MOVIE REVIEW
Three out of Five
KAYLEE BREWSTER
“Suicide Squad” is a lot like its characters: terribly flawed, but enjoyable nonetheless.
DC’s latest venture takes place after “Batman v Superman,” while the threat of advanced humans is still very real. Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) decides to go on the pre-emptive side and creates a squad of superhumans, but not necessarily superheroes.
Waller pulls out captured criminals — Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) — and puts them back on the street, with a catch. There are explosives in their heads, so if they make any wrong move: boom. She then sends these “heroes” out to fight the bad guys — the badder bad guys. If they survive, they save the world. If they die, well, no loss there.
The problem with this seemingly perfect plan is that bad guys are hard to motivate and keep under control.
That proves to be the case with the story as well. Chaotic characters create a chaotic story, and it often feels disjointed moving from conflict to conflict without much direction.
Almost no time is spent establishing the danger or what exactly will happen if they fail. It even takes a while for the main villain to come out of the shadows. Viewers are left to strap themselves in, hoping they enjoy the ride.
But if there’s anything that saves the film, it’s the characters themselves. While crazy plots aren’t fun, crazy characters are, and “Suicide Squad” has them by the bucketload.
While every actor performs well, the standout performances come from Smith, Robbie and Hernandez.
Smith as Deadshot, the hitman who never misses, is perhaps the most cooperative out of the group. He also gives his role some humor that’s fun, but most of all, Smith gives him human qualities and a strong motivation for playing by the rules and staying alive.
Robbie, on the other hand, gets a more complex role as Harley Quinn, who’s so far off her rocker she’s on the floor and never getting back up. But again, Robbie manages to give her some more sane and relatable aspects, only to flip back to insanity at the flick of a switch. Harley also provides a lot of comedy with her sarcastic and flippant remarks.
Diablo can shoot and manipulate fire, which makes him super powerful, but he shows restraint. He’s the only one on the squad who doesn’t want to hurt people, even if means saving the world. His quiet demeanor and painful past make him a compelling character among a cast of criminals, and he’s played perfectly by Hernandez.
Other characters pop up, too, like the Joker (Jared Leto) and Katana (Karen Fukuhara), just to name a few. Suffice it to say “Suicide Squad” is a movie for DC fans, and the casual observer probably won’t enjoy the film. And yes, “Suicide Squad” is severely lacking in the story department, but if you’re just looking to spend a couple hours with some really bad dudes, you can safely suit up and enjoy the ride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmRih_VtVAs
