REVIEW: Suicide Squad Fails to Live Up to the Hype

Suicide Squad had all the potential to be the film that puts a bit of swagger back in the DC Comic film universe but it missed the mark entirely. A talented cast and unlimited potential had fans ready for a DC film to be proud of but again they’re let down by Warner Bros. and Zack Snyder.

Suicide Squad follows Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) as she forms Task Force X or the Suicide Squad, a squad comprised of the worst, most dangerous villains. The squad’s purpose is to fight the battles armies around the world can’t handle. The film’s plot is comparable to the delightfully evil comic series of the same name.

For a film that has well-known, beloved characters and a star studded cast, the pieces don’t fit together to make this movie enjoyable. From the choppy editing to the unnecessary secondary plot lines, this movie could not find its stride.

One of the biggest disappointments was the Joker’s portion of the story. His character had essentially no point in the movie, other than being used as a tool to draw more of an audience, Don’t let this fool you, Jared Leto’s version of the Joker is lackluster at best. Rather than creating his own version, he pulled together a hodgepodge of Heath Ledger’ s Joker and Jack Nicholson’s Joker, with a smidge of Al Pacino’s Scarface thrown in, to produce an abysmal character. The precious minutes spent on his arc could have been used for the main cast or the main story itself.

The one shining light was Viola as Amanda Waller. She was excellent as the cunning creator of the Suicide Squad. The Suicide Squad members, Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Karen Fukuhara, could have been great if their characters had of a plot to work with. Instead the writers gave backstory for only some of the members, leaving the audience clueless as to the others. The inconsistency in the stories makes them useless. Learning about these characters via other DC Comic films would have been a better option.

For those who want to see the movie, wait until it is airing on TV. It is not worth spending the money to see, which is such a disappointment as it could have been an entertaining flick. It seems once again, another DC film doesn’t live up to expectations.

Grade: D