The Nerd Reviews: Suicide Squad

After the less than stellar reviews of both "Man of Steel" and "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: The Justice League Prequel with weird setups", DC really needed to show fans that they knew what they were doing; they needed a film to recapture the hope of moviegoers that they can watch a film produced by Warner Bros of a DC property and not be disappointed. Does Suicide Squad remedy the situation or is just another heap of dirt on the coffin of the DC Cinematic Universe?

Plot-"Suicide Squad" is the 3rd film in the current DCCU where we are not given another set of heroes to root for but rather it's the villains that get a crack at saving the day. Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) assembles a team full of bad guys, Deadshot (Will Smith) Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) El Diablo (Jay Hernandez) Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) Slipknot(Adam Beach), to go into Midway and stop the big bad of the film The Enchantress (Cara Delevinge). They are lead by Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnamon) and are later joined by Katana (Karen Fukuhara) in their quest to stop Enchantress from destroying all of humanity. To complicate matters further, the Joker (Jared Leto) finds his way to the city in order to inact his own plans.

Pros- The film does a great job capturing the comic book-y energy of the source material with its much more lighthearted tone than the previous DC films. The main cast really nail there characters, especially Margot as Harley Quinn. I am not a huge Quinn fan myself but her portrayal definitely made me want to see more of that version of Harley in future films. Will Smith brought his trademark charm and wit to Deadshot and that made it much more easier for me want to see them do well, especially after seeing just how he ended up on the team in the first place. Viola Davis channels the

Deadshot (Will Smith) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie)

worst parts of her Annalise Keating (How to Get Away with Murder) character in her Amanda Waller and she is terrifying as the leader of Argus (in the best way possible). Jay Hernandez made me care about El Diablo way more than I thought I would and that is saying a lot because...who cares about El Diablo ya know? I really enjoyed the moments of character interaction we got to see and the first act was really strong to me. The movie has better cohesion than BvS and I actually laughed while watching this, something I cannot say about the past films.

Cons- I'm just gonna say this from the start, Jared Leto was 100% misused. Not saying he was a bad Joker, but I can't say he was a very good one either because I think total he gets about 5-10mins of screentime and that is just not enough for a character that big, especially when most of the marketing revolved around him. I understand that this is a film about the team but if you are going to include him then he needs to have a purpose in the film that feels heavy; I was expecting him to cause a real problem for the squad but ultimately he's a passing nuisance if that. I wanted to see more of a visceral team reaction to Joker being thrown into the equation than what we got. Other characters also felt a bit useless like Captain Boomerang, I got the "why is Hawkeye on the Avengers" vibe from him because you have Deadshot who is a marksman and then you have Captain Boomerang...that throws Boomerang. His role as comedy relief din't really increase his importance because once again Deadshot was funny, Harley had her moments, even Killer Croc got in on the action so ol Boomy just felt like a placeholder. Speaking of Killer Croc, I was not happy with what they gave him, a couple of grunts and one liners and that was it. I wasn't expecting a super in-depth version of him but a little more in terms of his backstory and motivations could have gone a long way in liking him as an actual character. Rick Flagg was pretty bland and I am not sure if that was a directing decision or just the actor, Enchantress suffers from "stupid villain" syndrome and the last act is pretty predictable minus the abrupt ending. Also there are parts of the film that definitely felt cut out/redone and it makes some parts of the movie a bit awkward.

You've pretty much seen all his scenes in the trailer

Overall-  After all those cons I am sure you're expecting me to say this movie was awful right? Well you'd be wrong...because that's not what I am saying, that's why you're wrong if you don't follow. All kidding aside, I think this film was very enjoyable in spite of it's flaws. The characters work well together and really carry the movie. I enjoyed seeing Deadshot given more depth than we are commonly given in the comics. I liked how they were actually having fun in the film and it wasn't all just grit and gloom. The cameos in the film didn't break my immersion (sorry but seeing Stan Lee in Marvel films def reminds me none of this is actually real) and it actually felt like a comic book movie.

Would I have done a few things differently? Absolutely. Is this a perfect film? God no. "Suicide Squad" isn't going to make up for the failings of BvS and Man of Steel; it's not a colossal leap up for DC, however, it is certainly a step in the right direction. Also this sounds weird but this is probably the most comic book accurate Batman we've seen to date and if they can carry this version into Justice League and beyond, that would be awesome. Anyways, I liked the film, I think people should watch it and see for themselves but  I do think you'll also enjoy it too.

Ok, go away now.