Hilariously Bad

Rating: 2/10 (20 August 2016)

Suicide Squad was a horrible film. I don't even know where to begin. I went in hoping that the critics were wrong, and it would be an entertaining summer blockbuster. I was painfully mistaken.
First of all, the dialogue was atrocious. Especially from Harley Quinn. Everything that comes out of her mouth makes me want to cringe. "We're bad guys, it's what we do." "Puddin', I don't know how to swim." Terribly delivered lines. I can't blame Margot Robbie for this performance. No one could say those lines without sounding like nails on a chalkboard. Every line that comes from Viola Davis' mouth sounds like they're trying to be sophisticated, but they don't make any sense. "We put they (or her/ him, can't remember) in a hole and threw away the hole." What a great line. Also, the last line from the terribly forgettable villain (a seven-thousand year old witch that wants to kill every human on Earth) was "you don't have the balls." Bravo. I also remember Deadshot's daughter to have very bad lines, but maybe it was just her robotic acting. And I know it's nitpicking, but the Joker's laugh as he lays down beside his knives in one scene (was also in the trailer, I think) tried to be creepy and menacing, but came off has laughable. But more on the Joker later.
Next, the structure. The first fifteen to twenty minutes is just introducing characters. Viola Davis sits down, and talks with food in her mouth, telling several men about the villains (which would later become the Suicide Squad). I even have a problem with *this* because they introduce only Harley Quinn and Deadshot, and suddenly the title pops up, and then they get back to introducing the rest. Either have the title at the beginning of the film, or introduce everyone, and then play the title. Anyway, almost the entire movie takes place in a city, going through buildings. The same place in the trailers. We see flashbacks to each member of "the Suicide Squad's" past life (except for Killer Croc, and there's only one for Captain Boomerang, that only lasts a few seconds during the introduction). This film really confused me at first. I have no prior knowledge of the Suicide Squad in the comics, so I thought Cara Delevingne's character (who is the villain) was a part of the Suicide Squad at first. The way she got possessed by the witch (don't remember her actual name) was walking through a cave, and she broke off the head of some doll, and apparently got possessed. They give no backstory on who this witch is, where she came from, why she had a doll in a cave. You really just have to accept it. Most of the other backstories are cliché. The "Fire" guy (don't remember his name) was a family man who loved his children, but one day he killed them all in a freak accident. Deadshot, another family man, loves his daughter, but was arrested by Batman because she "told him not to shoot". Harley Quinn's backstory is a tad fuzzy. She falls in love with the Joker at the Arkham Asylum (she's apparently his counselor or something), gets a machine gun for him, becomes a stripper, and falls into a barrel of paint. Best not to ask questions. Then the Joker drives her off a bridge, and Batman saves her. There's no real plot to this movie. Viola Davis wants them to kill the witch, who is terrorizing the city, they have awkward conversations and argue along the way, Harley Quinn breaks a window, then they go to the witch (she also has this boyfriend, but don't even remember what he looks like) kill her boyfriend, the Harley Quinn stabs her, and her *other* boyfriend (who fell in love with Cara Delevingne) crushes her heart. And they leave it on a cliffhanger, when the Joker breaks into Harley's prison cell, and lets her escape.
This film is also unnecessarily dark. No, really, it was hard to even see what was happening at times, because the film had some sort of "shadow palette" added to it. Why is DC trying to make their films as dark as possible? The Man of Steel was dark, Batman V Superman was dark. Make a film colorful if you want to include "humor". It's like Breaking Bad taking place on Sesame Street.
Lastly, the Joker. Why is Leto's Joker being applauded? I personally think Leto is a great actor, but his performance reminded me of Lex Luthor in Batman V Superman. Way too over-the-top. He's hardly even in the film. I feel like he tries to be menacing, but everything he does just falls flat. They shouldn't have included him in this film, I felt if he had more backstory and purpose (and less over-the-top acting) I would have enjoyed his performance just a little more.
I give this film a 2/10, and wouldn't recommend this anyone. Wasn't even very entertaining. The only reason I give this a 2 instead of a 1 is because they actually put effort into this film. I can tell Jared Leto, Will Smith, Margot Robbie, and everyone else in this film is actually trying to put in effort to their performance, but they fail in doing so.