Bohemian Rhapsody

Rating: Null/10 (8 August 2016)

There are already too many superhero (a term used very generically) teams in the market so let us get right to it. The interesting thing here is the slight departure from the formulaic lining up of the team. The introduction of the six initially "recruited" by government agent Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is formulaic, but good with comic-style wit: Deadshot the never-miss hit-man (Will Smith); Harley Quinn the crazy blond (Margot Robbie); Boomerang with an unimaginative name that nevertheless accurately describes his skillset (Jai Courtney); Diablo who with a Hulk persona i.e. can be the most powerful of them all BUT only if he loses his temple which he strives not to (Jay Her Hernandez); Killer Croc (Adewale ASkinnouye-Agbaje) who could have been Ben Grimm teleported directly from "The Fantastic Four"; and finally Enchantress, an ancient Egyptian witch that possesses the body of gentle June Moone (Cara Delevingne).
Rather than having these six go out there and kick some ass and have it done with, a few other characters are thrown in, with some mildly interesting plot twist. The Enchantress gets out of control, joins his ancient Egyptian brother to become the chief villains. Harley Quinn also has her own agenda, being the girlfriend of The Joker (Jared Leto) who is always expected to come to her rescue. While not possessed by the Enchantress, June Moone has a devoted boyfriend Rick Flag, a top-notch army man engaged by Amanda Waller to lead this Death Squad. Thrown into the pool in the last minute, wielding a deadly samurai sword, is Katana (Karen Fukuhara), sort of Waller's loyal bodyguard. So there you have it, the line-up of characters.
If you do not enjoy these characters, you are out of luck because plot line is non-existing and the villains, other than the Egyptian siblings, are unimpressive: disposable faceless zombies descending en masse, not unlike the clones in Star War's clone wars. Action sequences deserve some credit, looking not too bad after trillions you have seen in the proliferation of action flicks in the last couple of decades.
The cast may be the strongest draw. Davis as formidable "mean lady" must be having a lot of fun herself although this of course doesn't show. The main attraction for me, not knowing anything about these comic characters (my generation is the JLA, back in the time when Wonder Women wore red high heel pumps), is Smith and Robbie who displayed such chemistry in "Focus" (2015). While there is no similar pairing here, they are individually and separately charismatic. Oscar calibre actor Jared Leto goes all the way in drawing out the eccentric Joker. Jai Courtney who made his mark as Jack McClane in "A good day to die hard" (2013) is something of a show-stealer here.
My summary line serves no other purpose than register my nod for the use of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody in the final scenes (albeit only the first movement).