I’ll
get right to it; Suicide Squad is
great. The reviews are decidedly mixed; I’m not sure what critics were
expecting. Even some genre critics have been harsh; I’m not sure why. It’s the
best DC Comics property movie in years—probably since The Dark Knight.
The
premise mirrors the classic ‘80s comic, mostly written by John Ostrander (one
of the best comics writers of all time) and his late wife Kim Yale. Task Force
X, nicknamed the Suicide Squad, is made up of supervillains doing dirty jobs
for time off their sentences. The mix of personalities and actors in the film
are well done, the chemistry is dead-on and there are even some laugh-out-loud
one-liners, a first for a DC movie. Especially good are Margot Robbie as a
sexed-up Harley Quinn (nothing wrong with that) and Will Smith as the assassin
Deadshot. I wasn’t too pleased with the race switching at first—Floyd Lawton is
white in the comics and it’s a pretty big part of his identity—but Smith did
such a great job it ended up not bothering me at all. I suppose there is room
for two Deadshots in the DC Universe!
In
the movie, June Moon, possessed by the ancient entity Enchantress, also
resurrects her brother and starts a path of world domination. They attack New
York and the Squad has to stop them. The group bonds on this first adventure
and manages not to kill each other (or soldier and squad leader Rick Flag) in
the process. Overall the writing is sharp, the dialog is funny and the action
is paced well.
There
are some minor nitpicks—I didn’t understand what Enchantress was doing to
conquer the world. She creates, as Deadshot put it, a “floating circle of
garbage” that was supposed to “kill all the armies” or some such nonsense. That
made no sense, but I suppose it didn’t really have to. It was bad and the Squad
had to stop it. Also, I loved the Amanda Waller character (played by Viola
Davis), but one scene depicted her as a crazed serial murderer. That is not
Amanda Waller and is a huge character mistake in the film. That scene also made
no sense. Jared Leto was fine as the Joker.
Overall
Suicide Squad is fun, escapist
entertainment that I really enjoyed. I’m looking forward to the inevitable
sequel in a few years. Finally, a DC Comics movie worth seeing!
Rating:
***½ stars out of 5
Did you just enjoy a comic book movie? Did you just write a movie review that did not mention politics or the obvious political mindset of a writer/director/actor whom you've never met?
ReplyDeleteWho let the troll in? Kidding! Yes, I did avoid the political overtones of the movie because THERE WERE NONE! And brother, you know we don't have to personally meet every creator to spot political overtones or agenda hammering. Just read a Marvel comic! It was incredibly refreshing to see movie where there was no agenda except action and entertainment. Nothing wrong with that!
ReplyDeleteJust watched the Honest Trailer for Superman: The Movie. It reminded of movies that were just good stories, well told. Except for the internal monologue from Lois when they are flying. Even 12-year old Steve was "WTF" when that was on the screen.
ReplyDeleteOkay - you might have convinced me to see SS in the theatre. Star Trek Beyond was a let down - script wise.
I'm afraid the modern ST movies have lost me ... Haven't see any but the first, which wasn't terrible, just not my thing. I didn't mind Lois's monologue from Superman--I was so captivated by that movie I was, and to some point still am, blinded by its faults. I'm happy to see SS again, now or at the cheapies! Man-date!
ReplyDelete