An enjoyable, but incomplete mixed bag

Rating: 1/10 (5 August 2016)

Among one of the most anticipated summer blockbusters this year, Suicide Squad was supposed to be the answer for what would happen if David Ayer glossed his gritty vision over a superhero film that was destined to be dead on arrival. The initial trailers were enticing and opened many possibilities in mind as to how the rag-tag band of anti-heroes would go up against The Joker. For the first 20 minutes of the film, it was a fun ride as the gritty color palette and omniscient cinematography engrossed the audience into the dark world that was built for us to experience. A surprising amount of charisma from Jai Courtney along with a spectacular effort to bring a natural chemistry amongst the big collection of stars headlining this film and the amazing combo of Jared Leto and Margot Robbie brought hope in my mind in that it would be an exciting ride from beginning to end.
It was after this point to where I realized that there was an insurmountable magnitude of studio interference similar to that of what happened to Fan4stic (2015). All the signs were there: scenes that would end abruptly, minuscule exposure to the one character we all wanted to know more about, and jump cut action sequences that have little to no meaning, almost as if Paul Greengrass has a few too many cups of coffee and collaborated with the editor of Columbiana and Alex Cross to make the most nauseating cuts known to film. The main difference that makes this film more enjoyable to watch over Fan4stic was the passion that went into the project and the witty writing that came with the interactions of the first act. However, this does not excuse the film from using unnecessary amounts of voice-over and flashback sequences that introduce the audience to these characters. If the film had brought along interactions with these characters that made some sense in that there was an implicit history of these characters that build up the back story naturally, it could open itself up for a multitude of endless creative possibilities that can be presented on screen for the "Suicide Squad" to shine on-screen. The remainder of the film gets dragged by the lack of agency that is presented in the structure of the plot. The final act of the film was nothing more than dull at best, frustrating at worst with a villain that might be one of the most cringe-worthy performances to ever come out of a plank of wood. Perhaps seeing the Suicide Squad go out of line from their initial objective a few times may bring intriguing possibilities of social commentary and even meaningful character growth out of some damaged characters looking for retribution while others want to continue there rebellious demeanor for the sake of their reputation. If there is no growth or conflict, is this really a film or a product? A piece of art to be appreciated and analyzed or a collection of cuts with no ultimate meaning to them?
At the end of the day, the chemistry of the characters within the Suicide Squad and star power could be enough to bring comic-book fanatics into theaters, but ultimately suffers from the annoying amount of interference brought upon the film by Warner Brothers that sours this otherwise fantastic passion project. I want to urge studios everywhere that they should not have a stranglehold of the artistic vision that minds that David Ayer and Zack Snyder have over their projects for the sake of selling a product and producing several set- up films that set-up other set-up films. If this practice continues, we may end up settling for these kinds of films that feel more like products you would sell at the grocery store and we may never see film as art the way it should be. Do not settle for products like this and instead, wait for an unrated director's cut to come out (although I have a feeling that's what Warner Brothers is baiting with this whole time...).
This film gets an (artsy Play-doh mess) out of 10.