Suicide Squad BurtonReview: Welcome to the Madhouse
(Image sourced fromhttp://www.warnerbros.com/suicide-squad)
With this summer’s biggest trend seeing superheroes of all
universes bashing other superheroes square in the face, it’s no wonder the
badguys got so bored they started doing their own thing. But was making a team
of the baddest of the bad to fill in for where the other superheroes have been
lacking this year, ya know saving other people instead of trying to beat down
one another, really a good idea, or a chemical mixture that makes chaos, a
time bomb ready to blow up in all our faces.
(Video sourced from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5v63uZbFl0)
The story of Suicide Squad sees the worst residents of the DC
Universe’s prisons get drafted for a super covert team that is capable of
taking down the foes that ordinary good men and women just can’t. now forcing
some of the most deadly and psychotic villains of this universe into a team to
save the world they were only yesterday tormenting doesn’t sound like the most
thought out plan. But with bombs inserted into all their necks with the promise
of explosive decapitation if they even take a wrong step, we have a true
Suicide Squad on our hands, and what an entertaining ride they take us on.
The main strength of this film is its characterisation of
some of the most popular and some of the most obscure DC characters that are
for the most part making their big screen debut. As an avid fan of DC comics in
general, it was a great pleasure seeing these unsung heroes/villains be brought
to life for the first time. I got a real smile on my face as I saw Harley’s bat
swing through a bad guys face as Deadshot’s iconic wrist mounted machine guns
blasted away a horde just behind her and with that came an appreciation of the
effort and love DC has for its characters that mirrors its own fan’s love
appreciation for the characters.
But this wouldn’t matter if the people portraying these
beloved characters weren’t any good at their jobs. Thankfully that is most
certainly not the case. Almost every character was brought to life brilliantly
here. No matter how much screen time they got, what was apparent from the
offset was the fantastic talent and thought put into how the actor approached
the character and the amazing visuals used to bring them to life, whether it be
in their costume design, or the realisation of their abilities, each character
resembled their comic counterparts fantastically and made me feel like I was watching
a comic up on a very big screen.
From the buckets of charm and heart Will Smith brought to
what could have been a run by the numbers assassin like Deadshot, where I actually
empathised with his moral struggle between being a good father for his daughter
and the extremely precise gun for hire that he fundamentally was, to Margot
Robbie’s surprisingly empathetic but still bonkers as hell portrayal of Harley
Quinn that gave us an insightful look into just how her twisted psyche works
while not losing the completely unafraid and unapologetic personality of the
character that we all love.
Some other stands outs from the cast were also Cara Delevingne
as Enchantress. While not given much at all on the side of dialogue, so that
facet of her acting chops couldn’t be explored, her physicality and the overall
aesthetic of the character made her the other worldly force of nature that she
is, making her a very unique and wonderfully odd character that I wanted to see
more of. Meanwhile Rick Flag, played by Joel Kinnaman, who in the trailer
looked like a vanilla and boring Boy Scout solider that would be a permanent fixture
of the back ground in this movie of colourful and insane baddies; but thanks to
the interesting and again, empathetic, dynamics given to his character and his
relationships to other characters in the movie really made him a lot more
interesting and entertaining than I thought he would ever be and Joel Kinnaman
portrayed the struggle of this straight shooter surrounded by convicts and
murders really well.
And that’s really the biggest strength and achievement
of this film. The relationships and dynamics between these characters. While the
plot is rather basic, a simple get her, grab that, destroy that and bobs your
uncle the wold is saved kinda deal; where the movie shine and keep you watching
is seeing these characters not only meet and bounce off eachother quirky
personalities for the first time, but also the emerging bond between the team
of misfits that have finally found people who they dint immediately want to
kill was almost tangible and what sold the movie for me. I got a real sense of comradery
that, while not as strong as in Guardians of the Galaxy, was very akin to the
binds forged in Guardians. And seeing how each individual relationship,
especially between Deadshot and Harley Quinn, evolves and brings out new aspects
of the characters was really fun and interesting to watch and just made me want to spend even
more time with these deranged characters.
(Image sourced from http://screenrant.com/suicide-squad-spinoffs-joker-captain-boomerang/)
While most characters are realised beautifully in this film,
a good portion of them were criminally short-changed too. With such a huge cast
to be introducing to an unsuspecting public, it is expected that some
characters would get lost and severely relegated to secondary character. But
with the amount they were given it’s sometimes a wonder why they were in the
film at all, this is especially true for Slip Knott, Adam Beach, and Katana,
Karen Fukuhara, who both were given almost no service and merely more bodies to
fill the ranks, adding really noting to the plot, their own characterisation,
or the dynamics of the film as the script of this film just simply gave them nothing
to do.
Other characters that were given the short end of the stick
were the villains of this movie. one of the main antagonists of the film isn’t even
given a name, and the plot/plan of the main antagonist, while in the beginning
is interesting, soon becomes as thin as paper and devolves to a generic, by the
numbers, “THE WORLD IS MINE! MWHAHAHA” affair, no matter how cool it looks.
Also not given nearly enough
for the importance and weight that this character brings to being involved in
any project was the Joker. The lead up to this film and the unveiling of this
new Joker has been, well let’s just call it a bumpy ride. Personally I was fine
with literally 99% of his tattoos (only “Damaged” was outwardly offending, I mean
it’s just lame), and everything else about this joker, his overall aesthetic
left me feeling very uncomfortable, as the Joker should, and the amazing talent
of Jared Leto behind him, looked like we were in for quite a show. But in this film
he was given barely any screen time and not given the space to really stretch
this new Jokers muscles and give us a sense of who this Clown Prince of Gotham is. And so the little we did get just
seemed too gimmicky and like he was really, really
trying to show he was crazy. Jared Leto really did became the role and I couldn’t
tell it was him and throughout his short stint in this movie there were
glimmers of greatness that just really make me want to see this Joker in more
of a headlining role so we can not only flesh out what kinds of psychopath he
is but what that all important relationship with Batman is like too.
(Image sourced from http://screenrant.com/suicide-squad-movie-joker-comics-based-on/)
Speaking of Batman, with these villains being from across the
DCU, far and wide, they’ve obviously got an inherent connection to the wider
world that DC is trying to create than just the walls of this movie. And how
these connections were used and added to the movie, making it very much feel
like a believable and very suitable addition to this universes mythos, were
mostly down very well and surprised me in the best possible way, with one
making me literally sit there with my mouth wide open in excitement. However while
the connections the bigger DCU were well added, how some of them were directed
was very awkward and vastly took away from how cool and impacting they should
have been, making me cringe rather than gasp and ruining an easy fan satisfaction
moment that they could of easily had in the bag.
Another section of the movie that was just abit off was the
rapid and unforgiving pace of the first 3rd of the film. Scene changes
barley gave me enough time to adjust before being hurdled into another
situation leaving me with a severe case of whiplash. While the fast pace was
very much in line with the chaotic tone of this film, in the beginning it was
abit too much and made the film feel too choppy, not really getting a good
sense of flow I could get into until the beginning of the 2nd 3rd
that thankfully fitted the film really well and continued until its credits
rolled. But the most irritating aspect of this sequence were the none stop,
back to back, licensed music changes. It felt like the movie was playing Grand
Theft Auto for the first time and flicking through all the radio stations to
see which one they liked the most. While all the songs were pretty cool and
fitted the moody but kooky tone of the film, being used a lot more sparingly
and to greater effect later in the movie, when the playlist was simply left on
shuffle it left me rolling my eyes and shouting “come on?! Another one!”
But the music and fast pace of the film, both of which were
reined in as the film came in to a more refined and better executed state,
really gave the film a unique identity and style like no other comic book move
that has come before it, making it feel fresh and new, a thing drastically
needed for a genre that is a little more than over stuffed at the moment. And this
style is very much emphasised and embraced in the aesthetic and tone of the
film that really plays up the juxtaposition of the dark and brooding world
these larger than life, colourful characters are stuck, with occasional
splashes of florescent pinks, purples, and greens quite literally being
splashed on screen, almost making you feel like you’re in the minds of these
twisted characters. But in some cases, especially the Harley Quinn origin,
style is given precedence over substance as Harley’s origin is rushed through
far too quickly where you don’t really get a sense of who she was before or how
the Joker rapped her around his little finger. Sure everything we saw was
visually striking and made for powerful imagery but none of it really brought
any needed light to the characters incredibly intriguing and dramatic creation,
leaving one of DC’s most powerful and twisted stories still to be told on the
big screen.
(Image sourced from http://www.themovienetwork.com/article/deadshot-receives-next-suicide-squad-60-second-sneak-peek)
Another mixed bag was the action. On the whole it was an
exhilarating explosion of badass fury, with the clear standouts being Harley’s ferocious
power on the battle field and Deadshot’s amazing impression of Rambo on
steroids that made one of the early fight scenes the highlight of the whole
film. But some of the action scenarios and how characters fighting styles were brought
to life abit disappointing. The ‘boss fight’ of the film didn’t really make
much sense and was oddly structured, I loved seeing the team finally come
together and become one dangerous and unforgiving entity, but it was abit dumb
how that was shown. Also, most notably, Killer Croc’s fighting style was just
super janky and awkward to watch. His devastating blows didn’t look like they
really effected anybody at all, leaving him just looking like a big flailing
guy trying to be as cool as Harley and Deadshot were effortlessly being.
Overall this film was bags of fun. Seeing these characters
was not only a pleasure to see happen to the big screen, but I also left the
movie wanting to spend more time with these unique and quirky characters. This wasn’t
a mind blowing event like Civil War but it was a solid addition to the genre
that while did have its fair share of problems, was a great time to experience.
Suicide Squad = 7/10
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Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbUfnyezvQsVsDgN3TGRh1Q
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed.
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