SPOILERS: Every SUICIDE SQUAD Character Ranked From Least To Most Awesome
Suicide Squad definitely has some big problems, but the team itself is not one of 'em. Here we rank the 10 characters that make up Task Force X (as well as The Joker, Amanda Waller etc) from worst to best...
David Ayer's Suicide Squad hasn't been embraced by critics (you can read my take HERE), and it does definitely have a lot of issues - but the characters that make up the titular team are not among them. This movie marks the big-screen debut of several great DC villains, and all are done justice too by a cast of actors on top of their game. Some do get more of the spotlight than others of course, but even the characters crying out for more screen-time do enough to ensure fans will want to see a lot more of them in the sequel. Well, most of 'em!
Below is a countdown of the 10 main characters from the film, from worst to best. Be warned though, if have yet to see it there are some major SPOILERS ahead.
By the way, You may notice someone has been left off the list, and that's because I didn't cover Slipknot. Remember his 2 scenes from the trailer? That's literally all he does in the movie before dying.
10. Enchantress
Though Cara Delevingne isn't really at fault (she doesn't get enough to do to make an impression one way or the other), her Enchantress character is definitely the weakest link in the movie. We meet her first as the innocent Doctor June Moon, who plays host to an evil demon/witch that's bent on world domination. Yes, as we all figured quite a while back, Enchantress does turn out to be the villain of the piece - and she's a bloody terrible one.
The entity teams up with her brother (they don't bother to name him but it's supposed to be Incubus), and together they set about bringing on the apocalypse by making a blue light shoot into the sky and turning people into really crap looking eye-monsters.
There was some potential there, as Enchantress does look suitably creepy at times, but by the end of the film she's reduced to gyrating laughably while shouting threats in a posh British accent. It's awful.
9. Katana
Katana is actually a pretty cool character, but she finds herself so low on this list because she's simply not utilized enough. The soul sword-wielding samurai doesn't get a stylish introduction at the beginning like most of her reluctant team-mates, and we only meet her about halfway through the movie. After that she does get to slice 'n dice in a couple of decent action scenes, but we really needed even just one standout moment to allow Miss Yamashiro to shine.
That said, Karen Fukuhara does a good job and there's a lot of potential there, so let's hope the sequel (if there is one) serves Katana a lot better.
8. Rick Flag
Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag emerges as one of the main characters in the movie, and he actually holds his own among the colorful bunch of bad guys he's tasked with looking after. Flag initially despises the criminals he's being forced to go into battle with, but as the story progresses they do build some trust, and a believable sense of camaraderie - if not quite friendship - develops.
The only real problem with Flag stems from his relationship with June Moon. The two are in love when the movie begins, and Rick's main reason for heading up the mission is to rescue the good Doctor from the clutches of Enchantress. This winds up factoring into the climax in a big way, but we just don't give a damn. The pair share literally 2 scenes and maybe 3 lines of dialogue prior to this, so while we're (just about) invested in Flag, we most definitely are not in this under-cooked romance.
7. Boomerang
Jai Courtney has given quite a few lackluster performances in some mediocre/awful movies over the years, so when fans found out he'd been cast in Suicide Squad they weren't exactly enthusiastic about it. But, Captain Boomerang's antics in the trailers won many people over, and he is indeed a highlight of the film... when he's in it.
Arguably the baddest of this team of bad guys, Digger Harkness may be a ruthless bastard, but he's kind of a lovable ruthless bastard, and he's mostly used in a comedic capacity- it's just a shame that's pretty much all he's used for.
Like Katana, Boomerang would have benefited from a little set piece of his own, but he still emerges as a memorable presence in the film.
6. Killer Croc
Croc is also (mainly) used as comic relief, and even though he's a reptile of few words, he still gets some of the best lines in the movie. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje does a great job of acting through those scaly prosthetics, and is able to give us a glimpse of the man beneath the monster.
Like Boomerang, his screen-time is a bit limited, but he does get a pretty cool underwater sequence and also plays a pivotal role in the final battle. Let's hope the big fella gets a bit more to do next time, though.
5. Joker
The most talked-about aspect of Suicide Squad was undoubtedly Jared Leto's new take on the Clown Prince of Crime, and whether he'd be able to deliver an incarnation that would rival Heath Ledger's iconic performance in The Dark Knight. Well, he doesn't - but that's not to say his Joker isn't successful.
Leto plays this classic villain as a blinged-out, volatile psychopath, and he does manage to be quite unnerving at times. Unfortunately, what we've seen in the trailers is pretty much the extent of his role in the movie.
A little disappointing, then, but there's lots of potential to develop this Joker into something special down the line.
4. Amanda Waller
Amanda Waller has been a puppet-master in the DC Comics Universe for many years, and we actually had a live-action interpretation of the character in Green Lantern as played by Angela Bassett. That version sucked, this one most certainly does not.
In a movie packed with crazed clowns, demonic entities and cannibalistic crocodile-men, Viola Davis' Waller is probably the scariest thing in Suicide Squad. This is a character that could have allowed for a lot of scenery-chewing, but the Academy Award-nominated actress plays her calm, collected and ice-cold.
Waller will stop at nothing to get the job done, and is completely fearless to the point that even the Squad have to respect her cojones. "I like her", admits Croc at one point. You will too.
3. Diablo
For me, the biggest surprise was just how great a character El Diablo turned out to be. Though he was featured in the marketing to some extent, it was generally assumed that he'd be more of a side character; and while he doesn't get the same amount of spotlight as Deadshot or Harley, he still kinda emerges as the heart of the film.
Jay Hernandez is superb as a man attempting to put his demons (both figurative and literal) behind him, and shares some great moments with his fellow Squad members as they attempt to persuade him to unleash his fiery fury. When that finally happens and the flames take over it probably won't go down so well with everyone, but I thought it worked, and there's an emotional heft to his sacrifice.
Yes, Diablo is the other one that doesn't make it to the end credits - although, it is implied that he may somehow have survived his encounter with Incubus.
2. Deadshot
Some have taken issue with how quickly Deadshot seems to transition from baddie to hero, but when you consider what's at stake in the final fight (if the world ends, his daughter's dead too) I think it's believable.
Deadshot also shares the best scene with Batman, and whether it happens in a sequel to Suicide Squad or in the Dark Knight's next solo adventure, you are going to want to see these two face-off again.
1. Harley Quinn
Deadshot may be the focus, but Harley Quinn steals the show. Fans have been anticipating the big screen debut of this character for a very long time, and Harley does not disappoint. You will have seen much of her antics in the trailers and you'll know a couple of her one-liners going in, but there is plenty more to enjoy.
In the role, Margot Robbie is near-flawless (her accent does slip at times), combining elements of the Batman animated series, Arkham Asylum video games and the DC comic book versions of Harley to create an unhinged, sexy, dangerous, but oddly likable take - and fans are going to love the homage to a classic Alex Ross painting.
Her revealing outfit and flirtatious manner have come under fire, but to me it was obvious that she was simply using these things as tools of manipulation. This is demonstrated in the scene where Deadshot refuses to take her down for Waller - Harley knew she'd done enough to get him on her side!
My favorite character, and I think she could end up being yours too. Let's hope that Harley Quinn spin-off gets up and running now.