They are bad guys! It is what they do...

Rating: 6/10 (8 October 2016)

While I am not overly much fan of the superhero genre as such, then "Suicide Squad" was sort of a most welcomed addition to the genre. Why? Well because you have a group of less than savory characters gifted with super powers, so you don't have to witness a group of goody two shoes running around trying to save the Earth while doing what is morally and ethically sound and politically correct. It was refreshing to have a bunch of baddies running around and dealing out punishment while trying to save the Earth. Yeah, it still has that oh-so-glorious-saving-the-Earth element to it.
Now, "Suicide Squad" falls right into the same alley as Christopher Nolan's darkly set Batman movies, and it fits right in there. Oh, and Batman is actually also in this movie, so go figure...
While the movie is titled "Suicide Squad", it might as well have been named "Harley Quinn" or something like that, because this movie was essentially about her because she was so often the focal point that most of the other bad guys (read protagonists here) sort of fell a bit in the background and were looming in her shadow.
The movie does have some interesting characters. First and foremost, and which is not a shocker nor a surprise to anyone, is Harley Quinn (played formidably by Margot Robbie). Now I am not familiar with her character from the comic books, so I have no base of comparison, but what I saw in this movie was impressive.
Then there is Killer Croc (played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), whom actually was a surprise of a character, because I had initially written the character off as being just another brawny goon. But it turned out that the character was quite interesting.
Right up alongside Harley Quinn in terms of being interesting was Enchantress (played by Cara Delevingne). That character design, when she was in her shadow-form, was amazing. And it was actually one of the most memorable and impressive of characters that I have seen in a superhero movie, and would definitely like to see a spin off movie with this character - and also a movie with Harley Quinn, of course.
Deadshot was also an interesting enough character, but I think that having cast Will Smith for the role was not the right actor. Sure he is talented, but he just didn't sit well with me in this particular role.
Katana was also a character that had potential, but the character wasn't really fully utilized or put to proper use throughout the course of the movie. And it is also a character that would be suitable for a solo movie. The actress Karen Fukuhara was a great choice for the character, and she more than lived up to the part. Just a shame that the character was sort of cut short on screen time. However, the name Katana is just stupid. Why name yourself after your choice of weapon? Sure, I get the part with the katana stealing the souls of the ones killed by its blade, but come on...
And while we are on the characters, then I must say that I was struggling hard with taking Jared Leto serious in the role as The Joker. It was mostly because of the teeth grills. It just made the character look like a pathetic white wannabe gangsta. And it was totally unjustifiable for the iconic character that The Joker is. Certain aspects to Jared Leto's performance was good enough, but I just couldn't look past his pathetic appearance, and it took away so much from the character and its importance to the movie.
"Suicide Squad" is an entertaining action movie for what it turned out to be. It is not a movie that challenges the intellect of the audience in the least. This is pure and simple a lean-back-and-enjoy-the-action types of movies. And that is adequate enough, and director David Ayer did a good enough job with this movie.
The effects in the movie were good and they more than lives up to the things they were supposed to bring out on the screen. And for a movie such as this, then special effects and CGIs that are realistic and believable is important.
"Suicide Squad" is definitely a movie that was needed to the superhero genre, just like "Watchmen" was back in 2009. Just keep in mind that this is a predictable movie, driven by one-liners, special effects and quirky characters.