Great tunes, not so great movie

Rating: Null/10 (16 August 2016)

I took my 15 year old daughter to the drive ins to see this movie late last Thursday night. She loves the drive ins, as we get KFC beforehand and have a little picnic in the car and talk about the previews and discuss things about the movie whilst it's playing, things you may find difficult to do in a crowded theatre.THAT was the best part of our night! Beyond having to explain to her that these guys are bad, murdering, thieving arsonists, trying to understand the whole point of assembling a ragtag bunch of 'misfits', with the existence of an upcoming Justice League, I felt like we needed a manual to go along with this movie that should have been given to us along with our tickets. This is a good movie with some fun scenes, some eye opening cameos, as well as an introduction to a new breed of characters that DC will force down our throats. Suicide Squad is an okay entertaining way to spend two hours, it really is, so why the hostility you may be wondering? The reason is because the stakes are so high, we the public have been forced to accept that this is how movies, summer tentpole movies, will be presented to us for the foreseeable future. No longer do we get stand alone movies, studios and film makers are been coerced into believing that this is the only way to make money nowadays, by providing episodic type stories that fit in to a larger universe, with crossovers and cameos galore. So if this is the standard, no studio or director can take issue with those such as myself, who find it insulting to think they we will just fork over our cash, summer after summer, simply based on titles and characters that we have some semblance of. repeat success. Firstly, the movie opens up with an introduction to our characters that we will share this journey with. If we are asked to participate in the movie going experience, then at least we need to like, or at the very least, understand the drivers of this vehicle. Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and her relationship with Jared Leto's Joker, were tantalizingly interesting, until we were ripped away from it and placed in a southern Californian prison. Once the team has been put together they are directed to find and kill an evil entity. I wonder how long it took to come up with the premise? The evil entity in question, I am pretty sure was an evil spirit, I think, in the body of Rick Flag's flame, Dr June Moone aka Enchantress. For some reason this all powerful, evil villain, can build gaudy machines upend entire city blocks, yet is incapable of reaching across a table and taking her heart back, which was the whole point to her existence. Plot holes aside, this is basic premise (spoilers and all). They (DC) are clearly trying to emulate their (Marvel) model, without directly admitting it, so my question is, if you're going to steal something, or at the very least copy it, then why not do it properly? In a word, greed. But what DC seem to have forgotten, or downright ignored, is that we CARED about the smart ass billionaire, we felt for the Australian playing a Nordic god and we appreciated the efforts of a man with a bow and arrow as well as a bosomy blonde who can take down creatures 8 times her size. We had gotten to know these characters, on multiple outings, we knew their personalities and we know what their prime motivations were. Marvel load all their bases with precise and interesting base hits. Targeted audiences and most of all stayed true to who the characters were, what made them tick, what made them fanboy favourites for decades. They respected their audience. So when it came time to hit a home run, in steps the batter and knocks it out the park, bringing with it all the other runners with patience and excitement that is the benefit of delivering a slow burn, for a huge pay off. Remember if this is the template now, then at the very least do it properly, and they did! When it was DC's turn at bat, they went for the home run straight away, not giving us anytime to learn and understand these age old superheroes, bought to us in this new light of the 21st century. How would Clark Kent work in an office with all these new technological devices? Does Bruce Wayne really believe that being a vigilante in the 21st century is the best way to fight crime? What are the philosophical differences between the big blue boy scout, and the man in the cowl? DC didn't load their bases first! We never given time to really care about these new hitters, partly because DC never stayed true to their source material, so we were asked to simply accept that Batman kills, the Superman snaps necks and Harley Quinn is just so crazy, cos well, she just is. They may have hit a home run, the box office seems to think so, but fans didn't care, didn't watch and worst of all, are starting to get upset. My problems with the Suicide Squad therefore extend farther than the actual movie, it's more of deep sense of "this is what we've got now, so get used to it". And this pains me as a lover of DC comics, because I know these characters, I've grown up with them, but what I see on the big screen, is not them, I've never met these guys before. But don't think you are going to see characters and story lines that move you, don't go into this thinking that the time and money you've invested in it will pay off, because it won't. Enjoy the tunes, that's what my daughter took away from it, and I agree with her, as I always will.