When I first saw this film as an idiot 16-year-old I absolutely adored it; ever toating it as the "best DC movie of all time," every viewing since (with the exception of the second theatrical viewing because I was making out with a girl the whole time) I have found it more and more of a mess. I think the reason I enjoyed it so much is that my dumb little brain could only focus on the good ideas the movie DID have and not everything that ruins these ideas & elements from reaching their true potential. There is a lot to love in this film, but it is always paired with something equally bad or worse.
Overall the notable characters are well done on a surface level. Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang, and Amanda Waller are all done well enough keeping in mind what they were given to work with. EL Diablo was very interesting and it one of the more developed of the bunch (Side note, I was CONVINCED that his death was a fakeout and he was going to appear again in the DCEU... guess not). Will Smith does a surprisingly great job with the character of Deadshot and I really hope we see more of him in the universe moving forward, even if it is just as a cameo. Most people would say Harley Quinn is the best-done character, but she is actually one of my biggest problems with the picture. While wonderfully acted by Margot Robbie, the character is a dumbed-down version of their comic counterpart. Harley is supposed to be a highly intelligent woman who uses a ditz persona to get a tactical edge in combat both physically and psychologically. While Suicide Squad does a better job at conveying this than Birds of Prey, she doesn't come off as more than a dumb, over-sexualized hoe. Irilocally, I much preferred the Joker. While a HUGE departure from what we come to expect, I love this Joker's absolutely chaotic mannerisms and think many people could grow to like him if he was given the right time to develop. The only character I truly have a problem with is Killer Croc due to ti his size, but I hope that they can find an excuse to beef him up and have him return in a better movie.
I love the neon-punk aesthetic and the concept of the fast-paced editing to convey the insane concept of a supervillain team, but the editing is so chaotic that it near makes the movie incomprehensible. The final cut was edited by a trailer house and it definitely shows, often including scenes out of order, skipping important development, and straight-up lying to the audience. This just makes the already bad story so much worse.
This movie not only underdeveloped the Joker as a weird B-plot side villain but also gives us the most generic villain of the DCEU in Enchantress. According to the film, Waller created the Squad to protect against potential meta-human threats only to have Enchantress rouge despite the fact he is controlled by the one who holds her heart (Waller herself) and is killed when her heart is destroyed. Despite these being the only two things we know about Enchantress, these facts prove completely false within the first act of the film. WOW. If this film was ever going to work, it should have gone in one of two directions:
A) Spend the first act of the film to establish the relationship between Rick Flag and Dr. Moon, eventually leading to Enchantress becoming a threat and forcing Amanda and Rick to gather the Suicide Squad to stop her. Then you could use the flashback montage sequences to establish each character alongside how they were brought into the team. This way we can keep the drama focused on Rick Flag and his conflict to save or Kill Enchantress. OR...
B) Have the Joker take over Arkham Asylum and hold the warden hostage with many smaller villains working with him to keep out the police. This would force Amanda to use criminals held in other facilities to create the Suicide Squad. We could use Harley Quinn as the main character as we follow her trying to leave the Squad and join the Joker but form a connection with the team and ultimately chose to gain her independence and bring Joker into custody. This way we can spend more time fleshing out the history of Harley and Joker with an emotional connection.
At the end of the day, this movie has a lot of cool ideas. The montages and the licensed music aren't really the problem, but a painful casualty of a lack of direction and focus. If only we could have seen the amazing movie this concept started when it was written. Unfortunately, this is all we have for now.
Overall the notable characters are well done on a surface level. Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang, and Amanda Waller are all done well enough keeping in mind what they were given to work with. EL Diablo was very interesting and it one of the more developed of the bunch (Side note, I was CONVINCED that his death was a fakeout and he was going to appear again in the DCEU... guess not). Will Smith does a surprisingly great job with the character of Deadshot and I really hope we see more of him in the universe moving forward, even if it is just as a cameo. Most people would say Harley Quinn is the best-done character, but she is actually one of my biggest problems with the picture. While wonderfully acted by Margot Robbie, the character is a dumbed-down version of their comic counterpart. Harley is supposed to be a highly intelligent woman who uses a ditz persona to get a tactical edge in combat both physically and psychologically. While Suicide Squad does a better job at conveying this than Birds of Prey, she doesn't come off as more than a dumb, over-sexualized hoe. Irilocally, I much preferred the Joker. While a HUGE departure from what we come to expect, I love this Joker's absolutely chaotic mannerisms and think many people could grow to like him if he was given the right time to develop. The only character I truly have a problem with is Killer Croc due to ti his size, but I hope that they can find an excuse to beef him up and have him return in a better movie.
I love the neon-punk aesthetic and the concept of the fast-paced editing to convey the insane concept of a supervillain team, but the editing is so chaotic that it near makes the movie incomprehensible. The final cut was edited by a trailer house and it definitely shows, often including scenes out of order, skipping important development, and straight-up lying to the audience. This just makes the already bad story so much worse.
This movie not only underdeveloped the Joker as a weird B-plot side villain but also gives us the most generic villain of the DCEU in Enchantress. According to the film, Waller created the Squad to protect against potential meta-human threats only to have Enchantress rouge despite the fact he is controlled by the one who holds her heart (Waller herself) and is killed when her heart is destroyed. Despite these being the only two things we know about Enchantress, these facts prove completely false within the first act of the film. WOW. If this film was ever going to work, it should have gone in one of two directions:
A) Spend the first act of the film to establish the relationship between Rick Flag and Dr. Moon, eventually leading to Enchantress becoming a threat and forcing Amanda and Rick to gather the Suicide Squad to stop her. Then you could use the flashback montage sequences to establish each character alongside how they were brought into the team. This way we can keep the drama focused on Rick Flag and his conflict to save or Kill Enchantress. OR...
B) Have the Joker take over Arkham Asylum and hold the warden hostage with many smaller villains working with him to keep out the police. This would force Amanda to use criminals held in other facilities to create the Suicide Squad. We could use Harley Quinn as the main character as we follow her trying to leave the Squad and join the Joker but form a connection with the team and ultimately chose to gain her independence and bring Joker into custody. This way we can spend more time fleshing out the history of Harley and Joker with an emotional connection.
At the end of the day, this movie has a lot of cool ideas. The montages and the licensed music aren't really the problem, but a painful casualty of a lack of direction and focus. If only we could have seen the amazing movie this concept started when it was written. Unfortunately, this is all we have for now.
