Ah, Marvel. How you set the foundation for something revolutionary. In the face of revolution, oh how, people study and steal. Ready to pounce on their ideas at any moment. When Marvel created their cinematic universe in 2008, no one would have guessed that it would have been as big as it was. No one probably would have never imagined Disney buying the nearly broke company, making movies out of Paramount Pictures' basement. No one would have dared to think this little thing would generate a billion dollar film with nearly every movie past phase one. No one would have dared imagine that they could have dethroned Avatar. Not in the beginning, at least. Still, following the success of The Avengers, other film studios looked at their own properties and asked what can we do to replicate that success.
Thus started the birth of Universal's Dark Universe. A universe which took classic universal monsters and set them into our present day. That universe was dead in the water with its first entry. Then there was Sony's first attempt at a Spider-Man Universe, following the Amazing Spider-Man 2. Which in the end made that "launching" film with Andrew Garfield feel incredibly disjointed and overstuffed. Oddly enough, that's the exact direction that the Marvel competitor did with their cinematic universe - appropriately dubbed DC Extended Universe. By the time that Iron Man had burst onto the scene, DC had mainly focused on Batman and Superman movies. Sure, they tried their hand with Green Lantern, Jonah Hex and Constantine but all failed miserably. With 2013's Man of Steel, all of that changed and the universe opened up.
When it opened up, it opened like a bat out of hell. DC fast tracked multiple films to catch-up with their rival. Which in the end gave us films like Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad. This article is focusing on the latter. Suicide Squad feels like it has all the right parts to make a good movie but someone, somewhere lost faith and took out the smooth flow. Suicide Squad takes the worst of the worst within the DCEU, most of which whom are making their big screen debut, places bombs within them and sends them on a covet mission. Suicide Squad is in one word: messy. There is really no other way to describe it.
First off, a movie like Suicide Squad, can only be effective if these characters had showcased themselves in other properties. You can feel the behind the scenes rush in so much of this film. It feels as if someone at DC said we need our own Guardians of the Galaxy and brought Suicide Squad to life. The problem with that is sloppy narrative with even sloppier introductions. The cast is large, this is meant to be an ensemble piece. You can tell that right from the title sequence. Unlike Guardians, in building up the whole team, Squad choses to focus exclusively on Deadshot (Will Smith) & Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). It's even worth arguing that Jared Leto's Joker has more of a build-up than the majority of the team.
Smith and Robbie are the true stars of the film. Both are the only ones with adequate screen time and depth. While the rest of the cast has certain traits that define them. There is really no character development for any of them. Which in the end, really means that there is no character arc for them. A lot of that attitude is carried into the villain as well. Becoming forgettable and if you do remember anything - it'll be here terrible CGI & belly dance of death. There are notable actors that take place within the film, but they end up getting lost into the noise of a film that should have stood on its own. In the vein of Wonder Woman or Aquaman.
Overall, Suicide Squad, is a sloppy and sad excuse for film. Sure, the film has some charming moments, a decent soundtrack and good performances from Will Smith and Margot Robbie. The film's decisions to focus on the Smith and Robbie characters exclusively gives the film a disjointed feel right out of the gates. Not to mention, the introductions to these characters are sloppy at best. The narrative is atrocious, the villain is lackluster and the CGI is god-awful. Amanda Waller once said that she threw these characters in a hole and threw away the hole. Maybe it's time that someone does that to this movie.
RORSCHACH RATING
If you or someone you know is reading this right now and you are struggling with suicide, depression, addiction, or self-harm - please reach out. Comment, message or tweet to us. Go to victimsandvillains.net/hope for more resources. Call the suicide lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Text "HELP" to 741-741. There is hope & you DO have so much value and worth!
Victims and Villains is written and produced by Josh "Captain Nostalgia" Burkey. Music by Yuriy Bespalov & Beggars. Suicide Squad is property of DC Entertainment and Warner Brothers Pictures. We do not own nor claim any rights.