Valiant Venture Reviews - Suicide Squad

If I had to pick one movie that I was most excited for this year, it would be Suicide Squad. The premise just looked so fun and entertaining. So imagine my delight when I was given a free pass to see the film two days early. I attended Wednesday night’s 6:00 PM advance screening of Suicide Squad in Dolby Atmos. Was it worth watching?
The film begins with a quick rundown of the Squad and how they got roped into Task Force X, a collection of big bads meant to take care of problems that the government doesn’t want to dirty their hands with. They’re assembled by a mean and super-determined woman named Amanda Waller, played by the menacing Viola Davis. The Squad itself consists of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Will Smith’s Deadshot, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang, Karen Fukuhara’s Katana, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s Killer Croc, Jay Hernandez’s Diablo, and Adam Beach’s Slipknot, all led (against their will, of course) by Rick Flag, a no-nonsense soldier following orders from the ever-determined Amanda Waller. The Squad is assigned to take out an imminent threat to humanity. I won’t say what it is because it hasn’t been shown in the previews exactly what the Squad is up against.
In my opinion, Robbie and Smith were the acting standouts in this film, as I expected, and Fukuhara gets a honorary mention due to two well-done emotional sequences. Of course, everyone wants to know about Jared Leto’s performance as The Joker. When comparing all the hype we got about Leto’s Joker and the end result we got in the film, the hype is simply hilarious and wrong. There’s only two scenes I can think of where Leto’s Joker was actually useful and entertaining. It’s a shame and earns a spot in one of the most disappointing performances of the year, in my opinion. Overall, the acting is fairly standard, with very few standouts.
Don’t worry...there’s still good in this film. For example, the first twenty minutes are awesome. They involve two cameos from DC Comics characters you know well. From there, plenty of interesting character interactions and jokes keep the film moving at a very entertaining pace. Sadly, the second half of the film is nowhere near as entertaining as the first. It’s all bogged down by a cardboard cut-out villain and a very cliche story.
Next, I have to mention this film’s soundtrack. Unlike many previous superhero films, this movie uses quite a few rap and hip-hop tracks, undoubtedly trying to keep up with Marvel’s use of classic tracks in Guardians of the Galaxy. There’s nothing wrong with using these tracks, of course, but for Suicide Squad, the tracks take away more from the film than they contribute to it. Granted, they sounded amazing in Dolby Atmos, but they’re more annoying than anything else. There’s a pivotal scene between The Joker and Harley Quinn that is pretty much ruined by the song choice, in my opinion. Overall, I certainly would have preferred a Zimmer-style cinematic soundtrack over a “hip” one.
And speaking of being “hip,” the character’s dialogue in this film is way too “gangster” for me. I get that these are criminals we’re talking about, but to have someone like Killer Croc utter words like “Brah” is simply too much for me.
All in all, Suicide Squad is a film that has more flaws than I expected. From the very disappointing Joker to the annoying “hip” soundtrack, this film is the most disappointing movie of the summer so far. I cannot recommend seeing this movie, which is an absolute shame. I really wanted to like Suicide Squad. I guess it’s good I saw it for free.

Suicide Squad opens August 5 in 2D, 3D, IMAX 3D, and Dolby Atmos.

PROS:
Great performances from Robbie and Smith
First 20 minutes are pure comic book fun

CONS:
Leto’s Joker is massively disappointing
Most acting is fairly standard
Soundtrack is mostly annoying
Plot is very cliche
Villain is also very cliche

Valiant’s Score: 6 out of 10.