Frenetic and fun

Rating: Null/10 (7 August 2016)

In the never-ending battle to bring to the big screen characters from the DC and Marvel comic books by Time Warner and Disney respectively, the latest shot is this super villain version of "The Dirty Dozen" which launches upon us a whole slew of oddballs from the DC stable. If you're not familiar with the comics (like me), you won't know these characters and DC superheroes Batman (brief appearances) and Superman (brief references) are barely present.
The movie is a mixed success with a flashy style, a rocking soundtrack, a few sharp lines and plenty of crashing action from writer and director David Ayer who carried out the same responsibilities for "End Of Watch' and "Fury". Major weaknesses though are that the number in the squad is too large for all the characters to be developed properly and most of them are more sympathetic than evil (notably Will Smith who is just too nice as Deadshot), while the forces that they battle - model Cara Delevingne as Enchantress, her giant brother and a bunch of faceless zombies - look as if they've wandered in from a "Ghostbusters" movie.
For me, the best thing about "Suicide Squad" is Margot Robbie who plays Harley Quinn, formerly prison psychiatrist Dr Harleen Quinzel who fell in love with a patient the Joker (another underdeveloped role). She is sassy and sexy while brilliantly balletic and devastating with a baseball bat and she delivers most of the best lines with charming cheek. You can understand why the Joker wants her out of her maximum security prison and why the squad will be back.