A forgetful super hero movie

Rating: 3/10 (5 August 2016)

Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto and others star in Suicide Squad, the latest movie by writer/director David Ayer. The movie has us follow a group of bad guys who are forced to work together and defeat other evil incarnations. It is however not in their nature to team up, but they are forced to with a remote controlled explosive device that is planted into their neck, if they do not follow their orders the device is activated and they die. Not obeying their leader would be equal to committing suicide, hence the name Suicide Squad.
In the first hour of the movie all the different characters are introduced. This does not work all that well however as it is very hard to become invested in a character when all you know about them is information that other characters say trough expositional dialogue. Not all characters get a proper introduction however as some are just shoved in there. One of the characters is only introduced with a simple line of dialogue for example. The introductions, though lengthy, really do not provide a lot of background and when the movie wants you to care about them more it throws in a simple flashback.
The actors portraying the different characters overall did a great job. Sometimes the performances felt a bit off, but I got the impression that the movies director was more to blame for this. This is especially true for Jared Leto's character 'The Joker' who felt more like a simple thug with a mental disorder rather than the bad-ass mobster he should have been.
The movies main villains felt a little bit overpowered (which forced them to not use their power to their full extent when fighting the Suicide Squad) but the action sequences between them and the Suicide Squad were all fairly well done. There are a few moments where slow motion is lazily used to create a bit more tension but never enough that it becomes a major problem. There isn't really an action scene so good that you'll remember it in a few years time though, but on the other hand there also isn't one so bad that'll accomplish the same either.
In the end 'Suicide Squad' works fine as a brainless action movie and fans of the characters will certainly enjoy it to some extent. People who do not know the characters will probably enjoy it a lot less though as the movie never establishes a good connection between them and the viewer and for a movie that should be just about the Suicide Squad themselves this is a major flaw.
My rating: 4/10