A hot mess.
Suicide Squad
Grade: C-
Director: David Ayer (Fury, Training Day)
Screenplay: Ayer
Cast: Will Smith (Concussion), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 130 min
by John DeSando
“What is this? Cheerleading tryouts?” Deadshot (Will Smith)
Suicide Squad is the most recent entry in the summer mayhem action movies, and it’s distinctive only in its conceit: Assemble the baddest asses in the world from Louisiana’s Belle Rive prison to eradicate even badder ones from somewhere else in the universe. Kind of like making a conscience-deficient dictator next president of the USA.
Led by Deadshot, six like-dead souls, including the randy and dangerous Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), are recruited from lockup by the questionably-ethical government agent, Amanda Walker (Viola Davis). Their mission: Execute a black ops mission and receive clemency. Most sane operatives would not touch this group, much less give them license to kill, but these are desperate times because bad must beat bad as good has gone AWOL.
What ensues is full of explosions and innumerable rounds of bullets, and oh, yes, a nice touch of a very sharp sword. If you can wade through the cacophony and carnage, there are a few lines like the one at the head of this essay worth noting and another: “It's taken me some time, but I finally have them. The worst of the worst.” Amanda Walker
I know what you’re saying to yourself, can this be the best of the best lines, and I say it’s difficult to find better. So focused is director David Ayer on the gymnastics of violence that he forgets crisp dialogue, or at least sardonic talk, such as in Guardians of the Galaxy and Deadpool, is more lethal than all the munitions you can muster.
To show how off-center director and writers are, most of the first hour of the film is dedicated to the presenting the vitae of the six bad heroes. Then , when they finally meet each other, it seems we almost go through the bios we had in the first part of the film.
Mostly it makes the dark Batman v Superman look like a birthday party. Even the love affair between Harley and The Joker (Jared Leto) is more like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland, so full of over-the-top posing it is. Suicide Squad‘s squandering will make you remember the forgettable Fantastic Four. Yep, that boring.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
