Suicide Squad: "It's Taken Me Some Time, But I Finally Have Them. The Worst Of The Worst"

Director: David Ayer
Writer:     David Ayer
Starring: Will Smith
                Margot Robbie
                Jared Leto
                Cara Delevingne
                Jai Courtney
                Joel Kinnaman
                Jay Hernandez
                Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
                Ike Barinholtz
                Scott Eastwood
                Ben Affleck
                Viola Davis
Rating:    ***

Release Date: Out Now

I'm not necessarily a superhero movie fan, and let's be real; the DC Comic films of late have been less than impressive. That being said, when I hear the premise of Suicide Squad and it focusing on super villains saving the world...my interest piqued. Suicide Squad has some fantastic moments, and some of the characters are really compelling and played stunningly; sadly though it falls at the final hurdle, because as with most DC Comic films...it just takes itself a bit too seriously.

Government official, Amanda Waller (Davis), assembles a team of the world's most dangerous Super Villains, and sends them out to defeat a mysterious and evil entity. They are provided with the most powerful weapons that the government has available, and are guarded and controlled by Colonal Rick Flag (Kinnaman). However, they soon become aware that they weren't chosen to triumph, but rather chosen for because of their crimes and they won't be missed when they inevitably fail. The question then becomes will the Suicide Squad decide to die trying, or come to the conclusion that it's every man for himself?

Will Smith & Margot Robbie

Out of the large group that is this ensemble cast only three cast members grabbed my attention, and one blew me away. It is always the way that in a big cast, some are better than others; but I found myself forgetting some people were in the film, and not really knowing/caring about their names. Will Smith's Deadshot, Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn and Jared Leto's Joker were the only super villains that really kept me engaged, and out of the vast group, that really isn't many.

Smith managed to give his assassin multiple levels, and at times seemed to show more morals than any other characters. Robbie was insane in her role, and admittedly at times I found her character to be extremely annoying, but I suppose that is part of what makes Harley Quinn a psychopath; so Margot, in that respect, did a sublime job. Finally, Jared Leto as Joker was maniacal, twisted and pure evil, I did expect him to be even more psychotic than what we were given, but he managed to show potential and a look of what craziness is yet to come.

The one character that I found enthralling and a mile above the rest was powerhouse Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. She is cold, she is calculating, she is smart and she is ruthless. Viola Davis takes what can be a one dimensional character and gives her real personality and life. She is a strong leader for the Suicide Squad, and it is fair to say that her take no prisoners performance is one of the best parts about this film.

David Ayer has directed a dark and moody film, that is full of energy and electricity. The action scenes are dramatic and explosive, and there are moments that are genuinely really good. That being said, the script takes itself far to seriously, and they almost seem to forget that it is based on a comic book. Where as it's rivals over at Marvel are creating tongue in cheek movies, that have an underlying heart and terrific action scenes (just look at Deadpool); Suicide Squad seemed to lack the knowing humour and I didn't really care about it's characters. 

This is a shame, because the premise and cast all screamed success to me when I first heard about the film, but when the finished product is less than what I was expecting, and I mean a lot less, all I can describe it as is the years biggest disappointments.

 
Suicide Squad - Trailer