Ugh. What a waste.
It's baffling how the marketing of this film, especially the trailers sold me on how fun and exciting this movie looked. Whoever cut those trailers absolutely deserves an Academy Award. To make this garbage of a film look any good must have been quite a feat.
Lets get straight to it, the whole film is about a team that unwillingly comes together by the shady side of the government in a really long and drawn out series of flashbacks and origin hoopla that has you so bored that you end up wondering what the movie is about. Oh yeah and there's this lame witch villain, Enchantress that is handled so very poorly.
On top of it, there's an unnecessary Joker & Harley Quinn romance stuff going on, which weirdly doesn't end up involving anyone else. It's like a strange side story that happens while the main story is going on.
It's giant narrative mess. It's very choppy, very muddled, and doesn't do a good job explaining anything within the middle of the action. There's no sense of danger and the film shoehorns in forced humor, therefore making tonal inconsistencies that took me out of the film every so often.
It's very clear that WB banked on Will Smith's star power, and the popularity of Harley Quinn. Aside from those two and maybe El Diablo, Rick Flagg and Amanda Waller, no one else has anything to do. More time could have been developed for other members of the squad, but they're just in the background. I got to sympathize with Deadshot the most, but I wasn't really captivated because it was exactly the role I expected him to play.
Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis and the others do the best with what they're given, but ultimately decent acting from some of the cast members won't change the fact that it's a terrible disjointed film.
Clara Delevingne's Enchantress was a monumental waste of a villain. The script just uses her as that tried trope of a world ending threat that we've seen so many times. The film does nothing new with it, nor does it try to do it well, even if it is a familiar trope. Her acting was just so atrocious and laughable. As stated above, Jared Leto's Joker doesn't have much to do. His arc of the film with Harley has nothing to do with the main story so it's just a distraction. I had no problem with his portrayal, but the film really did not need him at all.
For me David Ayer is a hit or miss. While I have enjoyed a few of his previous works, especially End of Watch, he failed to deliver with this film. It's lazily written, with terrible dialog, the story is incredibly choppy, and even the action sequences disappoint. Don't even get me started on the finale. It's half-assed and so anti-climactic. There was no sense of danger or any tension. Ayer once mentioned how we will see the squad bond with their hatred of Batman, and that we will get the villain's perspective on Batman, but aside from Deadshot, that wasn't really explored at all. Also those eyeball creatures, they were lame. I mean visually was that really the best the filmmakers could come up with?
I don't want to make comparisons, but this film made me realize and appreciate what Guardians of the Galaxy accomplished. Taking a bunch of C/D-list characters that aren't the best people in the world, and making something out of them. I don't want to start a fanboy war, but it amazes me that Marvel Studios who have been at such disadvantage since the start, pull off what they did. Making films that are at the very least entertaining is quite impressive, compared to WB/DC that have had the film rights to these properties for such a long time. I don't mind that they're playing catch up but there's a way to do them well.
It is very discouraging as a comic-book fan in general, but I'm still hoping that DC's future will take into shape. I've made it clear that I am not a DC hater. I've stated numerous times I loved Man of Steel. I saw it five times in theaters and could not anticipate DC's future, but so far I was disappointed by Batman v Superman, now today, I am massively letdown by Suicide Squad. I'm hoping Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman will change my tune and that Snyder will deliver with Justice League.
At the end of the day it's all subjective. If you enjoyed this movie, more power to you, my review doesn't make me the end all be all. But, aside from some okay performances, a very tiny Batman role, and a cool surprise appearance from another DC hero, you should save your money. Just go see a decent summer film like Star Trek Beyond or Lights Out. Or just go watch Captain America: Civil War and Deadpool, comic-book films done extremely right.
4/10