Suicide Squad

Leto’s Joker and Robbie’s Harley Quinn are easily the best parts of Suicide Squad

I’d been looking forward to Suicide Squad for a while now. The promise of lesser-known DC anti-heroes brought together to stop a greater evil? Sign me up! And it didn’t hurt that once the trailers were released, they rocked: quirky characters, dark humor, and well-paired music that let the viewer know they were in for a crazy ride. Unfortunately, expectations for the film’s success grew after Batman v. Superman didn’t do as well in box office numbers or critics’ reviews. As a result, almost overnight, the hope of quality and profit in the continuing DC Cinematic Universe seemed to be riding on its red-headed stepchild.

I purposefully avoided many Suicide Squad reviews prior to seeing the movie so I could make up my own mind about the film (re: taint my excitement), but the ones I have read definitely reek of what many have already suspected: viewers going into the movie prepared to hate it (and DC films as a whole, since the same critical reactions can be read in reviews for Batman v. Superman). So, after reading these reviews and seeing the movie for myself, I have to ask: What are these “critics” smoking?

The first half of the film is great and just what I was hoping it would be: a great introduction to the Squad members, a morally shady figure in the form of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), great Batfleck cameos tied to the Squad, and a premise with the promise of unique styling, intense action, moral ambiguity, and great characters.

Most of the characters (though there are a few too many, some being relegated to the sidelines) were great, especially Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and the Joker (Jared Leto), who are the highlights of the film, character- and plot-wise. I’d read a lot of complaints Mr. J wasn’t given much screen time, which had me worried, but he’s in a decent-enough amount of scenes to both satisfy (his role is more backstory and subplot than “A” storyline) and leave you wanting more. And Leto kills it. His Joker is more than satisfying—totally captivating, like popcorn-hand-paused-midway-to-mouth captivating—ranging from persuasive sweet-talker to scary mob boss, bouncing between affection for Harley and psychotically unhinged craziness. Which can also be said of his female counterpart and partner in crime, torn between wreaking havoc with her Puddin’ and settling down to have a normal family. As a result, Leto and Robbie’s chemistry really shines, their psychotic codependent relationship the film’s highlight. So much so that I would have loved to see more of them, relevance to the main plot be damned. Bring on the Harley-Joker spin-off!

Speaking of characters, I was also really happy that the film used the songs featured in the trailers and marketing promos. I wasn’t so sure they would. They fit with its characters and the film’s zany, balls-to-the-wall tone that it works really well.

My main issue with Batman v. Superman was that Snyder crammed so much stuff into the film that it lacked focus. Thankfully, Suicide Squad doesn’t have that problem. It has another, though, which I’ve realized is my main problem with all entries of the DC Cinematic Universe so far: the supernatural, and what I’ll refer to as The Big Threat. Man of Steel had Zod (an alien) and his terraforming device (The Big Threat), intent of destroying the world. Batman v. Superman had Doomsday (both an alien and The Big Threat), also intent on destroying the world. Which leads me to my problem with Suicide Squad’s second half. Five months after the beginnings of the Justice League first formed on the big screen to stop such otherworldly havoc, comes Enchantress. Possessing the body of explorer June Moone, Enchantress is an ancient witch (supernatural…again) upset to realize the world worships “machines” instead of entities such as herself. And because she’s upset, what does she do? Builds a machine (The Big Threat) to, you guessed it, destroy the world.

Are we noticing a pattern here?

When every DC movie has the main villain attempt to destroy the world (or even an entire city), complete with airborne circle of brightly-colored debris, it lessens the stakes quite a bit. Which is a weird kind of irony being that you’d think a world threat would raise the stakes. But because we know there’s a cinematic universe in play and that the films will continue, it disarms the threat since we know that—however it comes to happen—everything will be okay. Not only that, but in this case, Suicide Squad has an embarrassment of riches with great characters. And when they’re facing a supernatural threat, it removes the sense of surprise and excitement that should come with a film’s climax; we know the odds are against these human anti-heroes but are confident they’ll prevail anyway. Not to mention that the action sequences come dangerously close to boring repetition.

I would have preferred (and believe it would’ve made a better film) for the Squad to face off against a decidedly more human threat. For example, what if the Joker was the villain of the film, Harley torn between stopping him and joining him? Having Mr. J in this role would have given the film potential for more grounded character-driven beats and stakes that I would’ve loved to see (not to mention more focus on the Harley-Joker relationship).

But I didn’t make the film.

Instead, Enchantress—though she looks really, really cool—is kind of vanilla. If you’ve seen one superhuman (or, in DC-talk, metahuman) intent on destroying the world, you’ve seen them all. If every DC movie didn’t have the same third act with some kind of supernatural and/or alien threat, it might’ve felt a little more fresh.

Thankfully, this issue—though it’s kind of a big one, being that it revolves around the whole purpose of the Squad’s forming—is one of the film’s few. The characters, performances, soundtrack, and off-beat humor make it both an entertaining and unique entry to the DC Cinematic Universe. And while it’s not a perfect film—or even the film it could’ve been—it’s far from a disappointment.

If only critics—of both the professional and couch variety—would step back from their eager hate for popcorn entertainment enough to see it.

8/10 (right now, but I have a feeling my rating will be bouncing between an 8 and a 7.5)