Suicide Squad -- a review

Once upon a time, Warner Brothers released Batman Vs Superman, and while it was a financial hit, the movie took a critical drubbing from both professional critics, as well as the viewing public. Warner Brothers’ executives, running scared, decided that everybody didn’t like BVS because it was “too dark” (apparently missing the fact that the movie just wasn’t very good overall) and thus decided to overhaul Suicide Squad, its other big superhero movie that was coming out later that same year. The studio reportedly took the film away from its director, David Ayer, and had it recut by a firm that normally cuts trailers for movie studios.

Hey, what could go wrong?

The behind the scenes story of Suicide Squad (which is chronicled in this fascinating article by the Hollywood Reporter) is actually better than the film itself, which is about a group of super villains that are recruited to fight a great evil. Based on the second version of the Suicide Squad that debuted in 1987 under creator/writer John Ostrander’s guidance, the Suicide Squad is a special ops team created from various and sundry jailed villains who are forced into doing good by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who places explosive collars around their necks that will blow their heads off at the first sign of trouble.

Did I mention that this “special ops” team is also escorted by armed soldiers who are there to kill them if the collars don’t work? Talk about being reluctant heroes. The main problem with Suicide Squad is (you got it!) the editing, which offers up several great scenes in a severely disjointed storyline that never really comes together. There are some very good moments here and there, but the film as a whole is a mess, and I can’t help but want to see Ayer’s original cut before it got mangled into its present muddled state. This cut of the film seems hell-bent on removing what little suspense there was in favor of “jokes” that aren’t very funny to begin with.

Will Smith manages to still shine as Deadshot, a super assassin. Jared Leto vanishes into his Joker role, offering up a well-done take on the Clown Prince of Crime as a freaky mob boss. But it’s Margot Robbie who really steals the show here, as Harley Quinn. Despite the choppy editing that proves fatal to the whole movie, Robbie still manages to be a major stand out as the appealingly psychotic Harley. Everyone else seems to feel the same way, because Robbie is reprising her Harley role in the recently announced Gotham City Sirens, which will also be directed by Ayer. Hopefully the boys and girls in the Warner Brothers executive suite will leave Ayer alone to make his movie his way this time. --SF

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