Worst.Heroes.Ever… is the tag line to Suicide Squad the latest film from the DC Cinematic Universe. But for some (not me), it might be closer to Worst.ComicBookMovie.Ever judging on the mixed feelings people had as they left the theater. Warning, spoilers ahead…



After the events of Batman v Superman and the death of Superman, the world is now on notice when comes to metahumans and the supernatural. How can a government combat such a threat should it arise again? Enter Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), a Government agent who might be the scariest person in the DC Universe who happens to have a unique plan to face that threat. Waller’s plan is gather the worst criminals imaginable hold something they hold most dear to them and use that to her advantage. She does this all the while having complete control over their lives in the palm of her hand after injecting each one with an explosive device that when activated, kills them instantly.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

The biggest thing Suicide Squad has going for it, is its talented cast. With a running time of about two hours, the first half hour or so is dedicated to giving the audience a crash course on just who these super villains are. The problem is outside of Deadshot (Will Smith) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), there probably isn’t much interest in the others that include Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney). The squad of misfits is led by Col. Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) a soldier who is also under Waller’s emotional control when after his girlfriend Jane (Cara Delevingne) becomes possessed by the Enchantress, an ancient sorceress who specializes on the power of persuasion unleashes her brother to destroy mankind. Waller holds the literal heart that unlocks Jane’s soul from her alter ego and dangles that carrot in front of Flagg in order to stop this deity of sorts finishing its destructive mission.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros.

This is where the muddled plot and choppy directing from David Ayer goes awry. Regardless of the fact that the Squad succeeds in their mission, you keep waiting for something, anything to happen in a big way and it never really does. Even as bad as these “heroes” are we’re supposed to find something redeeming in them. But other than perhaps Deadshot’s relationship with his daughter, we have no feeling of connection with any of them. Even Harley’s tragic and twisted love story with the Joker (Jared Leto) seems incomplete and director Ayer never quite gives her a signature moment to completely shine even though she remains one of the best parts of the film itself.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros

Speaking of Joker, one of the biggest questions raised was how the clown prince of crime fit into the overall storyline? As it turns out, he’s the x-factor with his own objective and that is free Harley Quinn which he was able to do at the very end leaving the door wide open to future storylines for these two. As Dean Martin once sang, that’s amore. As for Leto, I’ll give him an incomplete. His appearance is more of an extended cameo than anything else. What I saw was interesting but not enough to have a feeling one way or another.

Like Marvel, there is a mid-credit scene involving a certain member of a certain league discussing metahumans with Waller. DC may be late to the party but they’re going all out to build a unique universe that is a completely different from the one Marvel has established. Suicide Squad had so much potential to be more than what it was.

Directed by: David Ayer

Starring: Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jared Leto, Joel Kinnaman, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cara Delevingne and Jai Courtney

PG13 123 Mins

SUICIDE SQUAD – **1/2 (out of 5 stars)

May the Dork be with you,

JPB

The Dork Knight

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