Task Force X

Suicide Squad

Since 2008 audiences around the world have been graced with the presence of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Making films that center around ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ with every film having some sort of connection with others in the MCU. To me this is brilliant because it has connects to each of the films like the comic books do. As I said, this has been going on since 2008 and the MCU is now 13 films rich and have garnered vast amounts of money and success. What has DC Comics done to answer to this? Absolutely nothing until 2013 when at San Diego Comic-Con International director Zack Snyder (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice) announce that Warner Bros. Pictures and DC have agreed to start their own cinematic universe, starting with BvS. The slate that Snyder gave hungry DC fans at Comic-Con included solo movies of The Flash, Cyborg, and even Aquaman. Though discreetly tucked away on that list was one movie that excited fans just as much as any of the other films, this year’s team-up film Suicide Squad.

The Story: After the events of Batman v Superman, our United States government is looking for the MetaHuman answer. One government official, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis How to Get Away with Murder), seems to have a solution…fight ‘fire’ with ‘fire’. Waller proposes to build a team of her own MetaHumans. The catch is that her team is going to be highly classified and made up of the world’s worst villains. Task Force X will include the likes of Deadshot (Will Smith Concussion), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie Legend of Tarzan), and El Diablo (Jay Hernandez Bad Moms). In exchange for their ‘help’, each member of the “Suicide Squad” will have 10 years taken off their prison sentences…that is if they make it out alive. For their first mission, the Squad is sent to Midway City to stop an ancient deity that is hell-bent on punishing the Earth for forgetting about her. Sounds fun right?

The Good: I am one of the unlucky few that have not been invited to the pre-screenings of movies like this to critique. So when I saw the rancid reviews of this film, I lost all of my expectations when I finally got to see Suicide Squad. So I don’t know if it was because my expectations were lowered or that this film really wasn’t that bad, but I highly enjoyed this movie. Admittedly there are a few problems with it, but this is a comic book movie, through and through. Like BvS back in March, this film is more about the set up to other properties, characters, and possible storylines. DC is in a rush to catch up to Marvel and the only way to do that is by throwing fans into the ‘fray’ so to speak. This film sets up fascinating characters like Waller, played beautifully by Davis, and the Joker, a creepy Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club). Leto delivers a very different look of the Joker character and does a decent portrayal. Thought that Smith and Robbie was also top notch as well. Smith walks a fine line with his character between the balance of misunderstood and evil. However in the end this movie belongs to Robbie. Margot Robbie has become the epitome of what fans of Harley Quinn’s have grown to love. Robbie takes direct influence of Harley from the 1992 animated series, but is able to take the character a little further. If for nothing else, watch this film because of her performance as Quinn.

The Bad: This movie did have its problems starting with the plot. The story was dragged out of a classic Squad arch in the comics, but in the beginning you think the team is doing one thing, turns out they are doing something else, the have to turn back to doing the first thing. The plot tries to be misleading, but just ends up being annoying. If director David Ayer (Fury) just kept with the first point, the film would have been a little better. Secondly, I sadly have to say that this film suffers from what every other comic book movie suffers from when they try to introduce too many characters at once…some become useless. As humorous as Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney Terminator Genisys) is, his character does nothing to help move along the plot. That can be said for Katana (Karen Fukuhara), as cool as it is to see this character on screen she just doesn’t really help the plot either.

The Verdict: Suicide Squad is exactly what you think it is. Full of action, humor, and a few cameos, this film delivers a fun and engaging film that doesn’t need to cure cancer. It is yet another cog in the DC wheel and maybe we DC fans just need to be patient. This isn’t Marvel and I think that maybe we need to remember that when we see these DC films. They are trying to do something different, but the same. I don’t think anyone had the type of expectations for Iron Man in 2008 as we do now. That was a surprise hit and now due to the ever changing landscape of comic book movies our expectations for greatness is hurting DC. This movie sets up a few Bat-Villains and intriguing characters to be used in other DC films. Good luck DC, stop letting Warner Bros. step in and let Geoff Johns take control.

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