Suicide Squad—worth the hype?
In a word . . . NO.
A dozen years or so ago, I parked in front of my favorite coffee house and looked up to see a guy in a beat up pair of blue jeans and white t-shirt (short sleeves cuffed) sitting at one of the outside tables, drinking a plain cup of coffee, and reading THE CATCHER IN THE RYE.
I mention it b/c one of the commercials that played before the movie started was Kit Harrington driving some car and reciting “Tiger, Tiger,” by William Blake, which was almost (but not quite) as contrived as my encounter with the Very First Hipster, and in hindsight . . . that commercial might have been the highlight of my viewing experience . . .
The biggest problem was an almost complete lack of development in the storyline.
The first ten to fifteen minutes are devoted to info dumps on the myriad characters and how they wound up the hole that the DEVIL Amanda Waller threw away.
After that we’re thrown headfirst into a typical Bad Guy hellbent on destroying the world situation, which of course means calling the new team together, but only after—wait for it—implanting bombs in their necks that can be remotely triggered should any of them go AWOL, b/c, hey, I guess we’re sticking with what’s worked in the past.
So we’ve got Deadshot, who just wants to make his daughter proud, Diablo, who refuses to be used as a weapon, Boomerang, who has a pink unicorn fetish, Croc, who became the animal he was assumed to be, Rick Flagg, desperate to save the woman he loves, and Harley Quinn, who had not one line or expression that wasn’t already shown in one of the movie trailers (a very slight exaggeration).
Their goal is to thwart the aforementioned destruction without having any background on Bad Guy, but who cares, b/c she’s a stock character who wants to destroy the world (b/c that’s what villains do), so a profile isn’t really necessary, anyway.
Oh, and if they succeed, ten years will be subtracted from their extraordinarily long sentences.
If they fail . . . they die. #nopressure
Secondary problems were Diablo’s insta-family with the rest of the squad and intended-to-be-funny lines that fell flat, like Croc’s profession that he is beautiful (I’m not saying he isn’t, just that the delivery was awful). Katana’s tearful conversations with her soul-trapping sword fell equally flat, not evoking a pained sense of loss so much as thoughts of that-bitch-is-cray.
Also, Joker’s teeth . . . WTH, man??
Also, also, Rick Flagg . . . I’m pretty sure he’s the long lost brother of that crazy-eyed pirate from Pirates of the Caribbean:
BUT.
It wasn’t all bad.
Unsurprisingly, Will Smith’s perfect comedic timing, and Margot Robbie’s consistent glimmers of fragility mixed in with Harley’s crazy train and kick-ass moves, saved the movie from being a total waste, and Diablo’s unveiling of his true self was pretty epic as well . . . but the rest of it was pure mediocrity, in my humble opinion.
What about you guys? Have you seen it yet? Are you planning to? What did you think?
My name is Jessica and I live in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I’m trying my hand at writing, but mostly I read. My favorite genres are Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Science Fiction, Urban Fantasy, and the YA versions of those genres, but if there is a book of a different color getting lots of buzz, I’ll read it too, just to be informed. If I’m not reading or writing, I’m probably on Goodreads or Pinterest or baking blueberry pies because I love them.
