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The DCEU Discussion Part V: Suicide Squad

  • Writer: Luke Evans
    Luke Evans
  • Jan 15, 2021
  • 23 min read

Updated: Jul 5, 2021

Okay. I will watch this again because I said I'd do them in order...

... Me and my stupid mouth...


Anyway, I'll go through it all and tell you what I liked, what I didn't like, and why this movie simply doesn't work - and how that relates back to the whole mess that is the DCEU.


I will say this though: I am writing this paragraph after watching and writing most of the post. This is either the fourth or fifth time I've watched this film and this is the most I enjoyed it. I'm beginning to see it for what it is... and that is that...

-Pic: From Tor.com - This is one of those things where the photographer says: "Let's get a candid shot. Everyone-act natural!" It's in the movie and they did it so they could get this shot, I'm sure of it!


For the record, once again, I was so keen for this movie. I was willing to give it a go. While I have always drifted towards the Marvel side of the fence, I have at my core been a comics fan in general. I have connected with some wonderful DC Comics, DC properties and media spin-offs since before I was ten. My first real superhero exposure was to Batman and Superman. I was a fan and I still am.


I think I'm pretty fair when it comes to the topics. If DC/WB does something awesome with a comic book property that's great, I will tell you. I love their animated films, their toy lines, the various cartoon series, the Arrowverse/Berlantiverse. I really do. I, and so many others, were willing to give this movie a chance. I, and so many others went to see each of these DCEU films multiple times and I have bought all of the DVDs. I have given my money repeatedly and I haven't ever judged them on my first viewing alone. I was on board for a good experience. But after this, I started lowering my expectations rapidly, because every time I came out I was amazed that they could keep putting out sub-standard stories. I have problems with every movie in this series - even though I loved some of them a lot. And when it comes to their distinguished competition over at Marvel, I simply don't have these problems. Love them or hate them, the folks at Marvel know how to tell a story.


Anyway, opening rant/disclaimer over.


Into it!


So, the trailer comes out for this and I'm excited. It's vibrant, funny, action-filled, colourful, they've thrown soooooo much money at the cast and the soundtrack. It looks like they want this one to work. I'm on board. All the logos (DC, Warner Bros., Ratpack) look amazing in the sweet Suicide Squad neon colours. It looks cool.


And it opens pretty strong, with the one actor who seems able to carry even soft scripts over the finish line all by himself normally - Will Smith as Deadshot. Now, by this stage we've seen two small screen incarnations of this character on both Smallville and Arrow, so he's not exactly new to committed viewers. I thought Will Smith was a longshot (pardon the pun) with this gig - BUT he's good. However, just like Ben Affleck in BvS, the best casting in the world isn't going to make up for a bad script. Having a great actor as Batman does not a great Batman film make. It's the same here.

Deadshot is liable to confuse fans of the comics, as he barely resembles Floyd Lawton on the page; the movie takes a tiny snippet of his character—the part where he has a daughter, so we feel bad for the guy when he wants to take care of her—and drapes Will Smith’s usual swagger over top to give him leading man charm. Despite the departure, Smith’s humor is something that the film desperately requires—but even his occasional one-liner can’t save the movie from being depressing for the wrong reasons.

That article I have just quoted sums up my feelings pretty damn closely, by the way. Have a look.


Margot Ritchie is next, introduced as the absolutely nuts Harley Quinn, who's trying desperately to bring "Sexy and Psychotic" back... or make it a thing if it wasn't before (it mostly wasn't, give or take a few examples). Absolutely nuts and I'm not sold on her at all. Why they thought this character could go on to headline their own movie after this cluster-jam, I have no idea...

- Pic: From NewYorker.com


Anyway, as they open up, we are shown Floyd Lawton, aka Deadshot and Dr. Harleen Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn, already arrested and in Bell Reve Prison in Louisiana. Both are causing repeated trouble with the guards and are copping a lot of physical and psychological abuse and torture in return. As horrible as it is, if it's supposed to make you feel sorry for Quinn it falls somewhat short. It doesn't make her crazy character any more likable or relatable.


Oh, and the dollars for the soundtrack are already being spent five minutes in! We start with House of the Rising Sun, You Don't Own Me, and then Sympathy For The Devil in the first five minutes! They are racking up the dollars already.


As Sympathy plays, we jump to Washington, where we are introduced to Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the recruiter for the government version of "the Dirty Dozen" codenamed Task Force X - The Suicide Squad. The TFX designation refers to them being a black ops team of expendable criminals sent on missions, while the Suicide Squad lets us know they aren't being sent to Disneyland. It's likely some, if not all, will not come back AND they also have implanted explosives in their heads that go ka-boom if they don't do what they are told. So... another light-hearted, fun, family classic for the DCEU, right off the bat.


The Bat... we'll get to that.


Anyway, while Sympathy plays, we are introduced to Waller in a cool speech that plays before and after the title card comes up:

Waller: The world changed when Superman flew across the sky. And then it changed again when he didn't... And that is why I'm here. (The title card rolls: SUICIDE SQUAD) Naval Officer: We lose a national hero, but you sit there looking like the cat that ate the canary. Waller: I've eaten a lot of canaries. It's taken some work. But I finally have them. The worst of the worst. Naval Officer: There's rumors, Amanda that some of them have abilities. Waller: The rumors are right. You know what the problem with a metahuman is? The human part. We got lucky with Superman. He shared our values. The next Superman might not. Naval Officer: You're playing with fire, Amanda. Waller: I'm fighting fire with fire. Naval Officer: You are not going to pitch us that Task Force X Project of yours again, are you? Waller: Yes

So, she's pitching government officials the Suicide Squad Project. We get a look at each of the team members with a cool info card with the Suicide Squad neon colours and a scene of who they are and how they came to be in custody. They start with Deadshot and we had a very cool Batman cameo they left me grinning! AND this time Ben Affleck was allowed to act like Batman should, showing us that he was living up to his promise of trying to do better after Superman's death in BvS. (Told you I'd get to The Bat). He arrests Deadshot and puts him in Bat-cuffs and everything. This only goes smoothly for the Bat, because Deadshot's daughter is there and tells Deadshot not to fight. She is worried that he's a bad guy and he's trying to hide the darker side of himself from her.



- If you want to see a clip:


Then we meet Harley again... Why did we have to meet these two guys twice? I know they are the main anti-heroes, but still... This film suffers from its pacing. They spend a lot of time setting up cool scenes that mask the lack of story to a degree, but it's pretty transparent at the end of the day that we are lacking substance here:

Is it fun? Well, if you can ignore the blatant stereotypes and ham-fisted dialogue, perhaps. Also if you can ignore the film’s dismal view of women. And its soundtrack. Then there’s the plot that couldn’t rub two sticks together to create a fire that roasts marshmallows, let alone provide real heat. Also, a failure to create an ensemble of any kind, as the movie really only cares about the journey of two characters. And the strangest use of the Joker in any film to date. I could go on.

(For the record, I love the soundtrack!!)


I wonder whether the quote is still correct - "the strangest use of the Joker in any film to date"? There's been one more since... All the Joker's have been unique, really. That's pretty special for a character. Anyway, during Harley's backstory, we meet Jared Leto's DCEU Joker.

- Pic: From TheVerge.com


The picture above is very cool, but the portrayal was not. It was... an interesting take on the character... but I didn't like it at all. I don't know how his doctor (Harley) could fall in love with him through what we are shown! He's just nuts.... Anyway, she does and he drives her crazier than she already must have been, through a little bit of voluntary torture... yep... Anyway, they are ridiculously over the top in their scenes together and I simply don't buy the relationship or the dynamic at all.


- A clip of Joker and Harley Quinn can be found here: Harley Quinn And The Joker Club Scene | Suicide Squad (2016) Movie Clip


It's not really ever comfortable to watch. I guess it shouldn't be, but it alienates the audience more than connects with them. While Will Smith's character is something that keeps you watching, Margot Robbie's Harley is not, particularly when she's with the Joker. There are times that she is endearing by herself... and unfortunately many times when she is not.


On the flipside, we get another Batman cameo though... so that was good... well... until it ended in a car crash into the Gotham Harbour where Batman punches Harley in the face underwater... There's some bad treatment of women in this movie in general, but this was a weird moment. Harley was raging at him underwater like a wild animal, but still... Find a better way. He's Batman, for Christ's sake.


Back into the team reveals. We get a brief look at Digger Harkness, aka Captain Boomerang - played by Australian actor Jai Courtney. Interestingly, in the Arrowverse shows, Harkness is played by Lebanese-American actor Nick E. Tarabay and both of these guys were central supporting characters in the Sparticus TV show a few years back. It's a small world, after all. Anyway, he's a bank robber from Australia who throws Boomerangs and is apprehended by the Flash - in the DCEU Flash armour suit for the first time (not counting the weird time-travelling armour he has in BvS):



Next, is Chato Santana, aka El Diablo. Chato was not cameo-arrested by a future Justice League member, but rather turned himself in after burning down his own house with his pyrokinetic abilities. We find out later that he killed his family in the fire. He has a problem with controlling his rage (which sets off his powers) and is now trying to be a calmer person, who denies his powers and contact with others to avoid hurting people. He's a sweetheart (please read with sarcasm).


After Diablo is another sweetheart, Waylon Jones, aka Killer croc. Jones looks like a giant reptile due to some mutation. It is suggested that he was abused by people who treated him as a monster and eventually he become one. After unseen run-ins with Batman, he was apprehended too.



The penultimate member of the team (to start with) is Dr. June Moon, aka the Enchantress. The good doctor is an archeologist who found a statuette holding the soul of the Enchantress... She's a witch... The Enchantress' spirit came out of the statue and possessed Dr. Moon. Amanda keeps the Enchantress' heart in a box to keep her under control... How'd she get that, I wonder? Well, we are told that whoever trapped the Enchantress in the statue, also buried her heart in the cave, presumably to hide it from the witch... in the same place she was in... It's like storing your gun and your bullets in different spots in the same cupboard to hide them...


And the team is led by Special Forces Colonel Rick Flagg, who Waller set up to fall in love with Dr. Moon... and now he does whatever she says so that he can look after Dr. Moon.... Aww...


And that's the team. Eighteen minutes in and bugger all has actually happened yet, but we know who everyone is, so I guess that is something...

Naval Officer: You want to put our national security in the hands of witches, gangbangers, and crocodiles? Tolliver: Don't forget about the Joker's girlfriend. Naval Officer: These are villains, Amanda. What makes you think you can control them? Waller: Because getting people to act against their own self-interests for the national security of the United States is what I do for a living.

So Waller convinces the Officer and then goes to speak before a committee who appear to be ARGUS. The other guy at that dinner, Dexter Tolliver (David Harbour), is a government official and speaks to the committee to introduce her ideas. They want to build the Suicide Squad into the existing ARGUS program.

Tolliver: What if Superman had decided to fly down, rip off the roof of the White House and grab the President of the United States right out of the Oval Office? Who would've stopped him? We got contingency plans for nukes in North Korea, anthrax in our mail. We got fluoride in our water. But what happens if the next Superman becomes a terrorist? Amanda Waller has a plan. Amanda? Waller: I wanna build a team of some very bad people who I think can do some good. Like fight the next war, defeat the next Superman.

Here's one of the main problems with the story. I know everyone is trying to lobby the government and a little bit of hyperbole goes a long way... but this is not the team you send to beat a Superman-level threat. They're mostly skilled humans, or with low-level metahuman abilities. While they do well in a story that was written for each of them to shine in, they wouldn't stand a chance against Superman... Aquaman or Wonder Woman. Maybe against the other members of the League flying solo... Deadshot v Batman, maybe a fair fight, but I doubt it. Anyway, these are not the guys you send after the most powerful person on the planet (as yet revealed). So, that premise is just silly.

Flag: You notice these are criminals? They're psychotic antisocial freaks. It makes no sense.

Yep... You are right there, Colonel Flag... You are right...



The Plot


So... Everyone knows each other? Good? Right. Moving on.


The Enchantress takes over Dr. Moon and takes their shared body to Amanda Waller's house for her heart. When she gets near it, the case it's in has a little light on it that goes red. The Enchantress stops, presumably because he fears whatever is going to happen if she gets closer. Instead, she searches Amanda's room and finds a statuette that turns out to be the opposite one to the Enchantress' own statue. This one holds the soul of her brother, The Incubus...


Listen, I hate it when parents name their kids like this... pick a normal name... right??


Well, anyway, since Amanda is not very bright and keeps this statuette on her wall - after knowing what the other one contained - The Enchantress frees her brother. She finds him a body and leaves him to power up... which he does by absorbing the bodies of other people. With each absorption, he grows until he's a big dude - and he gets stronger. He's another pretty poor DCEU CGI giant... we'll yet used to those. First Doomsday, then this one, then one in Justice League, then one in Wonder Woman...


The Enchantress gives Moon her body back. Flag does not tell Waller that this happened. The Incubus keeps absorbing people and power, starting in the Midway City subway tunnels. The situation quickly gets out of control.


The powers that be in Washington - the ARGUS Program leaders - activate Task Force X (predictably). They just reluctantly approved this group of thugs and straight away they decide they need them. The next time the Enchantress is released, she takes off immediately to find her brother. Waller starts stabbing her heart, but Incubus gives her the strength she needs to operate independently of it for a while. The pair start taking over Midway city and open some sort of portal in the sky that's gathering everything to it.


This'll be a bit out of order, but there's a Joker subplot through this thing. He captures the head Bell Reve guard when he finds out Harley is being held there and blackmails him to help him get access into the prison and to slip Harley a phone to tell her that he is coming for her. Harley laughs and tells the guard he's in trouble when Joker gets there, because of how he has treated Harley, freaking the guard out. He attacks the prison, but she has gone on the mission, so he follows her to the city. There's not a lot of scenes, but he's dotted through the movie.


Flag summons the Task Force... and we stop for an outfitting scene, while people are dying by the second in Midway City, but whatever. Harley gets changed in front of everyone and picks up her trademark carnival mallet. We meet another member of the taskforce - Slipknot... he wasn't introduced before... and we'll see why shortly.... Anyway, he climbs stuff. He punches a female agent in the face straight away when we see him, so we don't care what happens to him. Luckily...


Flag tells them that they have an explosive in their head that he will detonate if they don't do what he says. He gives them all their weapons and clothes and they gear-up to the beat of Slim Shady... sigh... another scene they take time with - Everybody getting ready. If only they decided to use that screen-time to tell a good, story instead... A quick montage at the start to gather them all would've done.


As they are moving out we meet another latecomer - Tatsu Yamashiro, aka Katana. We've met her before in Arrow as well. They are milking these characters! She's also in The Batman cartoon series in the place of Robin. She has the Soultaker Sword - a sword that traps the souls of its victims. It bears her husband's soul. She is not one of the criminals, but is sent by Waller to guard Flag and keep him safe.



So... now... finally, that is all of them:

- Pic: From Independent.co.uk

- From the left: Diablo, Killer Croc, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, Enchantress, Katana at her feet, Captain Boomerang, and finally Slipknot.


By the time they fly into Midway City (to the tune to Spirit In The Sky), half the city is on fire. The Squad is in the first chopper and soldiers are in the second. The first gets shot down. The Squad all survive and the pilots don't - but no one seems to care.


Captain Boomerang convinces Slipknot to make a run for it, saying the bombs aren't real. They do and Katana catches Boomerang. Slipknot ziplines up to a building and promptly has his head blown off by Flag. So... they behave for a bit.


As they move through the city it's clear Waller and Flag are not sharing much info with them. Waller is watching the whole thing via the city's cameras... or some other cameras that we are not shown... Super-satellites? Anyway, she can see everything from where she is.


They get attacked by an army of... bubbling, crystalline people possessed by the Wonder Twins (they're not really the Wonder Twins, settle down...) A massive firefight ensues and Deadshot gets to be a bit of a hero. So many bullets. It's a cool scene. Will Smith rocks it. They work out that Flag knows more than he's saying, as even the soldiers were told it was terrorists. They all attack the army. Harley lays into things with her baseball bat. Croc and Boomerang smash monsters about, Diablo stands out of the fight, not wanting to lose control. Deadshot comes out of the scene as the clear hero and Flag as somewhat lesser, because he is shown to be more morally ambiguous than the bad guys are supposed to be...


This scene drew some criticism from audiences due to the sheer violence of it. There were so many bullets fired and it was at a time when the gun debate was raging in America. I guess it's not as bad when you're fighting monsters.... but then, all of those monsters were innocent people who have been taken over and changed into... whatever they are. Enchantress makes them, one at a time, from the people they were.

Flag eventually tells the Squad that they are going to a government building to retrieve some important people and after this, they'll evacuate via chopper from the roof. As they move through the building, the monsters attack again. Deadshot puts his mask on for the first time in the main storyline- something he told Harley he didn't want to because when he does a lot of people die (even though the last time he puts it on after only one person dies and then no one else follows). Harley smiles and calls him a pussy and he "jokingly" threatens to knock her out, saying "I do not care that you're a girl". That's the third time there is violence against women in this movie, outside of Harley's torture and flashback scenes. I know at least one person who's bad review of the movie stemmed from this alone - the film's poor treatment of female characters in general, including two instances of women being punched in the face and this extra instance of threatening a woman with violence.


They realise that the monsters keep trying to capture Flag, so they protect him again - becaue Waller said if he dies, the Squad dies. When they are being overwhelmed, Deadshot intentionally aggravates Diablo so that he uses his powers to wipe out the monsters.


After the fight, Harley daydreams of Joker, who she knows is coming to get her. She remembers when she decided to give herself to him and throws herself into a vat of ACME Chemicals - the same chemicals he fell into to become Joker. For a moment, Joker appears suddenly disinterested in her sacrifice and he turns to leave her there. He appears to have some internal conflict about it and decides to dive in after her and save her... It's messed up, but probably the first time we've seen a more humanising side of him.


Back in the building, it turns out that Flag is actually rescuing Waller, who stayed behind in the city to watch the Enchantress and record what she can do. When they reach her, Deadshot warns her that the Squad thinks they are rescuing an important humanitarian and they won't be happy to know it's her. Amanda wants to know how The Enchantress is creating her "instant army" and seems to want that power for herself/ARGUS. She asks Flag how this all happened when he was supposed to be watching her. Flag says he'll accept the consequences and Waller replies: "I am your consequence". Amanda has an FBI staff with her and once they have backed up and erased all of the computers in her HQ, she summarily kills them all:

Deadshot: Damn. That is just a mean lady. Flag: Yeah. You get used to it. Deadshot: And I'm the bad guy?

They get to the roof and the chopper is there - but the Joker has taken over it. He's wearing a tux and shooting at the soldiers from the back of the chopper. Inside, a scientist uses a computer to disarm her head-bomb. She jumps to a rope and makes her escape. Waller tells Deadshot he can have his freedom and his daughter's freedom if she kills Harley. He goes to and makes a shot but it "misses". It's clear he did it on purpose. Waller gets on her radio and orders some unseen backup to shoot it out of the sky. They do, Harley falls off and Joker apparently dies in the crash.



- Pic: From AgonyBooth.com - What an appropriate site name for this movie...


A new chopper comes and evacuates Waller and she says she'll send another helicopter to get the rest of them. But... gasp!! - her chopper gets taken out by the Enchantress' army. Waller and the heart-case get captured by them. With her heart restored, the Enchantress can finish building her "weapon" (whatever that is). It's the portal thingy, but we don't find out exactly what it does.


When they get to the downed chopper, Deadshot finds a top-secret binder with all their info in there and finds out about the Enchantress and Flag. Flag tells them he needs the Squad's help, but they refuse. He destroys their head-bomb-remote-control-device and tells them they are all free to go. When Flag gives Deadshot letters from his daughter, Deadshot gets angry at him, but agrees to go with him and help - so that his daughter will know that he is "not a piece of shit". While initially none of the Squad - including Katana - want to go with Flag, Harley says happily, "I'll go!" and they all join in. At some stage here, they started seeing themselves as a tight-knit group and they even say "family" - despite not knowing each other before this particular day. I guess tragic circumstances do bring people together, but these characters have not earned that from the audience. They haven't built it, we're just told they have it. It goes back to a video I used in the BvS post that compared BvS to Marvel's Captain America: Civil War, where it says that the difference between the films is that Civil War is a personal story of a rift between friends and BvS is about two strangers trying to kill each other without invested reasoning... It's the same here - they have told us these guys see themselves as friends and family... they did not show us how that came to be. It's ridiculously quick and was not earned by the characters (or the actors) because it's not a part of the script. They should have spent some of the set-up time building that instead of cool character profiles or getting geared-up sequences. If they wanted this to work, they should have had a pre-established team that already know and trust each other and then show us why. You can still have the profiles as they are introduced on screen, but have them already know each other and to have already started building their "family" dynamic. It's too much in this movie's extremely narrow in-story timeframe.

We know that we’re supposed to care about them as a team because they start using words like “friends” and “family” in relation to one another, which is catch-all movie speak for we’re a group now, please get invested in us because we care. Other team-up films typically don’t need to be so obvious about it, but Suicide Squad does, because it’s never made clear precisely when they start seeing each other as pals and equals.

They confront the Enchantress and her brother. She tries to trick them with visions of the lives they all want. Diablo sees through them - knowing that nothing can undo him killing his family, even if he wants it. Diablo defends the Squad, so that he doesn't lose a second family. Diablo tries to kill the Incubus, using his flame powers to grow into an even bigger CGI monster than the Incubus, but the energy vampire siphons off his power. One of Flag's soldiers sacrifices himself along with the willing Diablo to set off a bomb to finish the Incubus off (I told you Diablo was a sweetheart!). Nobody thanks the soldier for his sacrifice or appears to care at all.


The Enchantress says her weapon is ready and when all of the Earth's armies are gone she will spread her darkness over the world... not sure why she doesn't just do it...


Harley pretends to join the Enchantress but uses the Soultaker Blade to cut out her heart. Flag and Killer Croc send a bomb into the portal and Deadshot shoots it with Harley's gun...


And the magic world-destroying portal just blows up!!


Flag tells the Enchantress to give him June back or he'll destroy the heart. She says he doesn't have the balls to do it (ancient sorceress talk) - and he does! He destroys the heart, killing the Enchantress. And luckily - June Moon is freed! Gasp!


Just as the Squad is about to leave, Waller comes out with her own head bomb device and threatens them all. Deadshot asks what they get for saving the world and Harley asks for a thank you, which she gets and happily receives. Waller says they'll all get ten years off their sentences. They negotiate some other conditions to their return to prison - as gifts for saving the world. Deadshot gets to see his daughter, Harley wants a coffee machine, and Croc asks for BET (Black Entertainment Television). Boomerang tries to threaten Waller and so he gets nothing extra!


Deadshot sees his daughter and teaches her the trigonometry of assassination while she is doing her math homework.


While Harley drinks her coffee Bohemian Rhapsody plays in the background. Suddenly the prison wall explodes and soldiers come in shooting all of the guards! The Joker has come to rescue Harley and says "Let's go home!"


And that's the end.


My Lord, just like that, it's over.


Well nearly... there's a mid-credits tag scene that was very satisfying, even if it reminds me a bit of the Incredible Hulk one with Iron Man. It has Waller and Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) meeting for a meal. It's a cool exchange:

Waller: This is crown jewels here, Mr. Wayne. And you do understand my legal exposure. If anyone knew what I procured for you... Bruce: Listen, I can keep a secret, okay? What do you want? Waller: People are asking questions about Midway City. The kind of people who can get the answers. And if they can get those answers, my head will be on a pike. Bruce: Consider yourself under my protection. If you deliver. (Waller hands him a Top-Secret file. He thumbs through it. It appears to be all of the government's metahuman files. We see Enchantress in there, but also Aquaman and The Flash) Waller: Why, Mr. Wayne? Bruce: Just like to make friends. Waller: That's the difference between us. You believe in friendship. I believe in leverage. Bruce: Good night. Waller: You look tired. You should stop working nights. Bruce: You should shut it down, or my friends and I'll do it for you.

So... Waller knows who Batman is. And she delivers him a file showing that there aren't really secret identities in the DCEU - because once again, everyone seems to know who everyone else is... I do love this scene though and I am sort of okay with the secret identities not being enough. They wouldn't be in the real world. I'm not a huge fan that Lex Luthor knows all of them, but... it hasn't led to any other problems after BvS and this... although... these are problems enough.



Wrapping It Up:


I read in a Hollywood Reporter article, that Writer/Director David Ayer had 6 weeks to write the script for this nonsense, as the release date was already set at the time of his hiring.


Are. You. Serious??


I hate to harp on about the story-telling element of my critique, but of course it's not going to be good when it's rushed like that!


The article goes on to say that this is (was) becoming a bit of a thing with these huge studio films at the time:

...a production schedule engineered to meet an ambitious release date; a director, David Ayer (Fury), untested in making tentpole movies; and studio executives, brimming with anxiety, who are ready to intercede forcefully as they attempt to protect a branded asset.

- From the Hollywood Reporter article, written by Kim Masters, Aug 2016.


But, all things considered, I liked this movie more this time than I have before. I think I expected far too much of it at the time of its release and in the intervening years. Now, knowing what it is, I could put those expectations aside and just break it down. It is very lacking on story, relationship development, character motivations and substance... As an action movie it has some good/great beats, but even then we need a solid story in an action movie to make it worthwhile. And we just don't get it here. The Harley Quinn/Joker storyline is literally cringy, the team dynamic was never naturally established and the first half of the movie is composed of a series of shallow set-ups. Why does Amanda Waller keep the Incubus' statuette on her wall when she knows how the Enchantress was released and had everyone go over that cave with a fine-tooth comb? Why does she trust the Enchantress and believe she could control the entity so easily? Why does she think this team could stand up to Superman?


And why is she such a horrible person?


I heard that Oprah Winfrey was going for this role... this I cannot imagine...


What I can't really understand is why they thought this movie would work at all? These characters don't have enough depth to overcome the fact that, Deadshot aside, they are all horrible people. There's no point of connection with them - or from them to each other either. Deadshot too is a bad person, but at least he has a redeemable side to him, and casting Will Smith was great from this angle, as he brings his usual heart to even the darkest characters.


And I have covered my thoughts on the story itself.


Directer David Ayer showed interest in a Suicide Squad Director's Cut, in the spirit of Zack Snyder's Justice League Director's Cut that's coming out. Ayer said his version was made, but that he was made to tone down his version, adding humour and making it somewhat lighter:


This trailer nailed the tone and intention of the film I made. Methodical. Layered. Complex, beautiful and sad. After the BVS reviews shell shocked the leadership at the time, and the success of Deadpool - My soulful drama was beaten into a “comedy”.

- Director David Ayer on the original Suicide Squad trailer and his version of the film. From CinemaBlend.com and Twitter.com


If you read the CinemaBlend.com article, it seems there was a lot in there that was removed or changed after the critical failure of BvS. I believe I have heard that Justice League suffered from this fate too, and some of the problems with both films appear to stem from these late reactive changes.


That's me. That's all I've got and it's more than I have ever said about this movie before. I did not intend to go on this long or to do a scene-by-scene breakdown... I just couldn't help myself.

- Pic: From AntHillOnline.com




Join me for the next installment of The DCEU Discussion: Part VI - Justice League... which will be done when I get a new bottle of Scotch and can convince myself to keep going with this time-consuming promise...




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NOTE: The pictures and videos used here have been sourced from different internet sites, always linked to under the picture. In the case of comic panels, the original issue numbers and creators are listed, as well as the company that owns them. All rights remain with the original creators and have been used here for entertainment and educational purposes only.
 
 
 

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Story Elements - Random Generators

Ever get stuck for story ideas? Have a bit of writer's block, not sure what should happen next? Have a look at these random prompt wheels...

 
 
 

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