The first DC Universe film to hit mediocre.

Rating: 5/10 (10 August 2016)

'The Suicide Squad' has arrived after much hype and that hype should have been something of a warning sign. It is by far the best comic book movie this summer but that isn't saying much as I hated 'Batman V. Superman' and 'Captain America Civil War'. I have the standard complaints. It is a movie that shows tremendous signs of 'Avengers' envy and as such it has a lot of the crippling faults facing pretty much all comic book movies. The good news is that sprinkled within 'Suicide Squad's comic book monotony are some inspired characters and build ups. It allows 'Suicide Squad' to hit mediocre to okay. That is a feat 'Batman v. Superman' really couldn't do in it's wildest dreams.
I feel as if I have to explore the faults because they are numerous. 'Suicide Squad' is way too crowded a movie especially since we are being introduced to all these characters for the first time. Some of these characters receive no lines at all. The film should have reduced it's main cast to four. It might have saved it's coherence. They can't even fit in proper introductions for everyone. Katana's character just jumps in before the flight to the war zone. This is putting selling toys and sequels ahead of creating a fully realized story this time around.
'Suicide Squad' is also visually uninteresting as it tries to continue the dark supposedly gritty color palette of 'Batman v. Superman'. You can be dark without literally being dark.
The beginning exposition though is absolutely fantastic. Viola Davis gives the best performance in a comic book film in years. Amanda Waller is more interesting than Harley Quinn or the Joker. Honestly the movie would have been far more biting had the entire thing cast her as the main character putting the team together. Once the action starts it gets repetitive. I hate endless faceless armies in these films and that unfortunately is what the majority of 'Suicide Squad' ends up being.
(Also Jared Leto is awful in it. He's doing an over-the-top Heath Ledger.)
I'd mildly recommend it for comic book completists. If you don't like comic book movies I'd say stay away. It won't do anything for you