I saw Suicide Squad on the Thursday before opening night. I was mildly entertained through all 123 minutes. Trying to stay away from reviews before seeing this movie proved impossible. And I won’t lie, I expected worse. The reviews were so terrible that I expected the worst DC film of all time. (It’s Green Lantern, if you’re wondering.)
I was so ready for Suicide Squad to be trash that it was a bit of a let down.
Are there problems with the plot? Yes. Enchantress as the main villain in this movie was a terrible choice. The entire Enchantress story line is probably something we could’ve done without. We 100 percent needed more Joker in the film. There’s literally no reason Jared Leto was sending dead pig carcasses to his castmates in the mail for 20 minutes of screen time. But neither of those things completely ruin the film.
The action is great.
Bat-wielding Margot Robbie is satisfying. Will Smith’s scenes as Deadshot are as visually impressive as they could’ve been. Katana and Diablo are also two other stand outs that shine in fight sequences. Suicide Squad actually does a really succinct job at balancing the screen time between team members during battles. And each member has a very distinct fighting style that’s enjoyable to watch.
But the star of this movie is auntie Viola Davis.
And no one is talking about it. From the very beginning until the end, Amanda Waller is serving #blackgirlmagic. She takes no mess and she accepts no challengers. She makes decisions how she pleases and fights for what she believes in the best way she knows how. Viola Davis is the catalyst that moves the story forward. And even though her character gets captured, you never get the sense that she’s out of the fight. Viola Davis and her portrayal of Amanda Waller deserves much more credit than anyone is giving.
The place where this movie fails most is in respect to what happens when the action stops. Katana may be a prominent fighter, but her dialogue sheet is extremely thin. Killer Croc’s most memorable line is when he asks for BET in his cell. Suicide Squad’s diverse ensemble cast isn’t much of an ensemble. That doesn’t give the viewer very much to connect to, especially because this is a story about finding redeeming qualities in the bad guys.
We go on a journey for two hours and three minutes, and the only members of the team we really get to know are Deadshot and Harley Quinn. The rest of Suicide Squad is an Enchantress storyline that consumes the plot. But the biggest problem in this entire situation is the reaction this movie’s received from critics. It’s almost impossible to believe that I watched the same film that some of these articles describe.
There’s even a story floating around that compares Suicide Squad to Donald Trump.
This is DC’s best attempt to date at a summer blockbuster comic book film. And we can only hope that it continues to get better from here. Suicide Squad is miles better than Batman v Superman. And minus the Enchantress, it’s a film that actually holds up. It’s just unfortunate that most of the story revolves around that character. The critics have the fans in a frenzy. And the fans have the internet in a never-ending debate. But the fact is, Suicide Squad isn’t a bad movie. There’s just a lot of room for improvement. They told you Suicide Squad is bad. Stay away from “they.”
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