Joke's on you, critics...

Rating: 7/10 (5 August 2016)

I'm an average superhero fan, but ever more a DC fan than Marvel (sorry Stan...) and I had been waiting weeks for this release. And so in last minute readiness I had viewed the previous two films within a seemingly very long 24 hours before heading off for the packed midnight premiere screening of the third installment in DC's latest big-screen franchise, kick started by '300' director Zack Snyder's 'Man of Steel' in 2013. We've met the good guys (a few only briefly of course) and now, at the hands of 'End of Watch' director David Ayer, we get to meet the bad guys in possibly the fastest arriving blockbuster sequel ever, following on from the events of this year's Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. First of all... Jared Leto - let's go straight there. After all, the Joker is the one character most of us have looked forward to witnessing more than the others in this movie, with scepticism over his very different demeanour to any other take on Batman's arch-nemesis, and how Leto had frighteningly stayed in character on set. And though this new take on the Joker certainly has him portrayed - and very well, no doubt to Leto's extreme method acting, having reportedly posted bullets and dead animal parts to his fellow cast members - as a psychopathic megalomaniac, I didn't find him as threatening or scary as I was hoping him to be. Whether that is due to lack of screen time or Heath Ledger's legendary portrayal still carrying an impact eight years on is up for speculation. But if it's anything to go by, many of Leto's scenes apparently having been cut will no doubt find themselves re-edited in the DVD/Blu Ray release to come, as had been done with Batman V Superman also (which added an additional 30 minutes onto its already 2 1/2 hour standard running time with its 'Ultimate Edition' release this week!) Nevertheless though, Leto gave a fine performance in every of his moments. Margot Robbie... Just wow! Harley Quinn blew me away. The ex-Neighbours actress has come a long way, proving she can play a villain as well as any role she has so far. Noticeably she loses the Brooklyn accent a little in certain moments throughout the movie, but that doesn't stop an overall fun villainous performance. Jai Courtney, I've long realised, has been under a fair (or more accurately, 'unfair') amount of scrutiny as an actor primarily over the not so great blockbusters he's appeared in in recent years, labelled a 'franchise killer' by some after his leading roles in 2013's 'A Good Day to Die Hard' and last years 'Terminator Genysis'. Well he surely doesn't kill this entry into the franchise as I found him one of the funniest and most entertaining characters in the group. Will Smith is as amazing as expected, delivering most of the lines I found funny and executing his shots within the explosive action scenes brilliantly, also teaming with Margot again after last years 'Focus'. There is little fault in the rest of the group as well; in Jay Hernandez's (in some moments, touching) performance as Diablo, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's (who I'd best known for his role in 'Lost' and couldn't identify him at all beneath the scales) Killer Croc, and Cara Delevigne in, for me, her most interesting performance yet as Enchantress-possessed June Moon. This film is well worth seeing in 3D. There is more than enough flying out of the screen at you and in one moment I remember I actually felt myself close to flinching like I was trying to dodge something. I have been disappointed with this newest franchise, which worries me with Snyder (who's films have mainly been deemed average in their criticism, and I find his best feature to date is still his 2004 remake of Romero's 'Dawn of the Dead') helming the Justice League movies as well as Man of Steel and it's first sequel, but Ayer has undoubtedly brought to us the best installment yet, and hopefully 'Monster' director Patty Jenkins will do as well a job, if not better, with next year's 'Wonder Woman'. Suicide Squad is messy in some moments, and I had slightly lost interest in the last third-to-quarter of the 2 hour running time until the ending, but throughout I had notably loved the choice of music tracks (including those from the trailers) and the very many action scenes that dominate the majority of the feature (which still acquire much CGI in their execution - though the film is definitely not as rinsed with it as its predecessors' overdone action sequences) and I think it will generally please more than not, and I expect, looking by how many turned up at midnight to see it, it will be a roaring success and may well set a record for its opening weekend grossing. Of the summer blockbusters this year, this is to me the best of them. Hardly Oscar bait - as most blockbusters nowadays aren't - but still great fun. I'd like to note lastly (as most people had missed it...) don't be so quick to walk out at the end, there is a mid-credits scene.