THE SUICIDE SQUAD MOVIE REVIEW

The history of the DC universe has been nothing short than divisive. And that division still continues to this very day with the releases of features such as Wonder Woman 1984 and Zack Snyder’s Justice League; more so the latter than anything else. One of the other points of the DC universe that has been rather divisive, and strangely relevant still, is of David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, which has been receiving many supporters to #ReleaseThe AyerCut, which anyone who knows truthfully and fully of the DC mess that went on behind the scenes when Warner Bros decided to launch a cinematic universe will know that they will not revert back to a model they didn't like to begin with. They’ve moved onto better things and have had better results since then. One of those examples is our film for today, a sequel and reboot of sorts to Ayer’s film: The Suicide Squad.

The film is written and directed by James Gunn; widely known for his work on the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise over at Marvel Studios. The film stars Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman and lots of other notable faces.

The story is about..well..the suicide squad as they go about on a mission to save the world from bigger threats and find themselves rising above themselves to become the heroes of their own stories and become better people as a result. What was a villain now fights for the greater good.

Now, I've personally gotten to a place with the superhero genre where I find myself more obligated than excited by what I'm about to watch. Because I have over the years begun to pick up on a formula that is not ringing as engaging or investing to me anymore and I have distanced myself from whatever the story is trying to do when I sense that formula creeping in, which is mostly picked up right at the start.

And in the case of The Suicide Squad, while there is a level of fun and charm to be had with it, I can’t help but feel that same formula being utilized. Just because you make the story pop with visuals and make it a little more violent, it doesn’t mean the essence has fundamentally changed for me. I still see the same mechanics being used and I’m getting rather exhausted by it. Logan and Joker are great examples of how to have the genre evolve. We need to see new incarnations and visions of what these characters can do and what environments they can play around in. Logan in essence is a Western and Joker is a Thriller. The Suicide Squad is yet another Superhero movie. And that’s not what I want to be saying when coming out of this genre at this point.

But that all being said, getting into the actual movie itself, I do think it possesses some charm and likability in certain areas; mainly in the performances. I found myself engaging in the performances mainly due to them looking like they’re having fun with what they’re doing; particularly in Daniela Melchior, who is easily the best aspect of the movie as Ratcatcher 2, and Idris Elba, who was fun as Deadshot. Oh wait sorry he’s Bloodsport? Sure. He’s basically Deadshot, just slightly different. And in some respects, that’s kind of how I feel about the movie. It’s just a slightly different comic-book movie. Because most of the problems I have are still here: the development takes a backseat, the plot is mostly by the numbers and predictable and it isn't that distinct. Again, I need more than violence and visuals to make the movie feel unique and its own entity. Style over substance almost all the time never works for me. And it feels like a lot of the time that’s what The Suicide Squad caters to more most of the time it plays on screen.

So while the development mostly takes a backseat, the pace of it can become tiresome and is mostly playing to style over substance, the charm of it all and through engaging performances (namely in Ratcatcher 2) gives this reboot of sorts enough for you to chew on and last through even if at the end of it all lands to an albeit fine result when it could have been much better in certain areas

Grade: B