It's a fun ride

Rating: 8/10 (15 August 2016)

I am super excited DC is expanding its film universe. In the reverse of Marvel, Suicide Squad starts with a lot of characters in one movie and I hope many more individual movies to follow. In short, the movie does have some short-comings. The villain (Enchantress) is awful and wiggly. There was not enough investment in June's character to make me care about her/Enchantress' outcome. The pacing is off and felt a bit like a giant trailer to me. That being said - I had a great time and really enjoyed it overall. Deadshot and Harley stole the show, but the other characters were well acted and enjoyable. I wish there had been more joker - I really did enjoy Leto's fresh take. I thought Leto balanced the psychological nightmare that is the joker with his comic style that is his true origin. I loved the stylized take and crazy look. I also enjoyed the romantic undertones between him and Harley, although I am aware this is a step away from source material. Harley and Joker definitely deserve a full film to explore their characters and often abusive relationship - this just wasn't the movie for it and they didn't have the time which is OK. The movie was fun and energetic. Also the soundtrack was simply impressive. At the end of the day, this was a fun movie and a great introduction to what I hope are more narrowly focused DC characters.