Needs editing but I’ve not had time yet (so might be mistakes, interrupted flow, etc).
“We’re bad guys, it’s what we do” Harley Quinn reminds Army special forces officer Rick Flag after she smashed a shop window to steal a purse. In the long awaited and highly anticipated Suicide Squad, written and directed by David Ayer, we finally get to take a break from Marvel’s troubled and eccentric superheroes to focus on DC’s dark, fun and vexing villains. As soon as the trailer for Suicide Squad hit the web, its uniquely creative, anarchic punk style, memorable music and pink and green lettering really sold its aesthetic. Now it’s here, does it really live up to the hype? Yes and no. With an ensemble cast, each character in Suicide Squad stood out in their own distinctive way: namely Will Smith and Margot Robbie’s portrayals of Deadshot and Harley Quinn. We are introduced to each of the characters as Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), an intelligence operative, puts together the suicide squad following the aftermath of Superman’s (Henry Cavill) death in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016). Waller gives us the details in voiceover over lazy flashbacks regarding each criminal and why they are in Belle Reve Penitentiary – a prison and sanitorium in the DC Universe.
There is Deadshot (Will Smith) who is essentially the leader of the suicide squad. He is an expert assassin who never misses a shot. Whilst a mercenary, he is a devoted father who wants to make his daughter proud. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), formerly known as psychiatrist Dr. Harleen Quinzel who was assigned to study Joker, a psychopathic supervillain, who manipulated her into falling in love with him and becoming insane. Margot describes her character as “funny, crazy and scary” adding that her relationship with Joker is “incredibly dysfunctional” but “highly addictive” which is the most fitting description. Diablo (Jay Hernandez) is a former gang member who can create fire and use it to transform himself into a big demon-like entity. However, he has trouble controlling it, especially when he is angry, so he doesn’t embrace his dark side. It requires a big push to get him to use it in order to protect the others. Makes you wonder what he did in order to be this restrained when it comes to his powers. Slipknot (Adam Beach) is a master of escape. He uses ropes that he designed to grapple, scale and climb absolutely anything and everything. Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) is locked up for a recent diamond heist gone wrong. He is known as a mouthy and unpredictable thief who specialises in using deadly boomerangs as weapons. In order to portray this character, Ayer instructed Courtney to find his “inner shitbag.” Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) developed a skin condition that causes him to have crocodile-like skin and other reptilian features. Not to mention, he has some real rage inside him and retreated into living in the sewers once he developed cannibalistic tendencies. Katana (Karen Fukuhara) is a samurai who serves as Rick Flag’s bodyguard. Instead of a criminal, she is actually a volunteer who is looking to avenge the death of her husband. She wields the Soultaker blade, capable of trapping the souls of its victims – which is exactly where her husband is.
As previously mentioned, it can often be lazy to show flashbacks with voiceovers in order to get backstories out of the way. However, Suicide Squad does its best to make it work. It teases out the most interesting parts of the backstories whilst leaving you wanting to know more and more. Whilst the film was only 2 hours in length, it definitely could have been made longer to explore and expand upon the backstories further. Then again, would have made the film unnecessarily long? Plus, would it spoil the fun of future films that will be revealing and focusing on more from their histories? Probably.
Joker (Jared Leto gives a unique performance, by the way – especially as he shows his love for Harley) is one of the main characters used to promote the film, yet he was only in the film for about 10 minutes worth of a screen time in total. People are mad about this, which I understand. We want to see more of him. He’s an insanely entertaining and complex character and Leto is taking on a different representation of him. But are you surprised that this happened? Of course he was used to promote the film: he is a well known character (and actor) which helps to sell. This is Hollywood after all, it’s not an unusual thing to happen. Plus, we will see more of Joker in further films. This film is about the Suicide Squad, he’s an extension of Harley Quinn’s story. You’ve heard he’s getting his own film, right? I mean, did you think they wouldn’t do that? Let’s be patient! One of the best things about this film is of course the wonderfully captivating Harley Quinn. She is a great character – she’s fun, attractive and portrayed as a woman driven crazily and insanely in love with Joker. She steals the show whenever she is on screen. Harley has some memorable one liners, but most of her dialogue could have been so much better. Sometimes it makes her appear like some dumb, crazy blonde which really is is still meant to be rather intelligent through her mentally ill and love stricken state of mind.
It appears her appearance and mental state caused quite the controversy in the media with both fans and critics. Although I am not majorly familiar with the comics myself, I can see that her sexualised appearance, mannerism and personality is closely taken from the comics without diving too deep into her dark and complex world (in an effort to keep the film at the lowest classification possible). There was no need to alter this because they are the defining points of her character and she would be nothing without them all at this extent. Harley was psychiatrist to Joker who manipulated her to falling in love with him and then with her trust drove her to insanity so they could be the most dangerous powerhouse couple. However, no one says that she or her relationship with Joker are role model material because they are not. Her abusive relationship with Joker is nothing to aspire to and this will hopefully be expanded upon and handled with more clarity in future films. But keep in mind, what we see in the film is Harley love sick over her “puddin’” and no where near to the brutal and dark extent of what happens in the actual comics.
Harley Quinn is supposed to be one of the most insane and reckless women in the DC Universe; after all she is Joker’s girl. There isn’t need for a toned down representation of a mental illness in this film. Her character needs to be this level of mentally ill in order for it to work. Some women are this mentally ill and sometimes we need to show the more “disturbing” and complex mental illness for what they are. The only issue I can find is that in the film it seems the scene where we see her jump into acid for the Joker is what explains her insanity. Whilst this scene happened in the comics, there is much more as to why her mental state is like it is and I hope her slow descent into madness will be explored even further in the upcoming films and not just left at this. Harley is in an abusive relationship. It’s never going to be pretty. It’s a complicated hell.
With a lot of complaints regarding Harley’s revealing and seductive outfits, all I can say is that at least they are true to the comics. They didn’t alter anything. Plus there is nothing wrong with having sex appeal. You can be a feminist whilst wearing a seductive outfit and being mentally ill. If there’s a problem with anyone’s outfit in Suicide Squad then it’s that of the Enchantress (Cara Delevingne).
June Moone (Delevingne) is an archaeologist who is possessed by the evil ancient force that is Enchantress; a witch said to be one of the most powerful metahumans in their universe. Moone cannot control when Enchantress is going to take over. Enchantress’s outfits in the comics still give her sex appeal, yet have her mostly covered up aside from showing some cleavage. However, in the film, she is dressed in an ancient looking bikini-like outfit with jewellery and tattoos hanging all over her as if to cover up the skin they missed with the clothing. It seems rather drastic to commit to this much of a change in appearance.
My two main disappointments with Suicide Squad unfortunately both stem from Enchantress. Firstly, she was portrayed by British model Cara Delevingne who is very uniquely beautiful but really just cannot act. The dramatic wardrobe change (from the comics) is sure a compliment to Delevingne as they attempt to and succeed at making her look as ethereal as possible due to her portraying such a powerful, witchy, otherworldly being. Whilst she has only ventured out briefly, and recently, as an actress, she is still very wooden in both her body movements and whilst performing the little dialogue she has to deliver. Even her role as June Moone – who is supposed to be a tame and shy character – is very plain and average. June’s romance with Flag was also very unconvincing and somewhat boring. Overall, Delevingne’s performances fall flat but her appearance is rather interesting (in a good way). The second (and last) thing is that the villains – Enchantress and her brother Incubus (Alain Chanoine) – were poor and I feel could have been executed a lot better. For how powerful and terrifying the Enchantress was described as and for Waller to have to round up the most crazy and horrific villains they had to fight her, you would think more of a climax would happen. However, it was just the typical main villain holding back with a big, colourful swirl of smoke and clouds in the sky. This is how the end of the world is being depicted in films as of late, and whilst it’s probably supposed to look magical, intimidating and unstoppable, it just seems… ridiculous? It’s also very predictable and seems really lazy. It’s something that let the film down greatly as the first half of the film was wonderfully entertaining.
Something else I did enjoy throughout the film was the soundtrack. I have seen others say the songs were not chosen very well and they are very literal in their meanings. But they are mostly all great songs. They are fun, catchy and many of them are very well known and well liked. It adds that level of nostalgia and happiness to the film and makes parts of it more memorable. There are also some new songs which compliment the style and story of the film very well.
Overall, the film has its flaws. But most films do. I also wish it were darker, but I understand why it wasn’t. I also understand that some of the film could have been improved had Ayer had more time to work on his rushed script. But I think, as a whole, the film is entertaining and enjoyable, which is surely what people want the most. It’s definitely how the film has been advertised.
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