So last night I went to AMC Lincoln squre movie theater with a couple of my buddies to finally see Suicide Squad. I have been anticipating this movie for quite some time. To be totally frank, I was a little upset because I heard and read many mixed reviews.
So what are my thoughts? I loved this movie. I will acknowledge that this movie does have it's problems. Having said that, if you want a movie that will make you laugh, will make you connect with it's characters and that has awesome action this is the movie for you. on the contrary, if you want a movie with a compelling villain, and a constructed story structure then maybe this isnt the right movie for you.
What I loved:
1. I immediately fell in love with the main characters. Will Smith as Deadshot and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn absolutely kill it. The dynamic and chemistry between the team members was spot on. All the members of the Suicide Squas were interesting and different. In a 2 hour movie with characters that we are unaware of, it is very difficult to have an audience connect with a group of bad guys.
2. Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. Earlier I mentioned that this movie is lacking a compelling villain. Most people that watch this movie can argue thay Amanda Waller is in fact the villain of the movie. She is ruthless and might in fact be the worst of the bunch. She is a character full of determination and will achieve her end goal no matter what the collateral damage might be. Viola Davis does a great job making the audience despise her and that is not easy to do.
3. The action in this movie is just awesome. During The screening, there were a couple of occasions where the audience starting clapping and cheering because the action scenes were just awesome and engaging.
What I liked:
1. Up until this point I haven't talked about Jared Leto as the Joker. He is perhaps the reason this movie is as polarizing as it is. Jared had the impossible task of following up one of the greatest villain performances there was in his predecessor; Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. Reason I didn't put Leto's performance in what I loved is because there wasn't that much of him. He is very much a background character in this movie but in the scenes he was in I was glued to the screen because Jared does such a great job as the Joker. Be prepared though, he is very much a different Joker.
2. The introduction. The first 10-15 minutes of the movie is so much fun. It is very engaging and does a great job introducing us to the characters and how they got into the position they are in. Batman has a cameo in which he gets tipped off by Amanda Waller as to the location of Will Smith's Deadshot and Batman ends up arresting Deadshot. The Flash also has a cameo in which the audience went crazy for, and he brings in Captain Boomerang mid-bank robbery.
What didn't work:
1. The Enchantress. Cara Delevigne as the Enchantress was a character that I was intrigued with. Before seeing the movie I heard that she is the villain and not a very good one to say the least. At the beginning of the movie i actually liked her character, but as the movie went on, I was starting to get sick of her character. She is not a great villain and her henchmen that she controls at the end of the movie is just fodder for the Suicide Squad to munch on.
2. Stakes. Piggybacking on point number 1, the cause of having a not so good villain is that I never really felt that the Suicide Squad was in trouble. The movie amped if up but when the final act came around, it never went up another gear.
Final Thoughts: I really enjoyed the hell out of this movie. If you want to watch a movie with comedy, action and great characters this is your movie.
My final score: 8.2/10
Let me me know what you think of my review. What did you like, what didn't you like and I would love to hear what you thought of The Suicide Squad.
Until next time.
Mase