A high-ranking government official (Viola Davis) assembles a covert team of dangerous super criminals in the name of national security, but will this band of miscreants follow through with their mission or will it be every man for himself?
“Suicide Squad” is a two hour visual funfest that attempts to tap into what made “Deadpool” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” such popular fare. The energy of the movie is infectious while peppering in some suspenseful moments that hint at an even better movie that we didn’t get.
After the destruction packed “Man of Steel” and the aggressively dark “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” I was ready to settle in for another trip into the gritty cinematic universe that Warner Bros and DC Comics has been crafting. That isn’t what we get with this movie though. In a film about murderous psychopaths and morally bent sociopaths, it wasn’t dark and gritty at all. The flashy visuals manage to distract you from an underwhelming storyline, but it doesn’t suffer greatly for doing so.
This superpowered “Expendables” consists of Will Smith as Deadshot, an expert marksman and elite hit man who is trying to do right by his daughter. Margot Robbie gives us the first live action cinematic version of the mentally unstable fan favorite, Harley Quinn. Jay Hernandez is the pyrokinetic ex-gangster, Diablo. From the rogues gallery of the Flash, Captain Boomerang is portrayed by Jai Courtney. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is the monstrous Killer Croc and Adam Beach gives us Slipknot, a mercenary specializing in tactical climbing. The mysterious Enchantress is brought to life by Cara Delevingne and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag is in charge of the group. Each of them is given a reason to fall in line. One of which is the swordswoman, Katana (Karen Fukuhara), who serves as Flag’s bodyguard.
With this cinematic outing being all about the bad guys, you would expect the big bad of the film to be REALLY bad. Unfortunately that is not the case. The early effects used for this threat to humanity is one of my favorite things about the movie, but things kind of fall apart once the belly dancing starts. Confused? You’ll understand when you see it.
Jared Leto as the Joker is an interesting portrayal. I wasn’t blown away by the performance, but it is a solid one. I enjoyed the film’s use of the character as he truly is the wild card during all the madness that happens.
All in all, don’t come for the story. Come for the characters. They are the main draw and for good reason.