Over-hyped but still a must-see

Rating: 7/10 (5 August 2016)

With what may be the best movie marketing campaign of all time, over-hype is sure to come. This is the case for Suicide Squad. People were expecting something on the level of a Christopher Nolan Dark Knight film, and weren't okay when a good, not great, summer blockbuster was released. There is a lot of good things in this film to be grateful for. Every major character was great and a clear perfect fit for the future of the DC universe. Deadshot, played by Will Smith, was absolutely superb. His one liners were great, and he showed true poise in a position of leadership with the group. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), your all-American man, seemed like something taken straight off the comic book page. It was a solid performance with close to no flaws. Many of the minor characters seemed to hit the ground running as well. Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc, El Diablo, and Katana although not getting nearly the screen time as Harley and Deadshot, all did solid jobs in securing their positions for future films. Now for the standouts, Amanda Waller, Harley Quinn, and Joker. Three brilliant performances played by three brilliant actors. Not a lot needed to be said. They'll make you feel a range of emotions while keeping you thoroughly entertained. Viola Davis shines as the harsh and cruel Amanda Waller while Margot Robbie displays perfectly the crazy within the head of Harley Quinn. Her performance was by far the best of them all and will leave the audience craving more. Now the Joker, played by Jared Leto was interesting. It is obvious there will be mixed feelings towards his take on the iconic character but personally I thought his bizarre and humanized take on the psychopath was great. Although the cast was great, of course the movie had its flaws. Without giving away any spoilers, the entire villain plot was a mess and felt extremely rushed. There was very little back story or character development for this character. Thankfully this was the only character with a shallow backstory. The CGI in this case was pretty weak as well. Although in no ways horrible, it was vastly clear that DC hasn't reached the level of CGI accuracy that the Marvel Universe has. The other major problem with this movie was the editing. Cheesy one liners followed by awkward scene cutting or weak transitions lead to a couple legitimate cringe worthy moments. The storyline had great potential but seemed to be skewered by irrelevant characters and poorly cut together scenes. All in all though this movie is still a must see. The future of the squad is promising due to the great cast and strong backstories of ever major character. Although there were some obvious weaknesses, the entertaining action mixed with real emotion and plentiful laughs came together to make a solid summer blockbuster definitely worth your time.