Hey there readers so “Suicide Squad” opened just over two weeks ago at the time of this writing and since I am aiming at doing a lot more movie reviews when they are still in theaters here we are. I usually hit these films with our stalwart media companion Skeleton Pete but he couldn’t join me this time around. With this film, I decided to keep it local and went to the Alpine Theater in my own Bay Ridge neighborhood which was a better idea since the price of my ticket and some snacks were about the same as the ticket only at the Manhattan theater. Let’s go to the movies.

For those who are in the unaware, “Suicide Squad” is the third film in the currently being built DC Extended Universe. This began with “Man Of Steel” and continued into “Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice” which was released earlier this year and since that last one was received with a very mixed and negative opinion, one could only cross their fingers about this one and to briefly recap its premise, here is what the Wiki had to say about the film’s bottom line.

“A secret government agency led by Amanda Waller recruits imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency and saving the world from an unknown but powerful threat”.

I wasn’t sure how a film focused on Task Force X would play out and this was one massive ensemble to deal with in terms of keeping track of characters. We had Will Smith as Deadshot, Jared Leto as Joker, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Jai Courtney as Boomerang, Jay Hernandez as El Diablo, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc, Cara Delevingne as June Moone/Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara as Tatsu Yamashiro/Katana and Adam Beach as Christopher Weiss/Slipknot with Ben Affleck as Batman – Whew. There were others but these are the main players in the film. Most of these villains were Batman ones when it came down to it and we only “met” him for the first time in “BVS”. Fortunately for all of us, this film doesn’t have the seemingly endless buildup that “BVS” had and wastes no time in introducing us to the cast of super-villains.

The trailers outlined the premise as being bad guys doing even worse things for the sake of the greater good and with Superman dead, the world was worried about the next superhuman threat. In the comics, the Suicide Squad doesn’t usually face off against the likes of the Justice League in terms of head to head and instead deals with smaller disturbances. Once Amanda Waller builds the team and lines out how they are to be used we find a threat manifesting and it’s up to the Task Force and a squadron of soldiers to end it. I admit to some surprise when I discovered what the threat was since it was unexpected to me. There were some good instances with The Joker but they were not as long as I had anticipated and while I didn’t exactly “love” the way that he looked I think Leto did a great job in terms of his acting. I did think he could have laughed more because well…..Joker.

By the time the final battle comes its every man and woman for themselves or will this dysfunctional group of misfits work out and save the day. Of course, I will not tell you that much here. While the film is not particularly great I didn’t think it was as bad as some of the reviews that I had read said it was. I felt that the pacing was a whole lot better than “BVS” and there was also more action in this film than in the other one. A large cast like this is not easy to flow through so some of the tale seems disjointed but at the end of the day they worked it out. It might be a little predictable but I felt that WB is just trying to get a lot of characters on our radar as they continue to build this new film universe. The biggest highlights for me were Robbie and Smith’s Harley Quinn and Deadshot. It wouldn’t surprise me if they push solo films for each of these characters or use them again before we see a sequel which I imagine is coming one way or another. That’s all I have to say about it, and oh yeah there is a bonus scene to enjoy before the credits end so make sure that you see it. Perhaps the DCEU will begin making these a usual practice to tie in other stuff and treat the fans who love it. See you next time and if you’ve caught the film and wish to add other non-spoiler notes in, just hit those comments below.

Official Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_Squad_(film)