Flavor Flav was right:
"Don't believe the hype."
That refrain played in a loop in my head as I watched David
Ayer’s Suicide Squad, the latest film
in Warner Bros./DC Comics' cinematic franchise. Unfortunately, it’s all pomp
with very little by way of circumstance going for it.
After the events of Man
of Steel (2013) and Batman v.
Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), government agent Amanda Waller (Viola
Davis) assembles a wetwork team of super-villains to take on end run missions
that have minimal chances for survival and act as a metahuman deterrent. Among
the villains she’s selected for the task are Floyd Lawton/Deadshot (Wil Smith),
the assassin who never misses; Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), a loutish,
uncouth master of the boomerang; El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), a gangbanger with a
fiery personality; Slipknot (Adam Beach), a rope-gimmick assassin; Killer Croc
(Adewale Akinnoye-Agbaje), a deformed monstrosity; The Enchantress (Cara
Delevingne), an ancient sorceress currently possessing the body of scientist
June Moon; and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), moll of The Joker (Jared Leto),
and a formidable psychopath in her own right.
The team is held in check by team leader Rick Flag, Jr. (Joel Kinnaman)
and the resident martial artist with a soul trapping sword Katana (Karen Fukuhara).
“Suicide Squad” was a 1950’s DC Comic about four government
agents who, under the Task Force X program, took on covert suicide missions the
United States couldn’t touch during the Cold War. The title was revived in the mid-80’s
for one purpose: copyright retention; i.e., “use it or lose it.” Writer John
Ostrander revamped the concept so that super-villains were blackmailed into taking
on those missions in exchange for commuted sentences (and limb/head retention).
Whereas Ostrander and his wife Kim Yale (with artists John Byrne, Luke
McDonnell, and Karl Kesel, among others), were able to churn out a suspenseful
and successful comic out of a business necessity, Suicide Squad the film feels like it was solely made simply to keep
the copyright alive.
Aesthetically, the film is a super-villain pastiche of The Dirty Dozen (1967) and Mission: Impossible (take your pick). In
terms of structure and presentation, the more applicable film to reference would
be The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly (1966),
with the breakdown being as follows:
THE “GOOD”:
Individual performances: Taking into account Hollywood’s penchant for
not being wholly faithful for the source material, one has to expect liberties
with characterization going in. That said, Smith seems to be having a good time
as Deadshot, even if he does deliver a moment of cringe-worthy line delivery
here and there. Then, there’s Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller. This character may
have been previously seen on live action shows such as Smallville and Arrow, but
Davis’ take is by far the closest to the source material, and just as
formidable. She’s tough and unlikable…the way Waller is supposed to be. Yet
Davis hits the right beats to keep her character engaging. Jai Courtney finally
finds a role of note in Boomerang, whose despicable character is somewhat
entertaining (even if he’s given a fetish affectation as comedic shorthand) and
frankly, like Smith, Courtney looks like he’s having the most fun he’s had on a
film set. The most poignant of the bunch is Hernandez’ Diablo, whose reluctance
to use his abilities come from a backstory that renders him the most
sympathetic in the cast. Then, there’s Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Robbie captures
most of the source character’s characteristics in what should have been a major
break out role, but isn’t; reasons for same being cited below.
Ambition: Suicide Squad is an ambitious film. To
present a perception of a shared cinematic universe through the eyes of its
villains is a bold choice to make; an opportunity to view its world (and the heroes
that inhabit it) through a different set of glasses.
Homages/Easter Eggs:
Without spoiling anything, there are enough of them in this film
presented in such a way to bring a smile to long time DC fans’ faces without
taking the non-initiated out of the film (there are other reasons for that
happenstance to take place).
The Visuals: Color
is used in a way here that was decidedly lacking in the first two DC Cinematic
Universe offerings. It unapologetically uses bright, vibrant, primary colors to
great effect, juxtaposing with the more muted and dour visuals of the film.
The First Thirty Minutes: Despite it seeming to take forever in exposition, the first
thirty minutes of the film effectively establishes each character and their
initial motivations as they are introduced.
THE “BAD”:
Performances as A Collective Whole: One of the greatest hurdles in any ensemble
film, especially a film of this type, is the character juggling. Some films do
it deftly, such as The Wild Bunch
(1969). Suicide Squad is not that
film. Motivations change at the drop of a hat. Granted, the argument to be made
is that these are “evil” mercenaries and should have pliable motivation. In
this case, though, it’s more bean-counter arbitrariness than it is in-story
development. There are hints of development (such as in the cases of Boomerang
and Croc), that are summarily dropped. These arcs, such as they are, lead
nowhere. Other performances pander: Some expected (Harley Quinn), some groan
inducing (The Enchantress); the latter to the brink of eye rolling.
The Music: On
the surface, there is nothing wrong with it. Steven Price’s score is
unrelentingly edgy, and some of the pop/rock inclusions to the soundtrack are
inspired for the given situations and/or characters. However, the film is too peppered
with the latter and the former inadvertently adds to the disjointed nature of
the film itself.
THE “UGLY”:
Narrative/Tonal Schizophrenia: Plot? What plot? It's not even worth mentioning David Ayer’s screen
writing or direction because, even if there stories about the behind the scenes
re-writes and re-shoots didn’t already about, the film as a structural and tonal
narrative is a disjointed mess. The only thing approximating cohesion appears
in the first 30 minutes. After that, it all goes to dung up. Ill-defined character
motivation aside, the film’s overall aesthetic falls somewhere between
post-apocalyptic chic and a MadTV episode. This is perhaps the most perplexing aspect
of Suicide Squad. Both Man
of Steel and Batman versus Superman
embraced sturm und drang grim and
gritty, an aesthetic that is tailor-made for the this film. However, instead of
owning the angst and depravity, we’re presented with a sanitized film more Hot
Topic than hard core, wavering uncomfortably between callous violence and a
more lighthearted romp reminiscent of Deadpool (but without its wit or willingness
to laugh at itself). One can practically
point out scenes where Standards-and-Practices demanded changes. The movie jerks
with so many starts and stops that it's like driving a stick-shift without the
knowledge of how to do so. It’s jarring and minimizes the very nature of the Squad.
One Particular Performance (Why So Serious?):
The biggest draw for this film is Leto's Joker, and it’s his
performance that most divisive and epitomizes Flav’s choral rallying cry. In
all fairness to Leto, he does try his best step away from the mold created by
his predecessors. This would be great…if there were something in the
performance that said “Joker." There's very little to differentiate Leto’s
take from any other psychopathic crime boss in recent cinema. It’s a
self-involved performance that is more quirky for its own sake than character
building, and he’s about as scary as a mime performing interpretive dance. Nevertheless,
the Joker is extraneous to the film. He adds nothing to the narrative as a
whole, much less to the lore of The Joker. It's an extended and unsatisfying cameo; one that
could not live up to the hype building up to it. His Joker would have been
better served in flashback and hiding behind the scenes, rather than
interacting with the Squad.
What's Love Got To Do With It:
Speaking of the Harley/Joker dynamic, the two are not
supposed to be a love affair of the ages, but rather the personification of
spousal abuse and Stockholm Syndrome. Throughout his history, despite an
occasional hiccup, The Joker is an irredeemable figure whose character is the
epitome of chaotic evil. Yet this film humanizes him to the extent of giving
him a redemptive aspect via Harley. Not only does this run counter to any
previous take of The Joker, but it does Harley, and her agency, a disservice. This
take implies that Harley is somewhat sane, because she is seeing something
tangible that other people don't...his ability to care about someone. In the
comics, Harley is a tragic but resolute figure as she has survived the abuses
heaped upon her by “Mistah J”, even if her psyche hadn’t. Their insanity, and
their core characters, are diminished both individually and as a couple. Word
is that there are scenes regarding the Joker that show he only values Harley as
property (if he values her at all). Despite the seemingly interminable runtime,
the characters would have been better served if said scenes were included. As
such, the relationship is one of the film’s biggest missteps.
* * * * *
Personally speaking, I really wanted to like this film. The tonal
about-face from the previous films comes as quite a shock. There were a lot of
elements here that had a lot of potential to make it the DC Universe’s version
of Pulp Fiction, if not Inglorious Basterds. The actors are all game, but there's very
little in the film for them to sink their teeth into. Their performances are,
given the film’s limitations serviceable. They inhabit their characters, but
there's nothing that makes one clamor to see any of them again in an ensemble
piece or a solo film (the exception being Robbie, because she gives enough to
make you wonder what she’s capable of in the role with a good script). In
truth, one would be better off watching the 2014 animated feature Batman: Assault on Arkham if one wants a
satisfying Suicide Squad tale. Though it will no doubt make a ton of money for
Warner Bros. just out of sheer curiosity alone, despite having some arguably
fun (if not enjoyable) moments, Suicide
Squad is, on the whole, a spectacular failure. One would have expected,
given the antihero-as-protagonist conceit and the subject matter, this film to
be a slam dunk. However, the film is nothing but fumble after fumble. It’s not
enough to ask for a time out. It makes you want to call the game.
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