Suicide Squad

I can’t say that a witch out of a 1980s fantasy B-movie is what I've been missing from current comic-book flicks. In fact, she is a completely interchangeable DC villain who wants to destroy the world simply because she can. Not even the (unintended) creation of the evil Enchantress by those who are supposed to protect the world is innovative by today’s standards (which immediately gives away the point of the film, which is that working with villains can backfire on you). Most of the film’s other elements are also interchangeable, as Ayer mixes them together willy-nilly, albeit with a certain sense of rhythm. The first hour comes across as a condensed recapitulation of a ten-part series – all exposition, no development. In terms of time and space, the second hour is a slightly more cohesive super-villain variation on war movies in the mould of The Dirty Dozen and westerns like The Wild Bunch (including fatalistic dialogue before the final conflict, but without any significant development of the relationships between the characters or their ability to work together). Though the prologue indicates that Deadshot and Harley will be the protagonists of the narrative, their private dramas (their relationship to the daughter/Joker) do not drive the narrative, but rather slow it down, as they have minimal impact on the direction of the plot. The Joker, who looks like a goth who’s off his meds and inspires more sympathy than unease, always just shows up, does a little damage and disappears, like the returning bosses in some computer games, which seemed to be a source of inspiration for Ayer when he was slapping the plot together on the fly (or at least it seems so). Nothing would change if the Joker wasn’t here. The whole film is still needless and half-assed and unpolished, and while it manages to get and hold your attention with its witty characters, driving soundtrack and slightly psychedelic visual stylisation, the end result is merely two hours of loud, colourful distractions without any serious points of interest. 55% (04/08/2016)

The titular Suicide Squad is composed of a cool bunch of badass individuals that are intriguing due to their style and grimaces, but the “story” doesn’t give them the opportunity to develop or bring something into it. Especially when you see the efforts of the great Jared Leto, whose Joker is just an iconic sidekick, you’ll be disappointed. Funny catchphrases, which were supposed to be the main flavoring of the film, are also pretty rare here. A delicious-looking Margot Robbie and soundtrack hits remain the highlights of Suicide Squad. On first viewing, they are literally caption. On second viewing, when the viewer looks deeper under the pretty cover, they turn out to be the only elements that keep the movie afloat. (09/08/2016)

The DC Universe hasn't even had time to be born and it's already dead. The dramaturgically-incompatible group at Warner Brothers craves a more discerning audience, but with their results, they're looking at a target audience of 13-17, who (given the earnings) probably won't care that the plot makes no sense at all, that the team doesn't work as a team even once, and that the ass-kicking isn't a highlight for which to praise a character. I want to go to the alternate universe where Ayer made it in his own way, and it’s one hour longer and does away with the moronic humor. In many of its details (the clear action, a decent portion of darkness and suspense) it looks like a prelude to a major comic book film, but someone in the editing room screwed it up in an absolutely monstrous way. The most interesting character in the finale is Killer Croc. I want him to have a solo movie. (07/11/2016)

I'm going to repeat myself, but just like in The Legend of Tarzan, Margot was the best thing about the whole movie. It's not that I didn't enjoy the others, but next to her everyone is just dead weight. The beginning is awesome, all very stylish and crazy, as the times demand. From the awesome music to the funny and cruel lines to the costumes, everything suggested this was going to be a total blast. It's a shame that the whole film is based purely on this. The plot unfortunately doesn't offer anything new, the characters don't go deep enough, and the final denouement is a bit off. A weaker 4 stars. (11/09/2016)

Suicide Squad is the best comic movie of the year for me. There is no waiting for anything, it starts with a great opening where David Ayer introduces us to the whole team in a very stylish way and after that Suicide Squad is an adrenaline ride till the end without any dead spots, with attractive visuals, clear and fancy action (never mind that it is not R-rated, the bad guys are not human, no blood, so there's slaughtering and rampaging about). The stars of the team are the sexy Harley Quinn, who teases, seduces and is a joy to watch, she gives the film a proper thrill, Will Smith is also amazing as Deadshot, it’s probably the first time I see him as a badass and his scene in Ultimate mode, where he takes out about 50 enemies by himself using his elite experience took my breath away. The rest of the team is not very impressive, only Diablo impresses with his abilities, the rest are sort of extra here, but none of them get in the way. It's a shame that the Joker wasn't the main villain, as he didn't do a bad job at all, but the Enchantress and her brother managed to make some decent mischief. The atmosphere of the film is properly dark, the wisecracks somehow work, the soundtrack is perfect and Batman is a delight. Well I don't have much to complain about, after a long time my eyes were shining with joy in the cinema and that needs to be awarded with a proper five star. I'd take a solo movie with anyone here. 85%. (07/08/2016)