Wow, that was bad

Rating: 4/10 (9 August 2016)

How did we come from 'The Dark Knight' released 8 years ago to this???? And, before I get heckled, I am 100% open to new takes on characters and story lines. Heck, if this revitalization of these franchises didn't occur, things would get stale pretty quickly.
However, having just seen this, I am in complete disbelief as to how DC has managed to steer themselves this far downhill. This movie is miles away from the storytelling and character development that was on show in Nolans Superhero masterpiece.
It started off OK - a fun and colorful take on character introduction, but it was clear that there were only two characters in this squad that this movie really wanted to focus on, namely the two big names headlining the film. Deadpool was portrayed well, though it would have been great to introduce him with a bit more of a showcase on his skills. I didn't like the whole Harley / Joker thing however. I think Margot Robbie was perfectly cast but the Joker was a big misfire for me. This surprised me, as going by the general gist of these reviews on IMDb, it seems that a lot of people actually liked this casting and the subsequent character interaction. Personally, I felt the Joker was a little too..... normal?; almost like a typical mobster with some makeup and hair dye. He didn't have that maniacal essence that Heath Ledger and even Jack Nicholson portrayed so effectively.
Rounding out the other characters - Killer Croc was too small (why are they intent on reducing the size of these characters? - just like they did with Apocalypse in X-Men) and his impact was not menacing enough. Diablo was fine until the end - what the hell happened there! Slipknot was the sacrificial lamb as anyone who knew anything about Suicide Squad could tell from a mile away. Captain Boomerang has so much more potential than was shown, and I actually could tolerate Jai Courtenay, which amazed me. Rick Flag was terrible - Joel Kinnaman is a real hit and miss actor and at times in this he resembled a drug addict more than a super soldier. Kitana was a real background character, and her choreography in the film was terrible.
However, all in all, it was the storytelling and the poor action that really let this film down. There was a need for characters to constantly remind each other what to do, just to keep the idea of the plot flowing. "Harley! If he dies, we die". The antagonists in both this film and BvS have turned this franchise too much towards a reliance on CG - something that done well can be game changing (as Marvel has shown), however this was not done well and does not do the movie any favors.
I walked out of the film deflated. Batman v Superman had its OK parts, but this film was the nail in the coffin for DC as far as I am concerned. This saddens me deeply. Batman is my world. It is my screen name on Playstation and Boom Beach (to name but a few), and I have lived and breathed this character since I was a 5 year old stepping into Tim Burtons first take on the caped crusader. To see his 'house' collapsing around him is killing me. DC has to take a step back on this one and think what they are doing. This is not the way