So Warner Brothers is making a Suicide Squad movie. And everyone is ready for it, myself included. But despite our hopes, is this movie really going to be that good? I've found some praises for the upcoming film that may prove not to be what it was hyped up to be.
1: DEADSHOT'S FIRST MISS
So Will Smith is playing Deadshot. Cue the screams. Cue the applause. Cue the confetti. Because holy crap, Will Smith is going to be in a CBM! And for DC no less! And he's going to be playing a cold, antisocial emotionless killer willing to do anything to get the job done... Wait. I've heard that before...
After Earth.
I still have the nightmares. For those of you who haven't seen After Earth, good. It's a terrible movie that started Jaden Smith's descent into madness on Twitter. It also starred Will Smith as a cold, antisocial, emotionless killer willing to do anything to get the job done. And he was terrible. Will Smith can't do that role. Not to mention that After Earth was a passion project for him, he cared very deeply about that movie. Considering how that turned out, how do you think a role he has no emotional attachment to will be like? And considering WB's dark approach to the DCCU, don't expect them to make Deadshot a suave ladies man throwing out jokes. That's what Will Smith is good at, and he won't be allowed to do it.
2: AMANDA WALLER IS COOL (BUT NOT HERE)
So Viola Davis was cast as Amanda Waller. This itself isn't a bad thing. Ms. Davis is a very talented actress, as seen in The Help and How To Get Away With Murder. However, she isn't right for the role. What makes Amanda Waller cool is that she is is, for lack of a better term, a very fat black woman. She's extremely physically intimidating, but you still underestimate her strength. One of The New 52's flaws is that they made Amanda Waller into a Nick Fury/Black Widow amalgamation. Her character and personality is very much the same, but she loses a lot of what made her so cool in the first place.
3: IT'S STILL ABOUT BATMAN AND SUPERMAN
Deadshot, The Joker, Harley Quinn, Hugo Strange, Lex Luthor, and Deathstroke have two things in common. They're all Batman/Superman villains, and they're all appearing (or rumored to be appearing) in Suicide Squad. This is more than half of the announced cast. I don't know if WB doesn't have much faith in the DC property, or if they're just uncreative. 81 years of supervillains, and they go for the easy way out. And speaking of the easy way out...
4: DC IS TAKING A HUGE RISK (IN DIMENSION X)
Iron Man was a risk. Guardians of the Galaxy was a risk. Suicide Squad is not a risk. Everyone is going to see this. And yes, I know that not a lot of people know about the Suicide Squad, but it's led by Will Smith and features The Joker. Those two alone will make it a huge success. Even if the movie sucks people will flock to the theaters just to see Jared Leto's Joker. After Focus, Will Smith and Margot Robbie will be bigger than ever, and I doubt that Jared Leto will be ignored. Chris Pratt had only been notable for his work on Parks and Recreation before GotG, and Robert Downey Jr. was still a touchy subject before Iron Man. Suicide Squad has an all star cast and an extremely popular leading man. It features The Joker and keeps the DCCU going. This isn't a risk, it's a guaranteed success.
5: JARED LETO AND THE CHAMBER OF JOKERS
Nowadays, your Joker is only as good as Heath Ledger's. Is this a fair comparison? No, but it's what you have to go by. However, there is one exception: if your Joker is more cartoonish and comic-like, they will instead be compared to Mark Hamill's. This is where Jared Leto comes in. Leto is a fantastic actor, but consider who he's going up against. From what we've heard, his Joker seems to be a mixture of Ledger and Hamill, and this means he's going to be going up against both of them. Not to mention that he will be more muscular and physically intimidating, something we haven't seen from joker before. Well, except for Batman: Arkham Asylum, but that's a different story. So far, Suicide Squad's Joker seems to be a radically different interpretation of the character, and with Warner Brother's alleged "no jokes" policy, don't expect him to live up to the name either.
6: DEATH IN THE STORYLINE
Raise your hand if you know about A Death in the Family. Raise your other hand if you want to see this on film. Raise your other-other hand if you want to see how the characters in-universe react to it. For all of you that raised all three hands, too bad. According to a recent report, Joker "has killed one of Batman's sidekicks". This is what I've feared since WB announced an "older Batman" for their movie universe. Who knows how many plotlines we've missed? Have we gone through A Death in The Family? Hush? The Long Halloween? Passing references to these wouldn't do the stories justice, and neither would making them flashbacks. Maybe they haven't happened yet, and maybe Hush will still get his day in the limelight, but until it's confirmed, I'm sticking to Murphy's Law.
7: IRON MAN 2 SYNDROME
What's the point of this movie? What do we know about the main plot? Supervillains fight crime from prison? Alright, cool, what do we know about the cameos? Amanda Waller and her hatred of superheroes is set up, as well as her connection to ARGUS. The Joker is going to be interrogated by her, we know almost exactly what he's going to look like, and he's going to escape prison by the end of the movie. Rick Flagg Sr. and Hugo Strange may also appear. Wow. One of the biggest complaints about Iron Man 2 was how it did nothing but set up The Avengers. So far, it looks like all Suicide Squad will do is set up the next Batman and Justice League movies. And yes, the movie is more than a year away, but the hype they're throwing on The Joker seems to be either from a lack of faith or an overuse of set ups. Neither option bodes well for the Squad.
8: DC'S LUCKY BLOW
Why is Enchantress in Suicide Squad? They could have replaced her with Cheetah, and it wouldn't have made a difference. Even Killer Frost is cooler (and more popular, thanks to Injustice) than Enchantress! There are two reasons why DC chose Enchantress from all the female villains in the DC Universe. 1: She was in the Squad once or twice. 2: She's called Enchantress (like Marvel's Enchantress). That's right, DC actually beat Marvel to the punch. I don't know whether or not Marvel was planning to use Enchantress in Thor 3, and I doubt that WB using their own will put them off, but it'll look bad to those who don't know that Marvel pre-plans by years. But this is the only blow WB got in, because...
9: IT'S ALL A RIP-OFF
An authoritative African-American with ties to a mysterious organization whose name is an acronym. Am I talking about Amanda Waller or Nick Fury? A team brought together by this organization who can't get along at first but wind up working well together. Am I talking about the Avengers or the Suicide Squad? A highly dangerous and insane criminal who is interrogated by a woman and has escaped prison by the end of the movie. Am I talking about Hannibal Lecter or the Joker? The Suicide Squad deserves better than a shameless rip-off. Be original, find something to do besides take the ideas of others.
Suicide Squad is a fantastic comic, and I'd recommend it to anyone who reads this article or plans to see the movie. I want this movie to be great, and I want the DCCU to succeed. I just don't feel that trying to beat Marvel, or being completely serious is the way to do it. Warner Brothers, have faith in this property, and make sure that Suicide Squad is great. You deserve nothing less.