Suicide Squad (Review and Analysis)

'Suicide Squad' comes from director David Ayer (End of Watch) and stars Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Viola Davis, and Joel Kinneman. The story for those who don't know is some strange supernatural anomaly appears in the middle of the city and so the government decides to send in 'The Task Force X' a group of various villains from the DC comics universe and force them to save the world. Being led on the field by Rick Flagg (Kinneman) and controlled by the sinister Amanda Waller (Davis), the team must fight for a cause they never would before.

First off, for this particular film I would like to first give my pros and cons as usual however I would then like to discuss the behind the scenes and give some analysis towards what I felt are many missing scenes and aspects of the film.

The film is a much lighter romp this time around after 'Batman V. Superman' depressed audiences (mostly because of their empty wallets after viewing it) and it helps for a satisfying and fun 2 hours. The humor is also a great highlight of the film, with Will Smith's Deadshot & Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn getting the best lines by far. I love the individual designs and skills of these characters and what each brings to the team. Despite the majority being there by force, two do stand out as unique in that they willingly participate and are complex with their own motives. Last but not least for characters, you have Jared Leto's Joker who does great, it's just that he's barely in the thing. But more on that later, I wanted to praise one last detail first. The music choices are great as well, varying from hip hop like Eminem to classic rock like Queen. I want the physical CD of this little beauty.

Now, here we go for the cons and take what you will here, but I will try not to come off as too negative here, as I really did enjoy the film for what it was, but here's some things they needed to fix up. The editing here is so obvious and so problematic that you almost feel like a pinball bouncing back and forth between different scenes. The studio executives had done extensive retooling without the participation of David Ayer after the lackluster Box Office of 'BvS' and the final print of 'Suicide Squad' clearly shows that. Flashbacks will lead from a particular character's backstory, then jump cut to another without a thought. I was thinking 'wait! that last part was getting interesting. Go Back!'.

Also, I would like to discuss the deleted scenes working as somewhat of a bait and switch if you will. Here are some various scenes heavily marketed in the trailers or on television:

Why wasn't this a scene in the movie? Is it even part of the movie at all? Is it just a marketing tool? I don't know, that's the problem.

This filmed scene was heavily shown on shows like 'Entertainment Tonight' and shows some real character building between Harley and the Joker. Deleted...Why? Because film executives know money, not storytelling.

This scene from the trailers has finished special effects and everything and its still gone. It would have explained the powers of Katana's sword much better. They chose instead to off-offhandedly mention it on the way to the battlefield. Lame.

This is a scene I was looking so forward to after seeing it in the trailer. It never happens. The Joker disappears and you never see this scene.







I can go on with this, but I made my point. This film should have been far better than just a fun way to kill two hours. It should have been memorable, it should have been a great new start for the revived DC Universe films, and it should have been left alone the way it originally was. Unfortunately, these things are not the way it is. 'Suicide Squad' will ultimately have its time to shine on Blu-Ray and DVD when they eventually release these various scenes or even do another Director's Cut. But we shouldn't have to rely on Director's Cuts to satisfy us, it should be great the first time. And the ultimate answer is, 'Suicide Squad' was just Okay. I recommend to see it for its fun aspects, but don't expect much until the 'Super Special 4-Disc Edition' Warner Brothers will ship out to gain its money back.

((C))

What a disappointing summer this has been. Here's to Christmas 2016 I guess.