Skwad Up: A Fans thoughts on Suicide Squad.
So after what feels like a lifetime, I finally got to see Suicide Squad today. But before I get into the movie side of thing I want to say something. Yes, I’m female. Yes, I’m a fan of both Marvel and DC. No, I have NOT seen Batman V Superman or Civil War. I don’t need to rush out and see every movie the moment it comes out, I don’t have that kind of cash. But Suicide Squad was a MUST see on opening day. I’ve had faith in this movie since I heard it was being made, and I feel sickened by the actions of people who claim to be “DC” fans. In the long run, who really cares about the Marvel versus DC ‘war’ that these people think is going on. Be thankful that people are willing to adapt these comic books into live action movies. Yes, there’s been some hits and misses. But that’s because you all assume it’s going to be page to film, directly.
The whole term “adaptation” is made so there is room for movement, obviously there is not a single human alive that can emulate those characters the same as they are on the page, and that is where us, the fans, fail these movies. Closed minds, sink movies. Open your mind and be willing to accept an adaptation for what it is. None of these movies are saying they are 100% comic to movie. That will never happen.
Onto Suicide Squad… Go into this movie thinking it’s going to be exactly like the comics then you will be disappointed on some level, that’s a given. Go into this movie expecting action, fun, laughs, a wicked soundtrack, then you will enjoy yourself completely.
I’ll try not to spill too many spoilers, but it’s a given that I can’t contain my enjoyment over this film and I forget that some haven‘t even had a chance to get to it yet, so read on if you don‘t mind spoilers!
As a fan I will say it’s Awesome as hell, and David Ayer has done a fantastic job not only as the director but also as the writer. On the other hand, I’m going to say that some parts were a little slow.
Heading into the movie your hit straight up with the kick ass soundtrack, and a slight introduction to each of the Squad members, it’s fun, it’s light-hearted, it also seemed a little off to start a movie out that way, but it worked. It worked for them, especially in a film that’s trying to bring something for both comic fans and newbie’s (no offence) so they don’t get confused. To me, it just bulked up the movie in a way that as a fan of these characters already made it a slow start, I am avoiding the word “Boring” because it was anything but boring.
Once we made it over that introduction hump, there were conversations between Waller and the HobNobs (I forget the American term for them, I’m an Aussie, so bear with me) of the American Government. Now this part, after seeing it in two trailers kinda made me want to hit the fast forward button, I wanted to see Task Force X already!!
I feel like I am paraphrasing the hell out of the movie, but I am a talker and could go on and on and on about things that have absolute no sense, or have people going “GET TO THE GOOD STUFF!”
We finally get to some action! The “Big Bad” of the movie arrives and well I got my time to say “I told you so” after having guessed who the antagonist of the movie would be. This is another thing that made me laugh with the critics, they were complaining about the “Villain” of the movie not being that great, and I am here laughing to myself because 80% of the actual main cast are VILLAINS! They are the Worst of the Worst. It’s obviously going to be pretty hard to find an adversary for the worst villains in the DC universe that can work on film, but Ayer did it! Did he do it well, personally I think he did.
Which gets me to another point. Don’t go into the cinema thinking The Joker is the villain. HE ISN’T. Leto’s Joker surprised me, I was a fan of Heath Ledger, I’m Aussie, I was a fan of Heath’s when he was on Home and Away, even though he played a shit ass character. Heath was good in HIS movie. Leto is good in HIS. These are two different movies, let’s not confuse them. Going in sceptical on Leto’s portrayal wouldn’t have done me any favours, going in thinking “This is his time to shine” made me accept him completely. His Joker to me is the Joker from the old animated series, the way over the top complete nutter. And the looks he gets at times makes my skin crawl, which was a perfect reaction to a sociopath. Ayer, Robbie and Leto, took two psychotic characters with a really fucked up relationship, and made you go “Awwwww!” at what they had.
Boomer!! What can I say about Captain Boomerang…. JAI_IS_LIFE! Ha, I am a Jai Courtney fan after all. To any Jai fan thinking he has a huge roll in this, he doesn’t. I was slightly disappointed that he didn’t have more screen time. But he was the complete bogan asshole that Boomer is. Although I have heard Jai talk off screen before in person, and I know hands down he’s accent in the movie is stronger than the real deal. I just wish he had more screen time.
No, I’m not going to mention who dies, but I will say, those damn spoilers that are going around and have been going around since day dot, are completely right. You never even got a chance to like the character before they are gone.
Now to the one we’ve all been waiting for, the Queen of Crazy, Miss Harley Quinn. A DC favourite I was unsure about Robbie’s portrayal of her and I was dreading that they were going to turn her into a sex pot, playboy bunny type with an annoying ass voice that sounded like nails on a chalk board. Thank the lord they didn’t, they did her serious justice. I was laughing at all her little jokes, especially when she calls people “Pussies” it just seemed so natural for her. Harley was the one character that went through a huge expanse of emotions throughout the movie and Robbie nailed them all. The homage to the Jester suit was pretty spot on as well.
In all honestly, the whole humour throughout the movie seems natural, I read somewhere where it all seemed forced, but they are full of shite. Especially for Harley, Deadshot and Killer Croc, they nail the humour parts.
Will Smith, for the first time in a long time I have seen him portray someone other than Will Smith. He was believable as Deadshot, and though he isn’t true to comic he still did well. I think Will in action roles always does better than Will in dramatic roles. Something about having a gun in his hand pulls him from normality and he acts just that little bit better.
Now a little summing up of the other characters cause this is getting longer than I thought it would. Viola as Amanda Waller, I wasn’t sold. She has the hard ass act down pat, but there was just something off that I didn’t embrace that character, I like the actress but couldn’t get into her being The Wall, it’s personal choice and I am not saying she didn’t do a fantastic job, because even the Katana character bugged the hell out of me in this movie. I think it seemed like every time she was on screen she was either asking if she could kill people or crying, and that just pissed me off. Delevingne redeemed herself as an actress in my eyes with her adaptation of Enchantress. I wasn’t sold on her being anything other than a model after Paper Towns, but she nailed it in this. I would have liked to have seen more “June” but I guess a movie about Villains can’t have more Dr. June.
Rick Flagg, not much to really say about Flagg other than I prefer Joel Kinnamon as him rather than Robocop. He nailed the character, the emotions and even his little one on one moments with Deadshot were a joy to watch. I knew going into the movie that I would like Adewale (not even going to attempt to spell his last name) as Killer Croc, there was something special about him which is why I believe Ayer chose to use an actual actor to be the Croc over taking the easy CGI way out. It was more believable to that this man could have developed into it, though if you don’t know the Croc’s story already don’t even look for it in the movie, there’s no explanation as to why there’s a “Crocodile” in there. Jay Hernandez as El Diablo (Diablo) was softer than I thought he would have been, but they did take the time to explain his back story a little so you get the understanding about why he is the way he is. The formation of the team seemed quick, but by the end you can tell they’re bastards but they would have each other’s backs, even Boomerang. Ike Barinholtz delivers classic laughs as Alpha1 guard (yep, I forget his name), even when he’s taunting the hell out of the villains, he still managed to make me laugh.
There is one thing that left me going “what…?”, Scott Eastwood’s character. Don’t get me wrong I love the Eastwood eye candy that we were given, I just don’t think he’s character was meaningful enough to care if he lived or died. There was some kind of hushed secrecy over who he was and to me that wasn’t needed. He plays Lieutenant ‘GQ’ Edwards, who’s that you ask? Who knows. He’s a wild card. All those pre-release guesses about who he was and who he could be were nothing because he character is nothing more than filler. A bit of a let down to find out that this somewhat big name actor was just a nothing character.
So, my final verdict:
Don’t go into the movie expecting something dark, expect the humour. Don’t go in expecting it to be straight from the pages of a comic book, it’s an ADAPTATION!!! I don’t think I need to include the meaning of the word for people to understand that it’s NOT going to be 100% true to the comic, it does pretty well though.
~ OriginalSoullessDragon (B)
Will I see it again: HELL YEAH!
Movie Rating: 9½ /10
Soundtrack Rating: 7/10
