Excellent movie

Rating: 10/10 (5 September 2016)

While there are many reviews panning this movie as forced or calling the story line unoriginal and the characters one dimensional, I couldn't disagree more.
Having been a fan of all things Batman for...what almost 30 years? Since I was old enough to read and my father bought me my first batman comic, I'd call myself somewhat of an expert on the subject matter. Many critics are calling Leto's interpretation of the joker as over the top, forced and unoriginal, his performance is the most accurate to the source material since Nicholson's performance in the coveted 1989 Batman. (That's not to take anything away from Ledger masterwork, his Joker worked for those films, but would not "work" in this new DC movie universe.) The Joker was outlandish, brash and sadistic. That is what we should expect from The Joker in every aspect. Leto's take on the role was a masterpiece of method acting and paying homage to the source material while putting his own unique flare on this monumental character. He had some pretty big shoes to fill, and fill them he did.
For a supporting role in a movie about a group of bad guys saving the world to literally steal the show with every moment (of which there were far too few) he had on screen, says a lot about Leto's Joker. Especially with the group of high profile actors he had to contend with.
That said, the one character I thought did not "work" was Deadshot. For a character with such a pivotal role in the central story line, Will Smith's performance, for me, fell flat. I didn't feel any connection at all to the character despite all of the drama they attempted to stuff into the story surrounding the character. Meanwhile, almost every other character, even slipknot felt more "real" for the limited time (and what a waste...) we got to see him.
Then there is Harley Quinn...I don't feel like enough can be said about Margot Robbie's performance or her take on the character. I don't even know where to begin, so I'll just use one word: Brilliant.
The story was not at all what I expected. For the major villain to be one of the villains themselves, seemed to me a bit contrived, but it worked. The Enchantress was as evil and nasty as one might expect, even if they did seem to take the creepy chick crawling out of the TV on The Ring as inspiration for the character.
In the end, I give the movie a solid 8, if just for some of the characters falling flat, and really...I believe Will Smith was just miscast for the role of Deadshot. I think I'd have rather seen someone like Jason Stathom for the role. Though he was a bit one dimensional and did a disservice to the movie, he didn't "ruin" the movie. There was plenty in the other characters to more than make up for his flat performance.
I will not delve into the plot, or spoil the story any further. See it for yourself and judge as you will. I completely enjoyed the film, and will be seeing it again.
-L