The DCEU Finds a New Low
Suicide Squad wishes it were as coherent as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and if you know anything about that film, you know that Suicide Squad has a problem on its hands. Batman v Superman introduced Batman, Lex Luthor and Wonder Woman to the DC Extended Universe—Warner Bros.' answer to the Marvel Cinematic Universe—but in doing so made a glum, muddled movie that doesn't live up to the promise or potential of its title. Suicide Squad introduces the top secret, government-assembled team of colorful DC villains tasked with doing the government's dirty work, and manages to deliver something more fun than its immediate predecessor, but far more scattered in tone and quality. Batman v Superman had too much going on in a numbingly dark movie; Suicide Squad has too much plot and too little story with occasional, sloppy interjections of levity.
Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), a cold-blooded government official, assembles the squad with military man Rick Flag as its leader, giving skilled assassin Deadshot (Will Smith), Joker sidekick Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and a handful of others a chance to reduce their stays at Belle Reve Prison. Also on the team is Dr. June Moon (Cara Delevingne), an archeologist possessed by an ancient witch known as the Enchantress. When the evil force gains full control of herself, she sets out on a plot to destroy humanity.
The problem with this is that most of the team members don't have any powers. They can shoot, hit, run and steal with the best of them, but the Suicide Squad simply wasn't created to fight an evil goddess; they were meant to accomplish truly dirty deeds, like assassinating heads of state, not save the world. Forcing these villains to be redeemable heroes dilutes their personalities, and those personalities are the little keeping the film alive throughout.
Will Smith does a decent job of being sympathetic, charismatic and cool (like many of his best characters), though he's also the squad member with the most backstory to work with. Harley is played perfectly by Robbie as a colorful, psychopathic ditz, but her motivations and relationship with the Joker (Jared Leto) are entirely problematic. The rest of the squad is fleshed out intermittently, some with flashbacks that, while informative, still feel totally out of place when they arrive in the narrative. A couple team members are even introduced with near throwaway lines, approaching nothing near three-dimensional characters.
Jared Leto's Joker is passable, feeling like his own creation swirled together with past performances by Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger. The biggest problems with the character are not Leto's fault, as both he and DC's most iconic villain are wasted with a role that was obviously much larger in the script than it is in the film. His few scenes find him acting as Gotham's top ganger, and though he gets to cackle in the white makeup and green hair, Leto isn't given anything uniquely Joker to do. He doesn't have any gags up his sleeve or depraved acts waiting to be unleashed on his foes; he just shoots at people and laughs.
Most disappointing about the Joker's reduced role in Suicide Squad isn't actually his absence from the story as much as it is the simplification of his relationship with Harley. Her backstory, partially revealed in the film, explains how she went from being the Joker's psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum to being madly in love with him, and crazy in some of the same ways. But her love for him isn't explained in the film, and it's quite obvious that their relationship is an abusive one, as the Joker treats her like a beloved object. Showing more of the abuse may not have been good, or even in good taste, but at the very least it could have provided more insight into their dynamic, and it would have been far more interesting to watch. Without that deeper exploration, Harley comes off as a lovesick puppy, and there's no real attempt to dive into her psyche. It's too bad such a good actress, giving such a committed performance, doesn't have more to sink her teeth into, especially when all that's left is a ditzy, outer shell in hot pants.
The muddled Joker and Harley subplot is just one of many instances of the movie tripping over itself with pacing that is all over the place. The film opens with a series of montages introducing each character with their own pop or rock song of choice. The musical choices are appreciated, but they're used cheaply in an attempt to add a thin layer of personality to the proceedings. If the songs had been used more organically (as the classic hits soundtrack of Guardians of the Galaxy was integrated), they wouldn't call attention to themselves, but they make the film feel more like a trailer than an actual two hour story.
From this first act forward the film lurches in fits and starts, and when the squad lands in the evacuated Midway City—a location so lacking personality and a sense of geography that they might as well be anywhere—the film comes to a halt for a series of bland fight scenes and twists that add very little to the story as a whole. By the time the team faces off against Enchantress, who's dialogue and gyrating movements are utterly terrible, the film desperately just needs to be over. It's not fun, it's not emotionally involving, it's just there and it's not good.
The worst part is that Suicide Squad doesn't seem to have just turned out bad. Maybe the version of the film without obvious studio tampering wouldn't have been very good either, but it would have felt clearer, and probably more original. The disappointing thing about Suicide Squad is that everything that doesn't work here feels like it is aggressively not working. You can feel the studio's hands on the project. Batman v Superman felt like corporate catch up with Marvel in concept, but in execution the film felt like it was what its creators wanted it to be, despite its massive problems. Suicide Squad has shreds of a dark, original take on a movie about depraved people doing depraved things, but it's been morphed into something desperately trying to be a Fun Summer Movie. What a shame that Warner Bros. wasn't willing to let its bad guys be bad.