While the focus on every superhero film is intended to be the superhero, with a little time and effort put into the character, the focus can just as easily be shifted to a well-developed villain. Remember Christian Bale's Batman from The Dark Knight? Of course you don't, because you were too busy thinking about how good Heath Ledger was as The Joker. How about Thor? Nope, we wanted more of Tom Hiddleston's surprisingly attractive Loki. And with such a massive roster of villains in both the Marvel and DC universes, there was bound to be a villainous team-up eventually. And while the Legion of Doom may not be around anymore, we do have a group that challenges the Guardians of the Galaxy in terms of misfit antiheroes. Enter: the Suicide Squad.
The Suicide Squad originates from DC comics, and works in a way similar to the Avengers: Following the 'death' of Superman in the trainwreck that was Batman Vs. Superman, agent of the US Government Amanda Waller recruits several of the most dangerous villains in captivity into a makeshift task force to save the planet when planet-smashing heroes aren't nearby. With a combination of ace shots, nutjobs, and superhumans, can she pull the group together in time to stop any major threat? Or will the villains be too busy fighting with each other?
Suicide Squad provides us with a strong roster of villains to grow attached to: in addition to the acrobatic and ditzy Harley Quinn (who Frog may or may not have a serious crush on), we have the seasoned marksman Deadshot (Will Smith), fire-shooting Diablo, amphibious Killer Croc, and Captain Boomerang (for some reason). The squad is advised and ordered around by Waller thanks to explosive chips implanted in their necks, which will blow their heads off should they disobey her orders. But when one of the previously drafted villains goes rouge with a plot to destroy the modern world (Enchantress, who has the powers of whatever the writers need her to have at the moment), it's up to the rest of the Suicide Squad to put a stop to the evil Mary Sue. And what will happen once Harley's boyfriend gets involved?
Well, here we go. The big thing that needs to be talked about in this film: the new Joker, played by actor Jared Leto. It's been talked about and debated for a long time before the release of the film, and with his unveiling, people have compared it with the Jokers of the past. But my thoughts? Well, it's...alright. Not the best, but bearable.
He has some good bits. He has some good lines. But following the brilliant portrayal from Heath Ledger (may he clown in peace), Jared Leto certainly has big shoes to fill. But while Ledger's character was more calm and unpredictable, Leto's performance is far more manic and wild. It's not just a differing opinion: this is specifically designed to be more true to the comic than The Dark Knight. And, as the owner of several Harley Quinn comics (I am not ashamed), I can say that it is more true to the comics. Although, to be fair, once you've seen Heath Ledger in the makeup, it's tough to picture anyone else in it. Leto isn't bad, but he's no Dark Knight. But with a decent cast and a fun setup, how can this go wrong? Two Words: Zack Snyder.
I'm just going to flat-out say it. Zack Snyder is not allowed to be in the same room as a superhero film script anymore, alright? We saw how that went with his last few experiences. They've all had the same issues, particularly his lack of pacing. Much like in Batman V. Superman, scenes either rush or draw out with little flow between one scene and the next, and characters that bear no real reason for appearing in the story (The Flash is here again, for about two seconds again), typical tropes for Snyder, have returned from Batman V. Superman much to our chagrin. My personal favorite tropes come from the trailers, where lines appear that are not actually said in the film and scenes that have entirely different dialogue (Jared Leto has said that some of the film was never used).
DC has not had as much luck with the film industry as Marvel has, and for one simple reason: Marvel understands the roots of it's characters, DC isn't quite sure where to put them. Marvel understands that we don't want to watch the Hulk have an emotional breakdown. We want to watch him smash things, and so Marvel only uses him in situations where things needed to be smashed. We want to see Captain America in more serious situations, and so they only use him when serious topics arise. DC, on the other hand, DC feels the need to insert every character into every situation, and nowhere is this more sure than at the end of the film (which is a bit of a cop-out).
OVERALL RATING: 5/10
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I want to love Suicide Squad. I do. The idea of villains banding together to do justice with their own goals is a fun one, and with a little practice, could become something like Guardians of the Galaxy. But, with Zack Snyder's "magic" touch, it falls flat in the water again, despite all the good aspects. The characters are interesting and diverse (Deadshot works to protect his daughter, Diablo has sworn to never light up again, and Harley is driven by a quest to reunite with her Puddin'), Harley in particular is very well-written (I don't care if she has a thing for crazy clowns, she WILL BE MINE), but the good just gets buried under all the mediocre. It's worth a look to see the new versions of some old characters, but aside from that, there's not much special here.
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