I was really looking forward to Suicide Squad. Its a cool idea on paper, and you'd think it has the right ingredients to be a success. Bizarrely, this idea has been bungled in the execution.
The first major error is throwing us into the film with little introduction to these characters. The film's standout moments aren't its action sequences, but the two real character set pieces: a short conversation over drinks in the bar, and a series of dream sequences toward the end. But its too little. We needed more depth here. Too much time is based on the convoluted set-up for the villains of the piece and not enough is spent on the actual backstories of the members of Task Force X.
Harley and Joker are an absolute misfire on all counts, and it hurts to say that because I think Robbie and Leto are well cast. They are just given nothing to work with. There's no sense of the complexity of their relationship. There's no abusive lover backstory. Its reduced to something very generic, and the characters suffer for it. I need to see more of Leto's Joker to make any real judgment in that area (he's not in the film much). But his Joker lacks any real screen presence. I wanted to be wowed by him, but I felt mere ambivalence.
It feels like a whole movie is missing here. Why is Katana not given any backstory until the film is almost over? Same with El Diablo. Its an interesting backstory, but by the time we hear about it the story is done. Its like there is no third act, just a first, second, and then a final fight scene. The middle and end of the story are overly compressed. It smacks of studio interference and sloppy editing.
The visuals were great, Amanda Waller was terrific (right out of the JL animated series), I liked Enchantress and Deadshot. But they without a doubt fumbled the ball on this one, and its the weakest DCEU outing to date. A wasted opportunity that could have been something great, all but for a loss of nerve.
5/10
