Fun factor trumps its few flaws

Rating: 10/10 (7 August 2016)

This is a fun-filled, action-packed movie with all sorts of eccentric weirdo characters and story elements and outrageously exaggerated over-the-top performances. My theater audience was laughing the whole time. I was laughing. We had a great time. We loved it and so will you, unless you're a curmudgeon.
Plot/storytelling: On a surface-level, this may seem like a typical simplistic super-hero movie story - big threat arises, our "heroes" must work together to stop it. But to look at it that way may be missing the point. This is a movie where what's technically the main plot of the movie is less important than the individual stories of the characters themselves, and their backstories, motivations, interactions, etc. It felt like at least as much, if not more, of the movie was devoted to their backstories as on what they're currently doing in the movie, which felt almost less important. It's an interesting approach to storytelling. I liked it.
Action: Pretty good overall, except for some flaws. This is not Zack Snyder-style meticulously choreographed smooth artistic action, but instead, a lot more chaotic, standard Hollywood-style action quick- cuts, especially towards the end, when it may have gotten a bit all over the place. Here's where I'd normally knock a star or two from my rating, if the overall fun didn't boost my rating back up. In general, the action/fights in Suicide Squad don't reach the superb quality we saw in Man of Steel & Batman v Superman, but at least this movie doesn't do the annoying shaky-cam thing, a la Batman Begins, Captain America: Civil War, the Bourne movies, etc. where you can barely see anything in the a lot of fights. The best action moments go to Harley Quinn, easily.
Characters/Actors:
Deadshot: Best Will Smith role I've seen in a long time. You will feel for him and his sad story. You will laugh at his sarcastic remarks. You may wonder why a guy with guns would be on a super-powered team, until you see what he's capable of, and then you will be in awe.
Harley Quinn: This may be the most perfect comicbook to film casting choice ever. Margot Robbie embodies this character completely and she steals the show. I've been a fan of this character since Batman the Animated Series of the 90s and Margot nails this role.
Joker: This one's interesting and may divide opinions. Here's something I noticed: this is the first on-screen Joker to not have an upward-rising red smile actually painted onto his face. For the first time, he's actually able to frown and give other intense expressions. He's totally creepy the way he instantaneously switches back and forth between intense and grinning expressions. I'll say, I loved this Joker, even if there were many Joker moments seen in the trailer that seem to have been cut from the movie. I wanted to see more Joker in this movie.
Enchantress: One of the weird unexpected characters you'd only get from an unusual movie like this. She's like she came straight from a horror movie. The most visually impressive effects in this movie are for the Enchantress's magic.
Amanda Waller: I've seen some complaints about the villain of this movie should have been better. I don't know what they're talking about, because Viola Davis as Amanda Waller was intense and intimidating. She will scare you.
Other characters: Everyone does such a good job, even if they don't all get nearly enough screen-time.
Other thoughts: An unusual number of scenes from the trailers didn't make it into the final film. I can only wonder why, because the ones that I noticed were missing seemed like fun and interesting moments. Without knowing what was originally in those scenes that were cut though, we can't really judge whether cutting them worked out well or not.
I like what these DC movies have been doing and I like where they're headed. They're not afraid of pulling inspiration straight from the comics giving us something different than what we usually see on screen, instead of following the tired old movie formulas. Keep it up, DC. I look forward to Wonder Woman (2017).