Without a doubt, Suicide Squad was a contender for the most hotly anticipated film of the year; an all-star cast including Margot Robbie and Will Smith, brilliant trailers – everyone was set for excellence. Unfortunately, we do not quite get excellence. To say the film is terrible would be too harsh, it’s just too middle-of-the-road for a film with this much talent involved.
The story, in case you have somehow missed the extraordinary amount of press for this film, is that the U.S government recruits a collection of the world’s most abhorrent super-villains to carry out the suicidal missions (get it) that the good guys won’t do. The plot sounds simple enough yet with the ridiculous amount of characters involved, the film feels like the world’s darkest sketch show. Some of these were enjoyable, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn alongside Jared Leto’s Joker (who needs so much more screen time) have the most fun, although I found Diablo, played by Jay Hernandez, particularly annoying.
“the best parts of the film are when the squad fight amongst themselves”
After introducing all these characters, trying to herd them all together to complete a traditional narrative appears to be an almost impossible task. Which for me, is the biggest problem this film has; why do we need a proper narrative? The best parts of the film are when the squad fight amongst themselves, anything beyond this just seems forced. I would have been happier with more of the squad interacting against the excellent soundtrack, rather than watching the usual big-fight and explosion nonsense we get with every other superhero film.
Suicide Squad certainly has it’s moments, and it will keep you entertained for two hours over the long summer break. But this isn’t really enough for a film this big. Maybe my expectations were too high, but in a year in which Deadpool demonstrated the potential of non-traditional superhero film, Suicide Squad just feels very average. If Suicide Squad was at the Olympics it would probably come fifth; perfectly acceptable but not much more.
“the characters are interesting enough to suggest a good film is possible”
Suicide Squad may be very average, but there will almost certainly be a sequel. At the time of writing, this film has made over $383 million worldwide, likely enough for studio executives to commission another effort. That money could be better spent, but I still hold out hope. The characters are interesting enough to suggest a good film is possible – a whole lot more screen time for Jared Leto would be a good start. I really want the next one to be better, but this first attempt is conclusive proof that you can never judge a film by its trailer.
