A decent effort, and much better than BvsS

Rating: 6/10 (7 August 2016)

With all the hype I was expecting better from DC/Warner, but this latest effort suffers from similar overhype as BvsS.
Starting with the positives:
Each character of the squad had very decent portrayals from the actors – granted splitting screen time amongst them proved a little problematical at times, but the essence and motivations were brought out for all to see.
The little plot twist in the middle defined the character of the squad's controller, Amanda Waller, and gave us a very ruthless character with little enough to redeem her – delicious.
The not so positives:
Batman rated very little time in this paeon to the canon. His presence was more throwaway than supportive. I was expecting more of a story arc where he either has a different mission or motivation to see this outing succeed or not. To get around this plot detail the writers put the action in a different city than Metropolis or Gotham (I mean really, Metropolis is across the bay from Gotham? Not in any DC universe I know) thereby giving Batman little stake in the feature.
The soldier and the archaeologist being lovers is a plot device with very little credibility, doesn't follow any DC background history for the characters and although portrayed by Joel Kinnaman and Cara Delevingne with gusto was forced and totally against type.
What little background history scenes there were were only for the four main Suicide Squad characters.
The downright inglorious:
The Joker was downright distracting at times, in fact as a motivating factor for Harley Quinn it was too much, and took way too much screen time from the development of the other members of the squad. His flunkies were downright 'normal' instead of over the top crazy – as a different 'reality' than previous incarnations in live film I would have to say I was left severely disappointed in his portrayal here.
The really Bad Guys, once it developed who they really were, had virtually no background development, if indeed at all. Not enough time to show why they were so menacing or develop how they came to be. Hint: they have a vaguely similar beginning like the villain in X-Men Apocalypse.
The 'magic' the Enchantress used was the plot device used as the reason for the squad's mission with little explanation and motivation for its use.
Overall: It could have been better, and it is certainly entertaining. Will it stand up to contribute another score in DC's universe? Not really, but it's only a movie.