The Brave and The Bold #25 (September 1959) marked the first appearance of the Suicide Squad, a team of antiheroes. First created by Robert Kanigher and artist Ross Andru, the group was featured in six issues before returning in 1987. John Ostrander revived the team for Legends #3, and it has since gone through many incarnations, even going into today. In 2009, Warner Bros announced a movie version was in production, with Dan Lin (The LEGO Movie) as a producer. David Ayer (End of Watch) signed on to write and direct in 2014, and tons of big-name actors were attached. Eventually, it came down to Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jared Leto, Jai Courtney, Cara Delevingne, and Joel Kinnaman. Filming commenced in 2015, though Warner Bros ordered reshoots following the negative reception of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. On August 5, 2016, David Ayer’s Suicide Squad was released.
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Synopsis
Following Superman’s death, intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) offers a solution should another cataclysmic event occur. She proposes to assemble a team of some of the worst criminals imaginable as disposable assets for high-risk missions. Among them are hitman Deadshot (Will Smith) and psychopath Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), the girlfriend of The Joker (Jared Leto). Alongside Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), and Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) leads them. Unfortunately, one of their recruits, The Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), goes rogue and besieges the nearby Midway City to control mankind. The squad is deployed to the city under the guise that they’re extracting a high-level target being threatened by terrorists. Joined by Asian warrior Katana (Karen Fukuhara), the squad must carry out their mission under threat of their heads exploding. Will the squad succeed, or will they be victims of The Enchantress?
Review
For as much as it tries to be fun, Suicide Squad is a garish mess of noise and colors. Starting with the positives, some of the performances are solid, namely Smith, Robbie, Davis, Kinnaman, and surprisingly even Courtney. Given that this was the live-action debut of fan-favorite Harley Quinn, Robbie’s is the best we could’ve hoped for. As per usual, Smith is very charismatic, though it feels less like a character and more Smith just being Smith. Davis’s stern attitude and cold demeanor perfectly contrast with the craziness around her, and Kinnaman makes a good straight man. Even Jai Courtney, who’s usually a plank of wood in terms of acting, is surprisingly fun to watch. The first act, though a bit scatterbrained, is the best part of the film, showing off its colorful aesthetics. Unfortunately, once the action gets going, things take a sharp nosedive and it never recovers.
While some of the performances are enjoyable, a majority of them are painful to sit through, especially Jared Leto’s Joker. Whereas Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger perfectly balanced eccentricity and intimidation, Leto goes full over-the-top, almost trying too hard. It doesn’t help that he went so far as to send his costars disgusting “gifts” and generally made them uncomfortable. Unlike Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which was dark and brooding, this one tries being more colorful and fun. Unfortunately, the colors are either too garish or, once again, washed out and muted, resulting in an ugly look. Also, the editing is atrocious, some scenes having at least two or three cuts per minute, making the action incomprehensible. This seems like a case of a studio trying so hard to appease its fans only to disappoint them. Overall, Suicide Squad is an ugly mishmash of color and mayhem.
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