incubus (Alain Chanoine). As far as the characters go, Boomerang (who?) was totally unnecessary with no skills to speak of. The main villain could have been better - Enchantress is more laughable (performs a tribal dance to create the biggest machine of mass destruction) than scary. Performance: Performance wise, Smith is good enough, Joel Kinnanan ("House of Cards") is fine, Hernandez as a meta-human exhibits zero personality, Viola shows unnecessary attitude. The best expressions were that of Adewale (Croc) and he has scales on his face (I hope you can guess how annoyed I am at DC comics for ruining this one too)
But the reason why this movie is endurable is due to the magnificent reproduction of character of Harley Quinn from comic strip to screen by Margot Robbie (to be honest, never realized that this actress from "Focus" had so much caliber). The resemblance is uncanny. She hits all the right notes and provides the much needed comic relief in this otherwise dull movie. The parallel love story between Joker played by Jared Leto and Harley Quinn is weirdly good. Leto is good but the moment you compare with Heath Ledger, you start getting sweaty handing over compliments. Ledger has spoiled the scene for the next generation of actors who will play the Batman Villain with an extremely high performance bar. Verdict: The first half of the movie is enjoyable with great songs selection (my brain made an immediate comparison with the wonderful "Guardians of the Galaxy") and fun introductions of each character. The second half drags with a predictable end. If you are a Harley Quinn fan, go and watch it. Otherwise you can give this one a miss.
P.S: Listen to the brilliant title song: Heathens (Twenty One Pilots)