Great characters and performances, inconsistent storytelling.

Rating: 6/10 (5 August 2016)

Is it really as bad as the critics are making it out to be? No. But it is not too good either. It is the worst DCEU film and comparable to the lower-rated MCU films. And I will put forth why I think so.
Before I start my actual review, I want to mention that I loved BvS (Ultimate Cut) and really liked Man of Steel and believe that both these movies are very harshly judged.
Okay, through this review I will give my thoughts on the major things that have been pointed out by the critics.
1. Characters: Once you reflect on it, this really is about the characters.
a) Deadshot: Pretty good. Will Smith plays a role similar to the roles he's played before. But he brings a certain level of gravitas to the film. The character has a good arc, albeit a little cheesy but this is a really good performance.
b) Harley Quinn (and The Joker): Fantastic. Margot Robbie knocks it right out of the park. There is not one dull moment whenever she's on-screen. There are some scenes in which the nuance in her performance really shows. Her arc was, unexpectedly, very emotional. Also, the criticism that she's a male fan boy's wet dream unwarranted. She is above all else, a psychiatrist and she knows what will attract the attention of the people she's with. She's not just the female equivalent of the Joker. There are layers to the character, and the film nails it. Speaking of the Joker, I didn't write a separate piece for him simply because everything he does in the movie is somehow related to Harley. That said, Leto is pretty good too, bringing to life a very different Joker than previously seen. He is simply not given enough time to shine, and I am very hopeful. The thing that is probably the best about this movie is the relationship between The Joker and Harley.
c) Diablo: A complete surprise, this character is given a good arc and we totally understand his motivation behind every act of his. Besides Deadshot, Harley Quinn and the Joker, Diablo is easily the most impactful.
d) Amanda Waller: The bad-ass, puppet master, even though the character is a little underwritten. Viola Davis makes the best of whatever lines she's given, even though some of them weren't great. But justice was done to this character too. She could've made a much more interesting villain than the one we got, but we'll get to that.
e) Captain Boomerang: The comic relief is barely given an arc in this, but damn, he was funny! Jai Courtney seemed to have a lot of fun! f) Killer Croc: Make-up work was great, but was disappointing. He barely does anything in much of the movie and is very underwritten, considering that he is one of the two 'meta-humans' on the team.
g) Katana: Another underwritten character, but she's okay I guess. Does have a couple of decent scenes.
h) Rick Flagg: Surprisingly effective, is not simply an errands-boy as Deadshot calls him one time. Has a commanding but not overpowering screen presence. His dynamics with Waller, Deadshot and Enchantress are good.
i) Enchantress: The worst thing about the film. After a cool introduction and some dramatic beats with Rick Flagg, the whole Enchantress stuff just nosedives and never recovers. It's a pathetic attempt, really. And the acting was really inconsistent too.
2. Structure: When the critics say the structure is messy, they are absolutely spot-on. The movie starts with character intros beginning with trading-card like information and flashbacks with psychedelic, neon tinted images and abrupt editing. It was too sensory for me at first but then it started growing on me. I like experiments and I appreciate a film that tries to be different. But this tone is dropped midway and the gritty second act comes in and it just starts feeling like a different movie and then it becomes a weird, fantastical story in the third act. The villain is so lame that an act of destroying a subway train is actually more effective than one involving destruction of the world, blah-blah-blah.
3.Tone: Since the structure is so disjoint, the tone of the movie is jarringly inconsistent. The film is very unsure of what it wants to be. It starts as a prison movie-video game montage-music video, then turns into a zombie movie, then finally turns into a fantastical tale. It has elements romance tries too hard to be funny at times. Now don't misjudge, a movie can perfectly be all those things, and a lot of these scenes in this work very well independently, but the transition is very rough. It's almost as if the whole movie is a big lengthy trailer, which is mostly due to bad editing.
4. Music and Score: A lot of the critics have pointed out that the music feels as a cheap attempt to mimic the successful use in Guardians of the Galaxy. But I never found the music too noticeable and I believe it actually added to the story in certain parts. There is just one Eminem song which feels out of place and tacked on. The score is decent though.
5. Plot: Pretty much non-existent. The whole movie is mostly just exposition. But I didn't particularly mind that. In fact, I kind of liked the small-movie vibe of it where everything in the movie exists to showcase various facets of each character.
6. Villain: The villain in the movie is too generic to even talk about, so I'm going to talk about the real villains here.
Warner Bros. executives.
In spite of all this, I think the film is an enjoyable experience and the general audiences might enjoy it more than BvS. I am really excited to see some of these fascinating characters in more (and hopefully better) movies in the future.