The long and short of it is that Suicide Squad doesn’t live up to its potential. There are fleeting moments of promise, but overall it’s sort of all over the place, with poor weighting, confused pace and a few random sections that just don’t work. While you can’t help but like certain characters, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Cara Delvingne’s Enchantress work particularly well, they’re let down by the rest of the film.
One of our biggest bug bears is that the trailer for the film was a work of such misdirection that we couldn’t help but feel a little cheated when we actually watched the full movie. The trailer implies that The Joker, played a bit too ridiculously by Jared Leto, is the central baddy, but actually he turns out to be a bit of a bit part player.
That disappointment aside, there’s not that much wrong with the overarching story in itself, which lends a lot from the comic book origins of Suicide Squad. It’s essentially the squad being forced into action at the beck and call of the US government only to find themselves in at the deep end against the might of a super powerful Enchantress who has managed to raise her destructive brother, Incubus, in a bid to get free.
However, as with all things in life its all in the delivery. Wasting way too much time on the back story for each member of the squad kicks things off on a bit of a downer and then it’s followed up by a whole lot of faffing, leaving no space for a couple of dry runs for them. Instead, they go straight into a battle with a rampaging Incubus in a weirdly confused way, but still manage to bond effectively as a team in the process.
Enchantress and Incubus make good good baddies with the sheer power that they command and they look pretty cool as they’re summoning a weapon of mass destruction while dishing out the pain to all and sundry. It’s just a shame there isn’t a bit more scope for organic character development, instead of the forced situation that we’re left with. If that isn’t enough, there are a couple of ridiculous moments that just don’t work on any level, like the weird bar scene, the fact that the HQ for the government agency controlling the Squad happens to be in an office block in midtown Midway City – right next to where the trouble is brewing – and the . They’re ill conceived and contribute a lot to the negative side of the balance for Suicide Squad.
In addition to Margot Robbie (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot) and Cara Delavingne’s (Paper Towns) sterling efforts within the confines of a poor film, there are also some good moments for Viola Davis (The Help) as bad-to-the-bone government official, Amanda Waller, a few laughs from Jai Courtney (Terminator Genisys) as Captain Boomerang, and a whole lot of power from Alain Chanoine as Incubus. On the flip side to all of this, Jared Leto (Blade Runner 2049) is a pathetic letdown as The Joker, lacking any kind of actual malevolence, despite what the trailer had led us to believe, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Thor The Dark World) and Karen Fukuhara are just a bit naff as El Diablo, Killer Croc and Katana, and Will Smith and Joel Kinnerman don’t really do enough to lift the film to its full potential.
There’s some bad makeup and costume for El Diablo, Killer Cros, Katana and Slipknot, which is an oddity considering what a great job the team has done for Harley Quinn, Enchantress and Incubus. The special effects are a little middle of the road for the most part, except for where Enchantress ad Incubus are concerned, as they look incredible throughout.
All in all, it’s a film with more downs than ups, so we have to say that there’s not really going to be too much re-watch potential for the DVD, unless you really love Harley Quinn. Suicide Squad deserved to be a hell of a lot better than it is, and with the prospect of a sequel in the mix we can only hope that Marvel and the creative/production team behind it do a better job with their next effort.
Suicide Squad DVD review: 2.4/5
