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    Suicide Squad

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    “Suicide Squad” is a film I’m going to have to see more than once. I’ll freely admit that there are flaws within but I don’t see what the overwhelming negativity from some people is all about. Am I seeing something that others aren’t because I’m familiar with these characters? Am I just being a “fanboy” and loving anything that brings the comic books I read to life? I don’t think so.

    After the events of “Batman v Superman”, tough-as-nails intelligence operative Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) assembles a team of supervillains to do the dirty, covert missions that regular men and women won’t do. Her candidates include assassin with a conscience Deadshot (Will Smith), crazed Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), a bank robber with an affinity for throwing boomerangs called Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), pyrokinetic El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), amphibious cannibal Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), a 6,000 year old sorceress named Enchantress (Cara Delevinge) and a martial artist and swordswoman whose blade entraps the souls of its victims named Katana (Karen Fukuhara) Under the leadership of Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), they are charged with saving the world from a powerful threat.

    The biggest flaw with the film is the one I expected to see from the trailer. There are too many characters here. Some members of the team have juicy roles and are integral to the plot. Others, not so much. Katana, for instance, has little dialogue and characterization. Having a woman whose sword can trap swords seems like a useful asset, but I would’ve dropped her to allow more time to the other characters. I’ve also got mixed feelings about everyone’s sure-to-be-favorite character, Harley Quinn. Margot Robbie is great in the role. Quinn is well written, consistently entertaining, there are layers to the woman’s madness… but why is she on the team? Everybody else has got unique abilities and I’m not sure what, besides comic relief and the ability to pull a trigger she’s got that’s essential. It should also be noted that the conflict the Squad goes in to fix isn’t all that deep. There's a lot of material to juggle already so I expected this myself.

    Let’s talk about what works in “Suicide Squad”. First of all, the film is very stylish. From the first few frames, with its neon splatters of paint, it’s tattoo-laden characters, it’s cinematography, there’s no mistaking this 2016 supervillain film for any other picture, Marvel or DC. This story and the performances by the actors perfectly capture their comic book counterparts. Deadshot has never looked better than as he is here. Killer Croc is exactly as I imagined him. The film makes you hungry to see more of them. If the home video release features deleted scenes featuring Captain Boomerang (whom I was most looking forward to) I’ll gobble those up in a minute. The film is quite funny throughout and manages to get you emotionally invested in what are – let’s face it – a bunch of deplorable people that happen to have a use now, but would be better off in a deep, dark cell, isolated from everyone else. I was surprised to see that despite the limited screen time that some characters get, it’s not just their abilities that distinguish the characters of the “Suicide Squad”, it’s also their personalities and how they relate to each other. What I see in this film is the foundation of a franchise. Now that we’ve been introduced to these thugs, we’ll see deeper plots and more in-depth looks at their personalities.

    A warning. If you’re going into the film expecting a lot of Jared Leto as the Joker, you’ll be disappointed. The title of this film is “Suicide Squad”. Harley Quinn is one of the tentpole members of the team. Her backstory is intimately tied with the Joker so every scene he’s in relates either to her backstory or to how she longs for him. The plot of this David Ayer picture does not revolve around him. His limited screen time is to be treasured, as this new spin on the classic villain is stylish and rife with potential, but he’s not in it a whole lot.

    “Suicide Squad” has some rough edges but there’s clear enthusiasm from everyone involved and it’s manic punk-rock finish makes it stand out. The film’s strength is in its humor and in the moments where you get to see the team as whole, along with the performances from Smith, Robbie, and Leto. I enjoyed it thoroughly while having to admit that the 2014 animated film “Batman: Assault on Arkham”, also featuring the Suicide Squad is a better, tighter story. The 3D is decent and you’ll want to stick around for the end credits, as there is a scene midway through. Overall, It’s got flaws but I enjoyed “Suicide Squad” and I think you will too. (3D Theatrical version on the big screen, August 6, 2016)

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    adamwatchesmovies@  8.8.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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