With Batman V. Superman being as underwhelming as it is, it’s important for DC’s cinematic universe to get things moving in the right direction as quickly as possible. And since it’s the immediate release after that franchise builder, Suicide Squad is the best place for them to start. While the main guys in this movie are actually a cast of villains, they may just prove to be the heroes that Warner Bros. needs right now.
It was after recent events that shook everyone to the core that Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) came up with the plan to build a team of meta-humans that can combat anything the universe has to offer. Her idea is a risky one that demands the kind of commitment very few would want to take. I guess that’s why she had to forcefully recruit some of the world’s most dangerous criminals to take on challenges that. They have nothing to lose and are highly expendable.
The characters in Suicide Squad carry the movie right from the beginning. While they’re not all fleshed out or focused on a great deal, many of them have their backstories showcased. This does help in establishing who they are as we need to know this for future appearances in sequels and other pictures linked to this DC universe.
The main reason why they help here is because of the personalities of the people they put the focus on do wonderfully with the exception of Cara Delevingne as Enchantress. Many figured that Margot Robbie would be the number one bright spot since she’s starring as a character that many people wanted to see, but others more than find their place right beside here. While Robbie certainly does well, the others are just as good at what they’re showing.
What prevents Suicide Squad from being as epic as it should be is the story and the film’s overall structure. It’s easy to follow when they’re setting things up at the start, but everything begins to jump around a little more than it needs to. It also begins to collapse when you realize that they’re not telling us certain things that we need to know. This ultimately leads to something that’s not worth paying attention to all that much.
This is also why the characters are so important here. They help us ignore the sub par storytelling. You take away the personalities and intriguing aspects of the characters and you’re looking at a horrible movie that would be as forgettable as most of the other movies that have been released in the summer of 2016. These guys help the movie in avoiding that fate while also giving us a positive starting point in the early going of the DC Comics universe.
We can also point out the less than stellar villains that our cast of anti-heroes have to battle against. While they’re kind of dangerous, they’re as important and as distinguishable as the bad guys you see in movies from the Marvel universe. I don’t know why, but these movies think it’s a good idea to have a bunch of faceless acolytes following a supreme antagonist. I guess it gives the leads more opportunities to showcase their skills. Other than that, a bit more personality could have done us all a favor.
This lack of a coherent story does begin to show itself over time. This could have done more harm if this carried the all too common 2 and a half run time that’s seemingly required for movies that are this big. Dragging this out would have destroyed any enjoyment that you could have had here. Kind of like what happened with Batman V. Superman. There are some nice things working early in that movie, but it becomes irrelevant once things drag on for too long.
That and the fact that it does well in regard to fan service combines with the characters to make a decent movie. Because of this, Suicide Squad is a decent movie that does have at least some value. It’s not all that it could have been, but it also could have been much worse than what we do get. This sets a decent tone for the future of this world that they want to continue. Let’s just hope the people behind it builds on it so we can get some really entertaining pictures in the near future.
Rating: PG-13
Director: David Ayers
Cast:
Will Smith
Jared Leto
Margot Robbie
Joel Kinnaman
Viola Davis
Jai Courtney
Jay Hernandez
Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje
Ike Barinholtz
Scott Eastwood
Cara Delevingne
Adam Beach
Karen Fukuhara
Film Length: 122 minutes
Release Date: August 5, 2016
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures