A Simple Pros & Cons List - No Spoilers - "What's with DC and Instant Friendships?"

Rating: 5/10 (8 August 2016)

*Just like the film, this review is NOT bound or subject to the original Suicide Squad comics. They are different, and that is okay.
CONS:
 A "Trailer Movie" - most of the film seems like it was made for the gazillions of trailers that were released. It's never good when 40%-50% of the film feels like something you've already seen in a commercial. Not only that, but it all felt as if it were just a trailer for upcoming solo films/Justice League. Marketing did a phenomenal job with this film.
 Run-of-the-Mill Conflict/Story Arc - SOOOOOO yawn-worthy. A completely generic, factory-produced superhero conflict/story arc/antagonist in an already superhero-saturated Hollywood. They really need to start considering more creative angles with this stuff.
 Sympathy for psychopaths? - the director definitely was trying to make the audience "feel bad" for Harley Quinn and the Joker. Anyone else find that strangely uncomfortable?
 Corny/Immature Script - pretty self-explanatory. Movie lacked any intellectual conversation/humor, seemed like it was written to entertain a group of (PG-)13 year olds.
 Diablo - an "eh" character who's actions are totally predictable.
 What's with DC and Instant Friendships? - did anyone else notice that the characters had absolutely minimal personal interaction before they started saying dumb stuff like "no one hurts my friends!" (or whatever). Reminds me of another major DC movie that came out earlier this year... *sips tea*
 Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Reigns Superior - this movie felt like DC's attempt to top GotG, by using 'grittiness' as the competitive factor. Unfortunately (if this were their true intention), only an R rated Suicide Squad would have had the potential to dethrone the group-superhero king.
 Serious Pacing Issues - not that the pacing was fast, but it was disorganized. Fast then slow then flashback then action then flashback etc.
PROS:
 Harley Quinn's Portrayal, Motives & Background - as expected, Margot Robbie nailed this performance. Not to mention, they actually did a spectacular job depicting Harley Quinn's involvement with the Joker and her true, deepest desires (that scene was SO good & kinda sad).
 The Joker - they succeeded in their quest to introduce a new, unique, spectacle of a Joker, and Jared Leto was envelopingly creepy. His new portrayal of being a 'gangster-ish' villain is a nice twist on the character, but they didn't demonstrate enough reasons for why people should actually FEAR him. I'm sure this will be addressed in future films, though.
 Batman V Deadshot - okay maybe this is my wildcard, but I thought they set-up this inter-character conflict in a suspenseful, interesting manner. I'm definitely looking forward to future interactions between the two.
 Continues More Fluent Universe than Marvel CU - Suicide Squad was very fluent, in that it kept the continuity of the DC Universe more clean and organized than the muddled/permeated Marvel CU.
 Good Soundtrack - a great mix of modern music with gritty twists/remixes; some sequences had a "Great Gatsby (2013)" feel to it, which is always a good thing.
OVERALL:
Suicide Squad was a marketing-based film. More effort/creativity went into the advertising rather than the production itself. Regardless, it was fun-to-watch and had its bright moments.