This topic is for those that have seen Suicide Squad &|| those that don’t plan to but want to know more about it. It will contain spoilers. Steer clear of this thread if you haven’t seen it but intend to. Please use spoiler tags when covering, well, spoilers - just in case.
With regards to @XantheStone
(General IMHO disclaimer)
Summary : The film centers around A) the assembly of the squad and B) the defeat of Enchantress, who betrays the team, releases her brother and attempts to build a “world ending machine”. During the “assembly” sequences, we get a bit of back story on each character – ex: The Flash makes an appearance in Digger’s background as the one who captured him during a jewel heist. These backgrounds on the characters are dwarfed by the over emphasis on Harley’s back story – this movie is basically: Harley Quinn (with a touch of Mr. J), co-starring Deadshot, Amanda Waller & Rick Flag with appearances by The Suicide Squad.
The re-shoots and re-edits were obvious and at times painful. The pacing of the story was a sine-wave so when they stuck in a re-shot it would, at times, be a complete contradiction with what was happening in the story, ex: light retro music over what was originally a sinister shot, in a sinister scene, telling a sinister part of the story… boo hiss.
The Good
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Jai Courtney as George “Digger” Harkness aka Captain Boomerang was a clear standout on this outing. His portrayal of the oft cowardly, sneaky and generally unlikable Cap’n Boomerang was to a T, exactly what any fan of the comics or DC Animation would want – more than we could hope for really. He even solicited Boo’s from the audience I was with – unlike some of the cast, which seemed to not have even reviewed their characters bio’s before filming. If anything comes from this, it is my sincere hope that the fans give Jai his due for bringing Digger to life – in true form – on the big screen.
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Karen Fukuhara as Tatsu Yamashiro aka Katana was another portrayal that was loyal to the source material. Unfortunately she was woefully underused and instead served to punctuate other activities in almost every scene she was in. The worst part – the worst part – was her movie credit. Common was in the movie for all of two minutes, one scene really, and was a total throwaway character – yet he got a single line name credit in the main closing credits. Karen, comparatively, shared a by-line, even though she was in the film considerably more. Even I thought that reeked of glass ceiling BS.
And the standout star, by far:
- Viola Davis as Amada Waller who, IMHO, juuuust barely (mainly due to her having much more screen time so you get more of the character) bumped Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang as the standout star for being both faithful to the source material as well as beautifully portrayed on the big screen. You see her scheming, her conniving, her machismo, her vulnerability, her callousness and her ruthlessness – in short, her power over any who have the misfortune of encountering her. She runs the Squad with an Iron Fist (so excited) and actually manages to get you to empathize with this demon of a character. Bravo. It seems like she rocks every role she takes, and this is shiny.
The Bad
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Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag (jr, technically) though he provided a believable incarnation of the sole True Patriot on the team – his actions were governed and ultimately polluted by the story line. All of his actions were governed by plot, so there was zero room for this character to breathe.
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Adam Beach as Slipknot (Christopher Weiss?) he had the look, he had the feel, he had the potential… he had his head blown off mere minutes after you meet him. Tricked into it by Cap’n Boomerang – seriously, I’d go see that movie again just to enjoy Digger’s scenes again.
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Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (not that you would know) as Waylon Jones aka Killer Croc was passable, but, like Rick Flag, his character was too polluted by story to be fleshed out properly. His work, though well done, didn’t have the ability to really give you those Croc moments – but for one shimmering and all too brief glimpse at the Croc in the sewers at the end – but it was gone in under five seconds. Sadface.
The Ugly
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Will Smith as Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot. There is zero, and I mean ZERO Floyd Lawton in Will’s portrayal as Deadshot – it is precisely Will Smith with guns. If you took his character out of Bad Boys and transplanted him into this movie, only his costume would give it away – and not by much. Booooo – it’s like he didn’t even try. He’s better than this, and he knows it, which only makes it all the worse.
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Jared Leto as The Joker aka Mr. J aka The Clown Prince of Crime. Don’t get me wrong, I think Jared put his best efforts into this role and, as I hear it, much of his scenes are on the cutting room floor. Yet with the over emphasis of Harley’s backstory, he is a quintessential element of it. However, I don’t blame him, nor even (necessarily) the movie for this failing – I truly believe that Heath Ledger has ruined that character for a generation. Can you imagine anyone but Jack Nicholson playing him in the first allotment of Batman movies? If anyone did, it would be immediately compared to his portrayal, and barring a miracle it would fail, miserably – it wasn’t until we forgot about it a bit that Heath took the job. Even then, everyone was deadest against it – until they saw it. With his portrayal still so fresh in the mind, I don’t think anyone can do this character justice; certainly not with gold teeth and “damaged” tattooed on their head…
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Margot Robbie’s hot pants. Her portrayal of Dr. Harleen Frances Quinzel aka Harley Quinn was extremely good, but it was slightly overshadowed by the costume department. Her hot pants were digitally altered in the trailers to appear longer - in the movie they are but a belt. Her original costume does make an appearance, as does her trademark sledgehammer while she is choosing what to wear – but her choice is so uncharacteristic of who we know and love as Harley Quinn that it is, at times, jarring.
Don’t get me wrong, the XX in me sees the eye candy (it is impossible to not) – but these types of movies don’t need eye candy because they already have it: in the characters we know and love. When is Hollywood going to get that through their thick friggen heads?!?! Harley is one of my all time favorite characters, yet to see her dressed like a sex kitten isn’t what I had in mind. Margot looks great n all – I’m sure she worked tirelessly to look that amazeballs – but I’d much rather see every inch of her skin covered in black/red spandex.
What did y’all think of Task Force X?
See also: