Suicide Squad: A Fable about Shared Universes and Studio Interference

Rating: 3/10 (13 August 2016)

Very early into Suicide Squad, I had the nagging feeling that everything was about to fall off the rails. As the film continued, some small moments hinted at what could have been. Unfortunately, by the time this bloated CGI disaster had concluded, the extent of the damage was clear. This is a colossal misfire from Warner Brothers, and is another step towards the end of DC's Extended Universe.
Before I get into my review, let's travel back to a more optimistic time for this franchise. 13 months ago, Suicide Squad's first trailer premiered at Comic-Con, and immediately it was pegged as one of 2016's most anticipated movies. More than that, it appeared to be a potential antidote for super-hero fatigue. An original concept, a talented cast, and a strong directing and writing presence in David Ayer justifiably substantiated people's excitement.
Then, Batman v. Superman happened, and if the rumors are to be believed, that's when everything changed behind the scenes.
One of the film's dumber lines has Amanda Waller muse about throwing somebody in a hole and throwing away the hole. Hilariously, I am almost positive that this is what Warner Brothers did to David Ayer. Save for a few brief moments where a darker (and better) version of the film shines through, most of the movie plays like an extended trailer. An incredibly obnoxious soundtrack, seemingly random cuts, sudden shifts in tone, and a complete lack of character depth plague large segments of Suicide Squad. Nothing here has Ayer's signature on it, and it's shockingly disjointed and unfocused for the man behind films like Training Day and End of Watch.
There is an unintentionally hilarious scene in the middle of the film that perfectly illustrates its baffling script and deranged editing. Leading up to this scene, we see Amanda Waller working closely with her team of SWAT units to contain the city-wide destruction being caused by Enchantress. Then, our main characters arrive, and Waller suddenly decides to murder every member of her SWAT team. She grabs the nearest weapon, and summarily executes everybody in the room in seconds. This is meant to show the audience how ruthless and cold Amanda Waller is, but it's so random that it winds up being funny, like a scene from a dark comedy that just strolled in for a visit. The film offers no understandable reason for her actions, and one can only assume that some vitally important scenes were cut.
The only person who keeps Suicide Squad watchable is Will Smith. He plays his patented style of action hero in classic fashion, and as always, gives every scene his all. His character, Deadshot, is also one of the few characters who is given any meaningful backstory. The all-too-brief scenes with Deadshot and his young daughter are easily the film's best moments. Jai Courtney also deserves some credit as Captain Boomerang, offering up some of Suicide Squad's only laughs. Margot Robbie swings for the fences but misses as Harley Quinn, but I honestly felt this was more a result of bad editing and poor dialogue than her actual performance.
The rest of the characters are dull and lifeless. There is some attempted backstory for Rick Flag, Enchantress, and El Diablo, but each of these attempts are half-hearted and obviously shoehorned in. Katana, Killer Croc, and Slipknot's backstories are relegated to throw-away lines. Slipknot's treatment by the script is particularly hysterical. He is introduced as a man who is "good at climbing" and then ten minutes later his character is done away with completely. On the other hand, Katana's backstory actually sounds rather interesting. We hear mentions of a soul-stealing sword and some lingering grief for her character but this leads absolutely nowhere.
I nearly forgot to mention the Joker. Jared Leto is completely forgettable here, and most of his scenes are just plain boring. This is easily the worst rendition of the Joker to date. Also, as most people are aware by now, he's barely in the movie. This is pretty disappointing, not because Jared Leto brings anything new or exciting to the character, but because his absence severely hampers Harley Quinn's character development. Hopefully, their relationship is more thoughtfully fleshed out in later instalments, should they actually happen.
Lastly, the cameo appearances for the other members of the Justice League, namely Batman and the Flash, are wholly unnecessary. The presence of their characters adds nothing to their respective scenes, and serve only to remind us that these movies all exist in the same universe. Some of Marvel's movies suffer from the same problem, and hopefully it's a habit that both of these studios can start avoiding in the future. This is not a criticism at the concept of shared universes, but merely a complaint that throwing in characters that serve no purpose to the script just muddles the plot and makes each individual movie feel less cohesive.
Suicide Squad is plainly and simply, a terrible movie. It should serve as a lesson to studios around the world that shared universe movies can fail, and that studio interference can easily destroy a film's vision. If there is any truth to the rumors that have been swirling this past week, Warner Brothers is deserving of the criticism it is receiving. Hopefully the producers will lock themselves out of the editing room for the next few instalments. It certainly would have helped this movie.
RATING: 3/10