AFJ REVIEW: SUICIDE SQUAD

Starring: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Cara Delevingne, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, and Joel Kinnaman
Written By: David Ayer, Based not he Comic Book by John OstranderDirected By: David AyerOriginal Year of Release: 2016Rated: PG-13
Run Time: 2:10

Sometimes a movie comes along and I find myself torn between critic and fanboy. This looks to be what will come with DC Comics and Warner Brothers’ superhero releases. The critic within places a wall up and stands firm upon it saying, “forget all you know about these characters, these films stand on their own”. That’s a really hard thing to do when you know the backstory to so many of DC’s characters. The fanboy stands there screaming with joy that the likes of Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, and Killer Croc are in a movie. These two sides of my brain also struggled with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Thankfully, the writer within, who simply loves a good story, trumps them both. This brings us to Suicide Squad.

This is a huge gamble for DC Comics placing B and C list characters in their own film. On a grander scale, it is a huge gamble for superhero movies in general. This film is the first of its kind for the genre, a live action film featuring villains as the main characters. Many of these characters have yet to even grace the silver screen. So introductions need to be made. An immediate overlap and exposition comes from two of the main characters, Deadshot (Will Smith) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). We are given an overabundance of who they are. Granted, they are the stars of the movie, but I felt as if I got all I needed from their second introduction, the first was pointless. This additional time may have been better spent flushing out some of the smaller and lesser known characters in the film. In not doing this, it reveals to the audience who is going to stick around and who will die an early death. It also doesn’t help that one’s star power also indicates his/her level of significance.

The full review for Suicide Squad is on Action Figure Junkies.com.