The news surrounding Suicide's Squad terrible reviews was everywhere in the days prior to it's release. I did my best to pretty much ignore all that noise and just go see the movie. I can tell you that even though it has it's flaws, I actually enjoyed it. It suffers from some very questionable editing and story choices, and is messy in lots of aspects, but there is still a lot of fun to be had here. Batman V Superman had a lot of the same issues with too much going on and feeling disjointed, but Suicide Squad has more charm and humor to make up for it's other technical shortcomings.
The real selling point here is the colorful cast of characters. Margot Robbie steals every scene she is in and is nearly perfect as Harley Quinn. Will Smith is commendable as Deadshot and is made to be the emotional center of the film. He's the "not so bad" of the bad guys. The other characters get some moments here and there, but the focus is clearly on Deadpool and Harley Quinn. I've got to think that there is an extended cut somewhere with expanded roles for the other characters.
Speaking of expanded roles, the Joker is really a glorified cameo here. Jared Leto is good as the Joker but I feel like I need to see more of him to really get a handle on it. He did some things that make you go "Aha, ok I like that" and some things that will make you cringe.
One can't help but notice that the film seems like it was messed with too much by the studio and I would love to see director David Ayer's unfiltered version. The film really could have also benefited from an R rating.
Another major issue is the main villain, who just doesn't really appear on screen that much and is the victim of some laughably bad CGI. Also, it just doesn't feel like the kind of threat that this group would take on, I feel like they should take on something a bit more grounded in reality as opposed to the mystical being they face here.
One final thing, there was a scene between the squad in a bar near the end of the film, where the characters just take a few minutes....and talk. It's actually great and I just wish there was more of that, it was a glimpse of how different this could have been from other superhero movies. We needed more fun character moments in the midst of all the craziness that was going on. Suicide Squad shouldn't leave you bored, but it's not the game changing comic book movie it could have been.
Final Rating: 6.5/10
