Suicide Squad

I know that comparing "Suicide Squad" to "Guardians of the Galaxy" might not be fair. Many will cry that "Suicide Squad" should be judged separately but I argue that it is very hard to not compare the two films. Besides the fact that both movies are about bad guys taking on evil, both "Squad" and "Guardians" were released in the same two-week period of their respective years. Also, I feel "Suicide Squad" is DC Extended Universe's response to the success of "Guardians of the Galaxy". It is true that "Squad" was planned long before the release of "Guardians" but more importantly, "Squad" was cast, written and filmed after August 2014. Why wouldn't DC look to replicate Marvel's triumph? It's the whole reason for the DCEU in the first place. If I were to examine "Suicide Squad" without comparison, the plot had many problems. More importantly, even though the characters were entertaining, they did not mesh well together. There were other faults such as the movie not being funny or fun enough for my taste but the show tried to be horrible on purpose and that helped it save face.

Another reason why it is hard not to compare "Suicide Squad" with "Guardians of the Galaxy" is that both films had some of the best trailers of any film in their particular years of release. Just as "Guardians" used the song "Hooked On a Feeling" to great effect, "Squad" perfectly applied "Bohemian Rhapsody" to its trailer. I was quite excited until a trusted connection of mine came back from Hollywood with a hunch that "Suicide Squad" wasn't going to be good. While I was disappointed, I wasn't really surprised because August is known to deliver wannabe blockbusters. August is also part of what's known as the "Dump Months". ("Guardians of the Galaxy" may have been released August 1st but if it had been released a year later in 2015, it would have been released on July 31st). None of this prevented me of seeing "Suicide Squad" and some aspects of it were entertaining but some very important elements were neglected. I have always said that the story of any movie is the most important aspect but it is possible for the characters of a film to hold it up such as with "The Muppets" and "The Simpsons Movie". Unfortunately for "Suicide Squad", it suffers from a flaw that is quite common among superhero films that falter: the show has too much of a good thing. In this case, we have too many villains. Many of the characters were enjoyable but there was a lack of group dynamics. It felt like team of separate entities, free-floating in a sea of superhero flotsam. I am reminded of a quote from "Miracle": "All-star teams fail because they rely solely on the individual's talent. The Soviets win because they take that talent and use it inside a system that's designed for the betterment of the team." Marvel is doing with their characters what the USSR did in real life with their hockey players. Marvel also explores all conflict, comedic and collaboration possibilities with their characters. Another common flaw with superhero movies that "Suicide Squad" is guilt of is forcing supporting characters in the movie that don't contribute to the story. Slipknot comes to mind as one example. I like actor Adam Beach and to have him killed off so quickly was disappointing. Seemingly, Slipknot's only purpose in the show was to prove that the small charges inside the squad members are not a bluff. Even though this was an important plot point, it could have been handled in a different way. Another supporting character that suffered from competition with other characters in this show is the Joker. He is one of the most beloved villains in comic book history and deserves either a big role or a small cameo like Batman had in this movie. The level of his inclusion did not work. The trailer led us to believe the Joker would have a larger role. Speaking of Batman, his role in this show was perfect. Because he is busy assembling the Justice League, the government is forced to rely on the Squad to save the world. The start of the movie had its moments as we are introduced to the Squad but because of all the characters, they should have either shortened the duration of each character's back story or introduced all the characters without the use of flashbacks. The subplot of the Joker and Harley also caused problems. It is such an important back story that when you include it, you sacrifice the screen time that the other characters receive. I have heard that some fans are upset that part of Harley's back story includes the same vat of chemicals that created the Joker. This is not part of the original source material by the way. I don't know what to say personally about Harley Quinn but I guess that means the character works on screen so that is good considering this is Harley's live action feature film debut. The main villains in "Suicide Squad" felt flat to me. I was confused at first by Enchantress because I thought she was a Marvel super villain. It turns out that both DC and Marvel have super villains named Enchantress. The inclusion of Incubus ruined the movie a lot. He appears more powerful than Enchantress and I did not like how he possesses the body of an unknown human character. The filmmakers should have stuck with just one super villain for the Squad to take on. My best scene in the whole show is the bar scene because it allows us to take a breather before the climax. Another great part of the story is Deadshot's back story. However, at the end of the movie, we are faced with a few plot holes such as how some characters survived.

Deadshot was the best character in the whole film thanks to Will Smith. Despite this, I wish that he had done "Independence Day: Resurgence" instead. I was interested in seeing how Jared Leto as the Joker would work out but in my opinion, the voice he chose sounded a little too close to Heath Ledger's. This is not the first time an Oscar winner has put on the makeup because Jack Nicholson was a big deal back in 1989. The biggest problem I had with Leto's Joker was that he did not make me laugh but this might be the fault of the screenwriters. Nevertheless, Nicholson was funny, Ledger was quite funny and Mark Hamill is entertaining. The filmmakers had Ryan Gosling in mind for the part in "Suicide Squad" and why not? The crazy idea of casting a pretty boy as the Clown Prince of Crime has worked before. It was fun to have Ben Affleck briefly in this show. Tom Hardy was supposed to play Flag but he placed priority on making "The Revenant". I think it was a smart move. I should pay tribute to the soundtrack because the use of songs such as "Fortunate Son" was good. I felt having "Bohemian Rhapsody" at end of the movie was a missed opportunity considering how well it worked for the trailer.

If it had not been for the mixup of envelopes at the end of Oscar night when "La La Land" was snubbed, the Oscar awarded to "Suicide Squad" would have dominated social media. I wish that "Star Trek" had won Best Makeup & Hairstyling instead and while it is funny that such a bad movie could win an Academy Award, it is possible because a great use of makeup cannot carry a whole film. The shortcomings of this movie could be attributed to executive interference but I haven't heard any proof of this. DC seems to be going with a grittier approach in their film universe, probably trying to replicate the success of "The Dark Knight". Marvel on the other hand favors lightheartedness balanced with drama and it is paying dividends left and right. The faster DC tries to play catch up, the worse things will get for them. The plot of "Suicide Squad" had flaws that can not be overlooked. More importantly, even though the characters were entertaining, they did not mesh well together. At least the movie was tolerable because it took steps to be below par in terms of style to reflect the characters on screen. It appears a sequel is in the works and the thought at the moment is to go for an R-rating (I think that the success of "Deadpool" has something to do with that). To summarize, we have seen bad take on evil two years before and not only is "Suicide Squad" exactly two years too late but it wasn't perfect.

3 Stars