Trying too much, accomplishing too little

Rating: 3/10 (18 December 2016)

DC's Suicide Squad was set to become one of the company's greatest triumphs when it came to the Detective Comics Extended Universe (DCEU) by proving that both a more humorous and smaller scale story could end up as a universally applauded, financially successful effort. Unfortunately, the reality is that this not-so-small band of anti-heroes stars in a movie just as dark, dreary and problematic as DC's previous 2 attempts (Man of Steel and Batman v Superman). What could have truly stood out above the rest as a fun, zany and self aware flick quickly deteriorates into a bland, erratic and (dare I say) boring mess.
The film's changes haven't been for the better, as this is yet another movie in a succession of DC's superhero properties that has received mainly negative reviews from critics. David Ayer, has recently come out amid-st the critical panning of the blockbuster, saying that 'this cut of the movie is my cut, there's no sort of parallel universe version of the movie, the released movie is my cut', meaning that he either really believed that this project was ready for audiences, or that he likes making money/movies and doesn't want to make any enemies with whoever's decision it was to alter his original vision. Either way, there are many aspects of Suicide Squad that clearly were ready to hit the mark, but end up going well wide. Elements feel completely unfocused and muddled, such as the bizarre tonal shifts between fun and wacky to dark and unearned emotional scenes.
The phrase 'quality over quantity' is thrown away as soon as the movie begins. We are slowly introduced to the aforementioned Harley Quinn and Deadshot (Will Smith) before a rapid fire recap of the following 3 (it could have been 4 or 5 for all I can remember) members of the team that take up less than half the time of either of the first two. Thirty minutes later, Kitana and Slipknot are added to the gang even less ceremoniously, with the movie seemingly forgetting that they existed, as the audience soon will. The problem is that we are given too much, and none of it is any good. It's like getting an all you can eat buffet when everything's made out of wet bread and month old tuna, with only a fifth of the cutlery being clean representing how many of the film's jokes that make you laugh. Harley Quinn and Rick Flag's relationships with the Joker and June Moone, respectively, are glossed over, and never show any starting points or development with the pairings and instead jump to the end.
This wouldn't be such an issue if their bonds weren't made increasingly important throughout the film, with Harley and Joker constantly trying to reach each other, and Rick Flag's entire motivation to stopping Enchantress. The only addition to either of these is seen with a flashback halfway through the film, is where Harley falls into a vat of chemicals and the Joker then dives down to save her, all of which comes across as something straight out of a 14-year-old girl's fan fiction and doesn't explain anything about why Harley is who she is or why she's suitable to be on the team. In fact, no one except Deadshot and El Diablo should be there, since the rest seemingly can't do anything that's more effective than the military men that we see can do. What use is a baseball bat or a boomerang compared to an assault rifle?
The story doesn't fare any better, considering that it joins the club of movies where the baddie(s) hate humans for being humans and find a way to sent a giant light, often blue, into the sky in order to create a doomsday event (think Avengers: Age of Ultron, Man of Steel, Fantastic 4 and others). The villains' motivations are never elaborated on other than that they used to be worshiped (which we are told, not shown) and now humans are obsessed with technology instead, a point that is never developed or made again in order to be considered a true satire or take on the idea.
The main positive of Suicide Squad comes from it's cast, who all clearly demonstrate a great passion and drive to make the film work. Will Smith effectively does what he does in all of his movies, play Will Smith, but that's fine because he's such a naturally likable, charming and witty person. Margot Robbie is clearly having fun playing such a twisted and random character, as she always has a specific energy that keeps you unsure of what she'll do next. The biggest surprise for me (and most from what I've seen) is what Jai Courtney turns in for Captain Boomerang, as he dominates the pool of comedic moments (which are few and far between) and isn't playing the same generic action movie lead that we've seen in, Terminator Genesys and A Good Day to Die Hard. Viola Davis does good work as Amanda Waller by creating a commanding presence that dominates the room in all of her scenes. Jared Leto also does a good job of showing the Joker in a new light as a fully blown, well respected mafia boss, a portrayal almost certainly chosen in order to create distance from Heath Ledger's take. However, there simply isn't enough of him to really see what he can do with the character, which is very disappointing considering how much work Leto reportedly put into method acting the character over the course of the production. As well as the performances, the inclusions of other characters in the film's universe such as Batman and The Flash are, while brief, a nice way of demonstrating a link between the several movies in this world that they are building.