Colourful, trashy fun

Rating: 7/10 (8 August 2016)

Suicide Squad is visually stunning with some great performances. Will Smith and Margot Robbie are fantastic as Deadshot and Harley Quinn and are the two characters that are paid the most attention, and whose backstories we see the most of. However, that doesn't mean the rest of the cast aren't as interesting and fun to watch. Jai Courtney did a nice job as Captain Boomerang and was actually pretty entertaining. Cara Delevigne is good as Enchantress, though she wasn't a stand-out like Robbie, and Jay Hernandez did a great job as El Diablo; he brought an unexpected heart to the team. Jared Leto's Joker was a wild card, and not as prominent as fans were expecting. However, his joker was a lot of fun. He admirably portrayed the Joker's complete psychosis and brought a colourful Mob Boss aesthetic, in contrast to Ledger and Nicholson's portrayals. Some people won't be a fan of Leto's Joker, but I found him engaging and want to see more of him.
The film is very action heavy which, while entertaining and beautifully shot, was to the detriment of the plot and pacing of the rest of the movie. Background information had to be revealed to the audience through characters telling other characters, rather than have it play out visually and naturally, and there were flash-backs spread liberally throughout the film because there wasn't enough time evolve the events linearly. The flashbacks weren't uninteresting to watch, but there were so many of them that they did make the film feel disjointed and a little patch-work.
Overall, I give Suicide Squad 7/10. It's a wonderfully shot movie; great action, entertaining, with witty and engaging characters.