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Suicide Squad poster

CAST
MARGOT ROBBIE
WILL SMITH
ADEWALE AKINNUOYE-AGBAJE
ADAM BEACH
COMMON
JAI COURTNEY
VIOLA DAVIS
CARA DELEVINGNE
AIDAN DEVINE
DAVID HARBOUR
JAY HERNANDEZ
JOEL KINNAMAN
JARED LETO
TED WHITTAL

BASED ON THE DC COMIC BOOK CREATED BY
JOHN OSTRANDER

SCREENPLAY BY
DAVID AYER

PRODUCED BY
CHARLES ROVEN
RICHARD SUCKLE

DIRECTED BY
DAVID AYER

GENRE
ACTION
COMEDY
CRIME

RATED
AUS:M
UK:15
USA:PG-13

RUNNING TIME
130 MIN

SUICIDE SQUAD (2016)

Entertaining performances especially from Margot Robbie and Will Smith keep things lively, yet one can’t shake the feeling that somewhere within Suicide Squad lies the potential for a much better movie.

Just like Batman v Superman before it, there is no doubt that Suicide Squad – the latest DC Comics adaptation to hit the big screen – will benefit from a “Director’s Cut”. Whether rumours that reshoots were ordered to lighten things up are true or not, there is no doubt that throughout Suicide Squad an unease can be felt, akin to a beast trapped in a PG-13 cage chomping at the bit to get out. Often the film threatens to do so, yet never follows through.

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Its premise is an interesting one: what if the world’s most lethal super villains were coerced into saving the very same world they’ve long terrorised?

Featured amongst this motley crew of baddies is the deadly assassin Deadshot (Will Smith), psychotic loudmouth Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), mutton chopped beer drinking Aussie with anger management issues Boomerang (Jai Courtney), flame conjuring LA gangster El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), and, well, a Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuaye-Agbaje).

Under the charge of remorseless hard-line government official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) and her second in command, the all business Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), this grouping of all-kinds-of-bad have to stop an ancient evil force known as Enchantress (Cara Delevinge) from destroying the world (you know, the usual superhero movie stuff), while also contending with maniacal super criminal The Joker (Jared Leto) who wants Harley back in his clutches.

Performances wise there is a lot to like in Suicide Squad. Smith brings that superstar charisma, in turn making his Deadshot quite the likeable character, more a “badass” than a “bad guy”. Yet the scene stealer here is Margot Robbie, whose turn as Harley Quinn is equal parts nutty, sexy, dynamic and just plain fun. The same can’t be said of Jared Leto’s turn as infamous comic book villain The Joker, a mixture of 1930s mobster, blinged out gangsta, and girating loony that strikes neither fear nor much in the way of memorable…anything. Where the portrayals of The Joker by Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger were iconic, Leto’s take is placed in the “Well, That Was Interesting” file.

The biggest problem with Suicide Squad is its lack of identity, and inconsistency in tone. It is clear that the negative reaction to the dark tone of Batman v Superman spooked many at Warners, and Suicide Squad certainly feels like a movie pulled into two opposite directions, with the dark and the gaudy often clashing like it is the bastard child of Zack Snyder and Tony Scott. That the film is restricted by its PG-13 confines limits the ability to reach its full potential as a could have been DC answer to Deadpool.

Indeed, there is a beast of a movie lurking inside Suicide Squad. Hopefully one day we’ll get to see it.

**1/2

 

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