Suicide Squad, whether you loved it or hated it, was one of the biggest movies of 2016. In fact the film was so big it was the tenth highest grossing film of the year and it is getting a sequel and spin off. Despite all that though, it was far from perfect. It was filled with pacing issues and the final act is dreadful. Numerous re edits and the disparate tone made for a film with some good ideas but very messy execution.

And I can fix it.

Before I start, I don’t blame David Ayer for the way Suicide Squad turned out. He too has said he wasn’t happy with it, he knows about the issues and I can only imagine the stress he was put under, as the DC cinematic universe was a mess at the time. In fact it is only now starting to find it’s feet with Wonder Woman doing so well. Before now the DCCU Was headed up by Zack Snyder, a man with a very dark vision for the universe, this vision was compromised by the movie executives that wanted to mirror the success of lighter ensemble films. Films like Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s because of this the Film failed with critics. Thankfully, as a nobody writing for a bit of fun on the internet, I don’t have to satisfy Zack Snyder or movie executives, I can write what I want and I can ensure my vision is clear, so let’s get started.

To fix Suicide Squad, I need to first address the problems, not least of these problems is the primary conflict. In the comics the Suicide squad are set up as a covert ops group to take on secret threats that nobody can know about. In Suicide Squad the movie they fight a giant monster that could destroy the world. This conflict brings up so many issues in the rest of the film. If this threat was world ending why not call in Superman or Batman or Wonder Woman? It doesn’t make sense to have the Suicide Squad there (yes there is a slight issue that requires their involvement but the lack of a superhero presence makes no sense). Another issue is the Joker, why put him in the film at all if he is of no consequence? As I mentioned the tone of the film is all over the place and finally, the bad guys don’t seem like bad guys. If these guys are villains make them villainous.

With those issues addressed let’s try and fix Suicide Squad. First I’ll introduce my changes and then I’ll finish up by writing a plot summary.

THE PRIMARY CONFLICT:

The big fix, the primary conflict. To fix this I would remove Enchantress from the movie, her scheme to become a god was too grand and felt like something superman or wonder woman should be tackling, not a small task force used for government deniability. This would also remove the pointless love story between June Moone and Rick Flag, our love story here will be the only one people cared about in the real movie, Harley and Joker. Speaking of Joker, since we are now missing a primary antagonist I would have him in the role. If you are going to market the Joker, make him a part of the movie. Now I know some of you may be thinking, “If the Joker is involved, where is Batman?” Batman would be in my version of the movie too, popping up now and then just to make sure we know he is there.

Now that we have our villain, we need a conflict, why are the Suicide Squad after the Joker? What did he do? My theory would be that Joker was part of a Suicide Squad set up before the team we meet in the movie. He was recruited in order to eliminate a terrorist group with ties to the US government. The group had made their way into “the city” and had taken a building hostage. The Joker and his Suicide Squad were sent in to take them out and retrieve the bomb they had with them. The joker being the joker ruins this, killing his handler and several other members of the squad. He quickly takes control of the tower and the bomb within. That Batman is made aware and decides to come after the Joker. A new Suicide Squad are recruited by Amanda Waller because she is determined to prove that Task Force X is a viable solution, and then we have ourselves a fun filled action blockbuster.

THE TONE:

To address the issue of tone is something I cannot really address here as I can’t edit the movie myself. But I would ensure the film had one editing team, not several and the editing team would work in line with the director’s vision. In my case I would have the tone remain Dark and serious. Suicide Squad isn’t exactly the Avengers, these guys aren’t friends out to save the world they are bad people doing bad things so let’s make it dark. Just know that it is important to break tension once in a while we don’t want to make another Man of Steel.

THE NEW PLOT SUMMARY:

So, that’s the changes, how exactly would this effect the story? Below you will find my plot summary for the “Fixed” Suicide Squad. So please enjoy.

We open on Amanda Waller sitting at a dinner table in an empty restaurant, much like the scene in the original movie. She is discussing the benefit of Metahumans and the use of a superhuman covert ops team, but more importantly a team that can be controlled or removed if needed. She starts to throw down files on the table introducing us to our team, Task Force X.

First we meet our lead, Floyd Lawton, Deadshot. Floyd is a mercenary well known for his pin point precision, however we meet him in his prison cell punching a picture of a Prison Guard. As we meet him we hear Waller run down a list of his kills and accomplishments. His Prison cell door then opens, cautiously he steps outside and finds himself surrounded by guards with guns trained on him. Waller states he will be easy enough to manipulate.

Then we get a rundown of the other members of Task Force X, Boomerang being arrested but the police car being hijacked by Waller’s agents. El Diablo refusing to take part before being placed in chains. Katana, signing herself up sword in hand. Killer Croc sitting in his cell with a smile on his face and finally, we meet everybody’s favourite psychiatrist, Harley Quinn.

In the restaurant Amanda faces some push back on having Harley included in the team. They mention how Joker will simply use her to get the upper hand and eliminate the task force. Amanda then explains how Harley is done with the Joker, she is a scorned woman and as the saying goes hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

Smash cut to a room with Harley Quinn retrieving her equipment the same way as in the normal film. The team is being briefed on their mission and the likelihood of success. Some members of team exclaim how they are going to get themselves killed. Deadshot pipes up “So what’s to stop us from killing you now and getting out of here” At this point we see Killer Croc speak up for the first time when he responds “The bombs in our necks” it’s revealed here that Task force X has been a thing before and Killer Croc has been a part of several missions already, when people ask where the other members are Killer Croc just smiles. Rick flag struggles to regain control of the squad but does so by explaining he has control of the bombs in their necks prompting everyone to begrudgingly follow him.

It is here that the mission begins, the squad sneak into the building through a sewer duct, Killer Croc displaying his usefulness by navigating these sewers. It turns out he was part of the suicide squad that the Joker was on but seeing the Joker’s takeover scared Croc, he had escaped through the sewers but thanks to the bomb in his neck the government were able to track him down. Whilst in the sewers we get our first taste of action when some of Joker’s goons are found guarding the sewers. Flag formulates a plan to eliminate the guards but before he can finish, the Squad run in all guns blazing, El Diablo hangs back as does Boomerang cracking jokes, but Croc, Harley, Deadshot and Katana charge in with reckless abandon, In the confined space of the sewers Croc ends up damaging Deadshot’s equipment and Harley “accidentally” strikes Katana in the ensuing chaos. Flag gets involved and before the team can tear one another apart he warns everybody of the bombs again.

Croc is told to stay in the sewers to ensure that the path remains clear for their exit. Croc demands to come with the team, saying he wants to kill the Joker for what he did to the rest of the squad he was on. Harley reacts unfavourably to this saying that they need to just capture the Joker, it is here that the squad start to question her motives for agreeing to be on the squad. Flag reminds Croc who’s in charge and he agrees to stay in the sewers. On the way into the building Flag and Deadshot exchange words about leadership as Deadshot disapproves of Flag, with Flag not really caring what the mercenary has to say.

From here the movie plays out like The Raid or Dredd, with our heroes slowly making their way up the building to their target on the top floor. During the Squad’s climb up the building we see a shadowy figure pulling guards from windows out into the night sky and knocking several men unconscious. The Squad remember the warnings that they can’t be found by Batman for risk of exposing the mission and huge government mistake. While they team is making their climb, Deadshot and Harley start to develop a friendship as they talk about themselves with one another and we discover the motives of the characters. Deadshot is suspicious of Harley and whether or not she is really over the Joker. Deadshot reveals that this job is not only important to him so he can get out of prison early but because he needs to rescue his daughter from Waller’s clutches. Before this conversation can finish the squad here Jokers guards approaching claiming that they have found “The Bat”.

Our second action sequence of the film sees Deadshot and Harley work together to quickly dispatch the Joker’s guards, killing them ruthlessly, but executing great teamwork. As Deadshot’s equipment was damaged earlier he is shot in the leg before he manages to get his hands on a gun. As he is bleeding after the fight the group resolve to take a break to bandage Deadshot up. Flag demands they continue but because it was Deadshot that stopped the threat of Joker’s guards and Flag has done nothing but make demands, the group simply heads to a side room, Katana not included.

Flag worries about losing his control over the group despite his bombs and when they enter the room, watches Deadshot with a scowl thinking about how he can take control back. El Diablo uses his powers to burn the wound clean before Boomerang pulls out a boomerang and tears his shirt to make a splint for Deadshot. During this time Flag grows impatient with the team and starts threatening the team Harley jumping to the teams aid gets in Flag face prompting Katana to start arguing with Harley as the volume starts to rise Katana gets louder and more aggressive Flag tries to calm everyone down reminding them of the Batman but Katana does not listen. She starts explaining that having the Batman do this would be a great help and maybe she could should simply head off in search of Batman to offer her assistance instead of working with murderers and criminals. As this gets more serious Flag tells Katana to stand down.

Katana then turns her attentions to Flag, as she doesn’t have bomb in her head she is not afraid of Flag the way the others are. Without a second thought Deadshot grabs the gun he wrestled away from Joker’s guard earlier and shoots Katana in the head. She drops to the ground leaving Flag covered in her blood and shocked, the room grows silent El diablo heads over and checks Katana’s body but she is dead. Boomerang and Harley look back at Deadshot confused as to why he let Flag live. He slowly struggles to his feet and limps over to Flag telling him that Katana’s death is on Flag, Flag couldn’t control his team and this happened.

After this the team ends up leaving a shocked Flag back in the room as they continue on towards their target. Diablo has been effected by Katana’s death and seems to be in a strange mood. Boomerang picks up on this but doesn’t make a deal about it. Harley and Deadshot continue discussing their reasons for joining Task Force X, Deadshot says that even though he is doing this when he gets out he is going to stop for his daughter. Harley questions whether he could actually do that with Deadshot closing himself in response and asking if she could actually take out the Joker. This leads to an argument between Harley and Deadshot with Harley leaving the team.

Deadshot and the others fear she is going to return to the Joker, this prompts Deadshot to ask if anybody else I going to have trouble getting it done, specifically looking at Diablo. Without receiving a response he heads off telling the other to go find Flag, saying maybe he can get them out. Now with Harley separated she finds herself with Jokers guards and smiles before she is knocked unconscious and brought before him.

This is important as it is the first time we really meet the Joker, there have been glimpses of him or partial shots but this is the first introduction of him and he is terrifying. Harley is brought before him and she looks ecstatic to see her puddin. However the Joker acts cold towards her, Harley endeavors that she joined the Suicide Squad to get back to him just so they could be together forever. Joker climbs to his feet and takes her in his arms kissing her passionately. Suddenly he grabs her hair and pulls tight. Harley exclaims that Joker is hurting her yet he does not stop. He pulls her head back and whispers into her ear that she brought them all here and she is responsible for putting Joker’s plans at risk. He throws her to the ground and she looks like a wounded puppy, confused as to why her love has done this to her. He smiles softly at her, a smile two lovers would share before he crouches down in front of her and explains how he has to clean up her mess. Joker looks slightly panicked realizing that the walls are closing in on him with both Batman and the Suicide Squad on his tail. He pulls a tablet out of his pocket, similar in appearance to the one belonging to Rick Flag he starts tapping the buttons and a beeping sound starts to emerge from Harley’s neck. She begins to panic as Joker looks back and laugh, exclaiming how exciting it will be.

Back downstairs Deadshot starts to panic as his own neck starts beeping, Thinking that it is flag he get’s on the radio and start shouting at Flag. But when we return to flag we can see Batman standing with a terrified Flag pinned to the wall. Batman takes the radio out of Flag ear and speaks into is asking where Lawton is. Deadshot responds that he isn’t that stupid, Batman responds that he is. Instead of giving away the Location Deadshot, defeated tells Batman about the bombs in their necks, and how Flag has the detonator and the bombs have been primed. Flag shakes his head vigorously as Batman returns his gaze to Flag. Diablo is simply stood in the corner watching on in a we unsure of what to do. Deadshot then starts to say how they need Flag to stop the bombs though Batman is not convinced. And panicked diablo then sets Batman on fire prompting him to release Flag, Diablo and Batman then engage in a fight ripping through the building.

Back with the Joker he sees the flames erupt on the floors below and assumes a bomb went off early before he sees batman and Diablo fighting. Diablo shouts back at flag to stop the bombs if they want to stop the Joker. The Joker hears Diablo shouting before turning back to Harley and asking how many of “them” there are. Harley runs down the list of the squad prompting Joker to send more men downstairs. Flag quickly grabs his tablet and stops the bombs before getting back on the radio to Deadshot. Batman and El Diablo’s fight has now fallen to the ground floor of the building and Killer Croc hears the commotion, ignoring the commands he now erupts from the ground to get involved in the fight with Batman.

Deadshot makes his way to the top floor without being found before running into Harley again, sat alone and crying. He asks what’s wrong but Harley refuses to respond. Deadshot asks is she’s going to stop him and she shakes her head, almost defeated by Joker. He kicks the door open and finds himself before the Joker however Boomerang has beaten him there and has been beaten to a pulp. Boomerang smiles through broken teeth when he sees Deadshot and exclaims how he guesses he couldn’t do it. Deadshot now stand conflicted as to what to do, he has a shot at the Joker however it old mean killing Boomerang. The Joker and Deadshot talk about why they are in the building with the Joker Revealing he wasn’t sent to remove the bomb he was sent to plant it. Deadshot is shocked and ask why they were sent after him then. Joker says he shouldn’t have been trusted with the bomb and explains how he killed the rest of his squad to take the bomb to use for himself. Deadshot then explains he didn’t kill Croc. Joker asks if Croc is there and we return to the fight downstairs with Croc and Diablo trying to fight batman who is trying to avoid being hit by flames or debris.

The fight between these men starts to ruin the integrity of the building, with several support pillars starting to crumble and the building starting to shake, Batman becomes aware of this and tries to think what he can do to move the fight away.

Back with Deadshot and Joker we see Joker ask why Deadshot hasn’t taken the shot yet if he is such a perfect shot. Before he can respond Joke peeks around from his cover of boomerang and shoots Deadshot in the leg. Deadshot drops to the ground in pain and continues to be mocked by the Joker. At this point Harley enters the room with Jokers Tablet. Joker smiles as the bomb in Deadshot’s neck starts beeping. Joker laughs explaining how true love conquers all. Deadshot looks at Harley in disbelief she responds that “hey, we’re the bad guys”.

Back on the ground floor Batman manages to trap Killer croc under a large chunk of debris and starts shouting out to Diablo asking why he is doing this. Diablo explains that they aren’t much but the squad needs him and he misses somebody needing him, at this point we learn that Diablo killed his own family which is why he vowed not to use his powers and had restrained until then. Batman then manages to talk him down appealing to his sense of reason. Diablo return to normal ad drops to his knees putting his hands out ready to go back to jail.

Joker comments how things down stairs have gotten quiet and they need to reach a conclusion soon or Batman will do it for them. Suddenly the bomb in Boomerang’s neck explodes killing him sending Joker flying across the room. Deadshot looks up at Harley who shakes her head when Rick Flag enters the room covered in the blood of Joker’s Guards. Harley and Deadshot both look at Flag who looks close to death. At this point Joker cries out for Harley and she runs over to him to check if he is ok. Rick goes to set another bomb but Deadshot shoots the tablet out of his hand. Joker then grabs Harley and takes her hostage. As he climbs to his feet he whispers good girl into her ear and the two start walking towards and exit on the roof. Deadshot forces himself back to his feet and heads towards the door while Flag shouts after him, Without turning back Deadshot shoots back at flag hitting him between the eyes. When Deadshot reaches the roof he sees the Joker still with a gun to Harley’s head who looks terrified. Deadshot shouts out To Harley to save herself. She breaks free of his grip and strikes Joker in the face, now we can see his face it is clear that he has been burned by the explosion of Boomerang. Shocked he takes a moment to compose himself before trying to shoot Harley, however she disarms him and the two engage in a fist fight. Deadshot is screaming for Harley to get out of the way so he can get a shot in. Harley soon starts to get he upper hand in the fight however kicking him in the groin and hitting him in the face with her baseball bat she managed to pick up off of the ground. This knocks the Joker unconscious and she stands over him with her Bat primed to swing, there is a pause before Batman arrives knocking Harley to the ground and throwing a Batarang to disarm Deadshot.

The film ends with Deadshot being returned to Jail after visiting hospital but being visited by Batman to say his daughter has been placed into safe keeping. Harley returns to Arkham with Joker who blows her a kiss in passing as they are sent to their cells. Diablo starts volunteering at prison and starts to reform and killer croc becomes locked up again. The final scene sees Amanda waller confronted by Batman. She asks if it is about Task force X and batman responds “that Suicide Squad?”.

End Film.

So I get that this was pretty long and more of a scene by scene explanation than a plot summary but it was written in an afternoon, and I got pretty excited and didn’t want to miss anything out, cut me some slack. I hope you enjoyed it though. Let me know what you think of my version of Suicide Squad and if you could do better, I’d love to hear everyone’s take on it, Peg Out.