Sometimes I feel if I have started looking at movies a little more closely or I am just becoming a harsh critic who likes nothing but perfect and I desperately hope I am not the latter. Suicide Squad is a mess of a movie but I had fun at most points in the film and isn't that what we all want as audiences?
Will Smith's (brilliant) Deadshot asks Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) at the end how she was still alive and this question echoed my sentiments at the end with the movie leaving many questions unanswered and story plots that start somewhere but do not have a proper ending. This was in my opinion its biggest problem, which is interesting given how the movie involved back stories. There is lack of real flow to the film and when there is some, it gets broken with a new story plot thrown into the midst. There were lots of different and awesome chunks with great music added into one movie but no thread to tie them together into one piece of art. I felt the end fight lasted a really long time while not really adding much weight to story and if some of that time was used to showcase the characters and their chemistry, this movie would have been top of my list. Amongst all the characters, I did not really buy into the enchantress who incidentally was the main villain at the end as well. There were some weird shots of her sort-of dancing which felt so out of place even for a crazy movie like this one. That shot almost took me out of the movie. The music selection was pretty good but at times did end up overshadowing the actual scene.
And this is where my positives come in. The characters and the actors portraying them were the most interesting and kept me hooked on to the film. All of them had genuine camaraderie and I believed them to be together while also fighting their differences. Almost all the actors brought their A-game into this one. I enjoyed Deadshot's backstory and Will was good. Him and the excellent Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn) were the best parts for me with Jay Hernandez (El Diablo) and Jai Courtney (Boomerang) coming close second. The performances carry this movie throughout.
I also loved all of Batman cameos and it was nice to see his aura from the villain's perspective. Jared Leto's Joker portrayal threw me off guard at the start because it was so different from any of the earlier versions but I was ok with it as the movie progressed. His relationship with Harley was very intriguing to watch and at some points directly put comic book pages to life. Their backstory did feel disjointed again because of the random edits but I still ended up liking it. I am looking forwards to them in the solo Batman film.
To wrap up, David Ayer brought to life some amazing characters who can do some real good stuff on the big screen and I am very interested in a sequel to this film. With a little brush up, this movie could be an awesome time at the theaters. I might even watch this one a second time.
A lot of fun! Overall Rating: 7/10