Harley, Deadshot, & Viola Davis Keep It from Sucking

Rating: 7/10 (5 August 2016)

"Suicide Squad" is a good movie that could have been much better.
The script needed work. There were too many members of The Squad ... & they killed off *the wrong one* near the outset! But Harley Quinn and Deadshot both worked well. Viola Davis has total bad-ass gravitas. Not a bad Joker ... though Heath's shadow will always loom large over whoever essays that role (more on this later). I liked some elements of Enchantress.
The action sequences were, predictably, WAY too uber-rapid-cut-cut-cut; when there are fights (or dancing) in a movie, I wanna see the freakin' *choreography*, which requires shots of greater length -- even with a camera that's in motion. God, I'm SO SICK of the MTV-on-steroids, blink-and-you-miss-4-shots clichéd editing that once (like, 30-plus YEARS ago) was experimental & adrenaline boosting but now is a lazy-ass way to produce excitement where none otherwise would exist. (Don't get me started on how editing & cinematography destroyed Lara Croft. TOTAL missed opp.) If Alfonso Cuaron had directed this (which he should & could & well might have; hell, it's better source material than "Hellboy"), with a better script (one that delves into the psycho-socio-cultural/neo-feminist subtext -- and/or the socio-political subtext, as "The Dark Knight" did) -- now, THERE's a movie.
OK, so: Mista J. (-sigh-) After Ledger died, I said, "Retire this character. Hang his jersey up on the wall, & call it a day, 'cause no one will ever touch this." I thought Leto did as good a job as anyone could of following in those footsteps -- without downright mimicry, which likewise wouldn't have worked. Talk about a thankless job! Like I said: "Not a bad Joker." But not a very-good one, either. We had ONE. ONCE. In ONE masterpiece of a movie. Time to go re-watch (again!) TDK.
My nephew Henry Darrow McComas has mentioned "Escape from New York" in connection with SS, which is spooky, 'cause last nite, in its best, tensest moments, SS was giving me total "Escape..." vibes, as bad guys whom we're rootin' for are stalkin' the mean nite-time streets of a demolished Big Apple, w/ WORSE baddies right around the corner. John Carpenter should have directed! Henry also mentioned the -- SPOILER ALERT! -- unlikelihood of an iPhone app doing-in super-meta-humans. Agreed. Kinda like the use of -- "STAR TREK: BEYOND" SPOILER ALERT! -- "Sabotage" over radio waves during the climax of the (otherwise largely fine) new Trek film.
In view of Margot Robbie's performance, I hold out high hopes for the upcoming Harley Quinn movie. (And I'll be there for the imminent Wonder Woman re-boot, that's for sure; been carrying a flame for HER since I was 14!) See "SS," & judge it for yourself.