Suicide Squad 2016 Revisted: Bring on the Ayer cut because this film is a mess

In a story about villains, it’s still pretty shocking Warner bet on the wrong one.

The intro is so bloated, with the first twenty minutes needing to be cut down to around fifteen, just to set up the Squad battling the Enchantress and NOT the Joker.

Imagine keeping the Rick Flagg and Enchantress plot in the background, growing and ultimately setting up another film or a major complication to a complex Joker setup which would put Harley in the middle of picking sides – if she were to choose Mr. J, she could die because of the device in her neck.

After watching the new film, “The Suicide Squad,” James Gunn seemed more focused on keeping the plot simple and fast-moving.

This 2016 was tied mostly to the marketing of Leto’s Joker who makes a cameo and is irrelevant. Davis rocks as Amanda Waller, but let’s Flagg play the villain killer when Slipknot tried to skip out – the new film handles their roles much better, which holds the new film together better. Waller playing monster, Flagg playing G.I. Joe.

David Ayer’s film can’t even stand by any rules, Flagg extending their mission, the “fake” death of Harley and Joker, the destruction of Earth’s armies – nothing is ever held consistent long enough for the audience to care.

Of the first hour, maybe half is worthy of a final cut with some additional content to develop the Joker theme, as I mentioned. Nearly an hour-and-a-half into the film, everything halts again for the bar scene and audience can at least have a bathroom break.

Diablo’s backstory, Harley whining, Boomerang (who proves to be useless, NEVER doing anything at all), Croc’s beautiful and Flagg’s love story – tell NOT show, Ayer undermines anything remotely positive about the film.

Half of Harley’s scene are gags designed for a teaser trailer, offering little of a character arc. Presumably, this “tramp” version of Harley is popular and Warner wants to capitalize. So much for the MeToo and TimesUp philosophy (which came immediately after this film’s release.) As I discussed in my original review below, her character taking out the creatures with a baseball bat is SO STUPID and feels worse now, after seeing the character in the new film.

Then there’s the “swirling trash in the sky,” which is dumb and, frankly, as I stated in my original review, would never be a real threat or the actual superheroes would be summoned.

Watching the film later doesn’t just remind me the movie is bad, “Suicide Squad” is actually worse. Queue the music video and prolonged excuse for storytelling and you get this bloated mess.

Two weird moments: David Harbour playing the inane politicians and Steven Mnuchin as producer.

Original post on The Global Dispatch

Warner Bros and DC Comics present Suicide Squad, a team of villains united by a pretty malicious government official to get in the “meta-human” game. Following the lukewarm response to Batman v Superman, Suicide Squad appeared to be something different, something stylish, much in the vein of Guardians of the Galaxy.

Sadly, audiences will have to endure repetitive plots distracting viewers from the batch of baddies trying to find redemption, get back to her “Puddin'” or just trying to stay alive.

new suicide-squad-cast-imageAmanda Waller (Viola Davis) runs the most covert and darkest elements of America’s government and convinces officials to mobilize a band of antiheroes to save the world from an evil witch set to destroy the entire world. Deadshot (Will Smith) takes the role of frontman under the barking of Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) as the rambunctious group is more trouble than they are worth in many ways.

Like BvS, director David Ayer treats the audience like a room full of nimrods cramming elementary plot points and back stories in between music videos and action sequences. The film begins with style, some flair as some foundation is laid and links are made to the other films, particularly Batman’s role in this universe.

Davis steals every scene and is just a wicked government official you love to hate. Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is a bit overrated and just comes across as more lovesick than psychotic in her own right. Ayer can’t seem handle the ensemble cast and just seems too preoccupied with each character’s backstory.

Jared Leto’s first promo photo as the Joker caused chaos in fan circles until the first trailer broke and all was forgiven. Sadly, the Clown Prince of Crime has an insignificant role in action and is relegated to the role of annoying outsider rather than the psychopath established early in the film.

Cara Delevingne’s Enchantress is a pathetic attempt at a major film villain with a CGI “brother” which bores audiences conditioned by Marvel to want more. She’s more of a emo sorority girl with a voodoo spin than a big world destroying supervillain worthy of Waller’s army of disposable soldiers.

This is Smith and Robbie’s film. Further analysis and criticisms will follow, but nothing is more important than a complete avoidance of trailers, previews and clips – nearly ever great moment has been ruined, totally dampening the experience.

Suicide Squad receives 2 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Suicide Squad calendar cover

suicide_squad_Deadshot skull movie poster

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