Stop using comic books to defend this movie!

Rating: 3/10 (7 August 2016)

This wanted to be "Guardians of the Galaxy" so bad!
As the most teased and advertised movie of the year, even with a tsunami of negative early reviews, the "Suicide Squad" hype train was not to be derailed; which meant: No matter what the reviews said, I was still going to see this movie. That said, does this film live up to the hype?
Synopsis: Telling the story of a group of incarcerated supervillains who are rounded up (for reasons unknown) by the government (instead for recruiting actual soldiers; again, "for reasons unknown") and made to battle a villainous witch (who wasn't even a threat until after said villains were "rounded up"). Now if that sounds like a movie you want to see, then read on and let's see if I can't break your spirit. Director David Ayer's style (Training Day, End of Watch) is completely lost in a movie that looks like it was edited by producers into a mishmash of nonsensical cuts, flashbacks and one on-the-nose song after another. This outcome results in a lackluster plot jumble in conjunction with nonsensical character motivations, in equal amounts. I get why a supervillain would be forced to help the government, but (spoiler alert) there comes a point when they don't have to, BUT DO IT ANYWAY! (insert head-scratching emoji here).
While Deadshot (Will Smith) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) do work as entertaining leads, the Joker (played by Jared Leto in an absolutely forgettable performance) is made to look like a Juggalo electronic-dance DJ inspired pimp, whose motivations include wearing purple fur coats and running around the city with no shirt on, showing off his abs. The Joker I KNOW was all about chaos. That's what makes him scary; the fact that he isn't much for "feelings" and doesn't wear a frightening amount of bling-bling. But I guess it's 2016 and this is what we get; a Joker feat. Skrillex. As for all of the other B-side villains, they are complete throwaways.
Final Thought: As much as I enjoyed "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (I know I'm in the minority here) "Suicide Squad" may be looked back upon as the beginning of the end for this particular cinematic DC universe. So, let me be the first to say it: RIP, DC.