The DC movie universe is back for the second time this year. Following the disappointment of Batman v Superman the hopes of DC Comic fans were put on the shoulders of director David Ayer (Fury). This time we leave the dark and brooding world of the heroes and go into the more fun and wacky world of the villains.

Suicide Squad is set in a post-Superman world where governments are racing to come up with a plan to deal with the new meta-human threat. Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) solution is to take some of the worse bad guys and form “Task Force X.”

Having an ensemble cast instead of one main character means that there are some issues giving all the villains equal amount of time to be a part of the film. Characters like Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (yes, I googled that)) and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) are given little time to shine apart from a few jokes here and there. Where these characters lack through, Will Smith’s Deadshot and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn make up for it. Deadshot is a badass assassin with the right amount of attitude that makes it perfect for Will Smith. Margot Robbie’s mentally deranged Harley Quinn provides some, if not all, of the best laughs in the film.

Then there’s the Joker (Jared Leto), this version of the clown prince of crime is less of an agent of chaos like Heath Ledgers and is more of a gangster with a twist. This character is good when we get to actually see him but he has been so heavily edited out that we are barely given enough time to form a proper opinion about him.

Suicide Squad could have benefitted greatly if the Joker were its main antagonist. Instead, what we get is yet another poorly developed character whose plan revolves around a big blue light going up to the sky (think Avengers Assemble, Fant4stic, and Man of Steel).

For the first 2 thirds of the film, we get a tone that is completely different to most superhero films – especially those made by DC. We are given a colourful and amusing film that is not ashamed of its comic book roots. Unfortunately, coming up to the climax of the film it reverts back to being a deadly serious piece of cinema where we can’t understand the characters motivations for their actions.

Suicide Squad has been panned by many for being a poorly edited mess with less than convincing characters. This may be true to some extent, but really Suicide Squad is a fun film with entertaining characters and a soundtrack to rival Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. If there were one bad thing to say about Suicide Squad then it would be that its trailers promised too much and the film couldn’t fully deliver.

7 wrist guns out of 10.