Not perfect but enjoyable and exciting

Rating: 8/10 (7 August 2016)

This film is nowhere near as bad as critics tell you, so don't listen to all of them. 'Suicide Squad' has its flaws and a lot of them refer to the marketing of the film. The editing of the character profiling was trailer like, and almost defeats the relevance of the character trailers the film distributed weeks before, showing almost like for like content barring a scene or two. It should be assumed by the film's beginning, that the audience are mainly comic book readers or at the very least fans of the superhero film genre. This oversight meant, in my opinion, 15-20 minutes of wasted storytelling. The sound editing in the early act of the film also made me fear for the rest of it. When soundtrack changes every two minutes, it almost feels as if the music is being shoehorned in and you don't get to appreciate the tone of the scene as much as you would when it is used correctly. After hearing about five different songs in the very beginning and by the end seeing that two of the more popular songs ('Heathens' by Twenty One Pilots and 'Sucker For Pain' by Lil Wayne, Wiz Khalifa and Imagine Dragons) were used primarily as credit music really disappointed me. Now to the good, Deadshot was fantastically portrayed and I felt like he could carry a Batman film as a main antagonist, as scenes in the film would further suggest. Contrary to critical reviews, I felt that Deadshot as well as most of the other squad members show villain traits and I would like to think that prison has allowed some of them time to reflect on their crimes and some of them to show remorse or lack of it. Deadshot showed a conflict of interests in his story arc, evident from his arrest in the beginning to his moment of shooting the explosives which detonate Enchantress in the finale. Jared Leto's Joker depiction caught my eye with how different and refreshing it seemed compared to what we've been treated to film wise over the last thirty years. His Joker was reminiscent of Tony Montana, Cuban drug lord from the 80's classic, 'Scarface' twisted with Jack Nicholson's Joker in 1989's 'Batman' and Heath Ledger's own rendition from 'The Dark Knight'. Leto's style was very unique and I think we as an audience can collectively say that we got something from a film featuring the Joker that we haven't seen in the past; The Joker being in love. Main villain Enchantress was a strong choice and an interesting spin on the story, I liked how they had to conflict with someone who is ultimately similar to themselves, and led by the love interest of Enchantress' alter ego June Moone in Rick Flag, respectively. The brother character I didn't quite understand, as I felt that it wasn't really explained as to how he got his powers and what his powers actually are. Furthermore, Harley Quinn was also a huge highlight in this film. Critics who complained about her outfit are surely picking at straws and should realize that in a lot of source material, Harley Quinn is dressed seductively and provocatively. Yes, her shorts were edited in the trailers to appear longer but if you think about the audience that this trailer would be broadcast to, you would undertake the same decision to make everyone not have any faults about your marketing material. Side characters I didn't think would do that well actually surprised me in a sense. El Diablo was the real star of 'the rest' of the cast and his incredible powers combined with his conflicting pacifist nature made you want to seek more about his backstory and become horrified when you hear what happened. Killer Croc should have had a stronger story arc in my opinion; I think they definitely had the right idea starting the film with Killer Croc being depicted as an animal and not a person. They should have run with this idea and used him as feeling sorry for himself and perhaps sacrificing himself in an El Diablo way that would've suited his story arc. Captain Boomerang was admittedly acted very well and made me want to see more from him as well as Deadshot, Joker and Harley. That being said, I felt they could've used Boomerang in a more inventive way and explained some of his backstory such as his love for unicorns and why he's so erratic. Amanda Waller was a big surprise in the film and showed just how much she didn't give a damn during the film with the constant execution threats, using Slipknot as an example and even killing her own officers. This all in turn made her a villain for the villains to not fight against but abide by and adhere to. The power she had in this film was incredible and I felt one of the stronger acting performances in the film by Viola Davis. On a side note, Batman's short cameos were epic and a breath of fresh air that was perfect in both character trailers of Deadshot and Harley Quinn. His role in both made me want to see Batman against both villains and would definitely feel cheated if we didn't get to see this in the Batman solo feature due for release in the coming years. Suicide Squad isn't a bad watch by any means. For me I left the cinema feeling quite happy and relieved that not all critiques are correct and I have come to disagree with a lot of critics in the last few years as my film taste has developed and matured. This film has laughs, has dark elements and may lack an exceptional story that 'The Dark Knight' thrived on but is still enjoyable and makes me want to see what else this universe has to offer. Overall: 8/10