A jumbled mess with a good cast

Rating: 4/10 (6 August 2016)

I am writing this review as someone who very much enjoyed Batman Vs Superman. The Ultimate Edition was far superior to the theatrical version, and while both are flawed I did see what DC were going for and I find it a very entertaining movie. To be honest I thought Suicide Squad was a sure- fire success. The trailers and marketing has been excellent, the idea sounded original and it seemed like DC was going to learn from its mistakes. Unfortunately I could not have been more wrong, Suicide Squad is close to being a disaster on the same level of Fantastic Four, the only thing redeeming it from this level is the fact that the cast all seemed excellent and there were a couple of good scenes dotted in the movie somewhere.
Let's get the good out of the way first. Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney and Viola Davis are all excellent. I was concerned that it may end up being the Will Smith show, but he works well in an ensemble and he seems to be having a blast as Headshot. Margot Robbie is perfect as Harley Quinn, could not fault her performance (even if she has been sexualised quite a lot in this movie, this is a fault for nearly all the female characters). Jared Leto may not be present a lot and is not a patch on Heath Ledger, however he does something different with the role of the Joker. I did like his performance and would enjoy seeing him in a standalone Batman movie. Jai Courtney was a pleasant surprise and Viola Davis sells a role that could come across as one dimensional in lesser hands. The cast all work well together, seem to be having fun and have a couple of good group scenes that have been seen in the trailers.
Now onto the bad. I am intrigued to find out what was going on behind the scenes, as it is very evident from an early stage that studio and director seem to be making two different movies. This is where I quite happily make the Fantastic Four comparison, there was interference with that movie and it clearly showed. While Suicide Squad is nowhere near as clear cut as the divide with that movie, you can see on one hand there is a dark movie being made and on the other a silly group movie more along the lines of Guardians of the Galaxy. Both would work fine as a movie, but DC should have picked one and stuck with it. The editing is appalling, there appears to be multiple openings to the movie and introductions to the same character. Flashbacks spring up out of nowhere, some adding interesting backstory (such as The Joker and Harley's scenes) some just being downright pointless (Katana I am looking at you). The poor editing may have been forgivable with a decent story and villain, unfortunately this is where Suicide Squad falls flat on its face. The villain (The Enchantress) is downright terrible and spends the third act doing a weird sort of dance in front of a portal. Cara Delevingne may be a good actress, I wouldn't know as she has nothing to do in this movie and is terribly overdubbed in some scenes.
In conclusion it gets 4 stars based on the charisma of the cast alone. I can't say I was bored as I was spending most of the time gazing at the car crash of the story. It really emphasises the fact that DC are panicking with their properties at the moment. Had this been the original movie that it set out to be I am sure it may have been fine. Unfortunately someone has stepped in somewhere and made changes in a blind panic. It shows and stinks of studio interference. It is worth watching obviously to make your mind up, some people seem to have loved it. I am glad they have, I wish I had certainly enjoyed it. But even those rampantly defending it must be aware of its glaring faults. I would be interested in a sequel, there is a good film to be made with this cast. But there has to be a solid story, even a solid cast cannot polish a turd.