Director David Ayer
Genre Action | Adventure | Fantasy
Cast Margot Robbie, Scott Eastwood, Will Smith, Jared Leto
Rating PG-13
Release Date August 5th, 2016
“A secret government agency recruits a group of imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency, which inevitably leads to chaos.”
Suicide Squad is directed and written by David Ayer, the man behind Street Kings, End of Watch, and Fury. Suicide Squad releases as the next DC Universe film, following the shaky release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The cast includes Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Joel Kinneman, Jai Courtney, and many more.
Suicide Squad is a DC Universe project to be proud of, jam-packed with impressive visuals, non-stop action, and relentless humor, hitting the mark where Snyder’s Batman v Superman failed to. Similar to the villains portrayed in the film, Suicide Squad is absolutely oozing with personality. I loved the soundtrack, the immersive comic-book feel, and I also really enjoyed the backstories and flashbacks that were included. My DC Universe knowledge is severely lacking so it was helpful. Could it have been better? Sure. But I look at the final product with the glass half full approach, and the understanding that this is a step in the right direction in terms of what the DC Universe will be able to provide in the future.
Suicide Squad includes a cast that looks amazing on paper, and it does not disappoint. Will Smith and Margot Robbie lead the charge in their respective roles as Deadshot and Harley Quinn. Smith is hilarious and delivers punchline after punchline, and true to her character Margot Robbie is cuckoo for cocoa puffs. Jared Leto put forth his best effort in an attempt to match Heath Ledger’s joker from The Dark Knight. He impressed me but the bar was simply set much too high. Joel Kinneman was very effective and had dynamic chemistry with the rest of the cast. I was pleasantly surprised to see Mindy Project star and co-writer, Ike Barinholtz in the film. Although his role was somewhat limited, the audience is exposed to him early on and he does a fantastic job helping to set the tone for the unique mix of psycho killers and quality humor.
With Suicide Squad, the majority of critics definitely dropped the ball and left me questioning whether or not this predetermined hatred towards the DC Universe and unwavering love for Marvel is actually a thing. Perhaps the conspiracy theories are a little bit much but what I know is the simple fact that when I spend my money at the theater (especially the high price of IMAX 3D) I expect to be entertained, and Suicide Squad not only sent me home happy, it left me wanting more. That ladies and gentleman, is the definition of entertainment. Ignore the haters and check this one out soon so that you can form your own opinion. You will be glad you did. Side note, early focus groups suggested that the film be reworked as they considered it to be too dark. Combine that with the rumblings of the many deleted scenes including a number of scenes with The Joker, and I expect a very impressive extended and/or unrated edition to be released on Blu-ray when the time comes. Can't wait!!
