Warner Brothers' 'Suicide Squad' Is Killin' It

Will Smith (Deadshot) and Margot Robbie (Harley) in Suicide Squad

By Darlene Donloe

If you’re a die-hard DC Comics fan you will appreciate Suicide Squad, out in theaters nationwide today.

If you’re not a die-hard DC Comics fan you can still enjoy the film, but you might scratch your head about what’s actually going on. This is a different kind of superhero movie – with some questionable superheroes.

This Warner Bros. latest DC Comics adaptation is wild, loud, chaotic and definitely violent.

Written and directed by David Ayer (“Fury,” “End of Watch”), the story, a bit convoluted, has agent, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), assembling a group of the worst of the worst violent criminals known to man - for a top-secret mission.   The mission is to stop some enigmatic and potent aliens from taking over the world.  What do the bad guys get out of the deal?  They get 10 years off of their prison sentences.  HA!  Let me know how that works for those with consecutive life sentences. So, in other words, they get nuttin’.

The criminals include: Deadshot (Will Smith), a never miss marksman; a hard as nails, slightly crazy Harley (Margot Robbie), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Diablo (Jay Hernandez) and Boomerang (Jai Courtney).

This motley crew is mean. I mean really mean. The story takes an interesting turn when some of them display some redeeming qualities.

The bad guys are played by some A-listers, B-listers and C-listers. 

A-lister Jared Leto plays a sociopathic Joker (Jared Leto) who has designs on wreaking his own havoc on the world.

Leto’s demonic Joker is somewhere between Heath Ledger’s maniacal version and Jack Nicholson’s exuberant adaptation.

Oscar-nominated, Tony-winner Viola Davis is channeling her How To Get Away With Murder alter ego, Annalise Keating.  Her character in the movie is tough, callous, cold and calculating.  She’s just as mean as the scum she digs up to go save the world.  

The movie takes 30 minutes to introduce all of the bad guys through individual bios. It’s actually the best part of the movie.

That being said, Ayer’s script is weak. It makes it a bit difficult to understand what is going on.

This DC Comics series presentation isn’t great, it isn’t good, but at times it is entertaining. 

Thank goodness for Will Smith.  Both he and Margot Robbie have some good one-liners, but it’s not enough to make this a good movie. It does, however, make it a likeable movie. After all, the movie, which is all over the place, is from DC Comics.  The target audience will find this movie pleasurable as they suspend disbelief, buy some popcorn, take a seat and enjoy.

Suicide Squad, written and directed by David Ayer, stars Jai Courtney (Insurgent), Jay Hernandez (Takers), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Thor: The Dark World), Ike Barinholtz (Neighbors), Scott Eastwood (Fury), Cara Delevingne (Paper Towns), Adam Beach (Cowboys & Aliens), and Karen Fukuhara in her feature film debut.  The film, based on the characters from DC Comics, is produced by Charles Roven and Richard Suckle, with Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Colin Wilson and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.

Official Trailer: https://youtu.be/5AwUdTIbA8I

On the DONLOE SCALE: D (don’t bother), O (oh, no), N (needs work), L (likeable), O (oh, yeah) and E (excellent), Suicide Squad gets an L (likeable).