Movie Review: Suicide Squad (2016)

Where to even start on this?  I usually go with my first impression.  This one's a little different, though.  Not only am I a huge comic book fan, but I'm a DC girl at heart.  I already knew what to expect and what I wanted out of these characters long before I'd even seen what their costumes would look like.  So, before seeing the movie itself, it was mainly a lot of hype and a lot of hope.  I would let myself watch the trailers but nothing else.  No clips.  No interviews.  Nada.  I like to experience movies through my own eyes and my own opinions, thank-you.  Especially when any type of anticipation is involved.

This is a diabolical and nefarious movie.  Do not go into it thinking that there's about to be redemption happening everywhere-it is a movie about villains.  That being said, the eccentric humor peppered throughout is classic Bat-villain territory.  So that's about the tone-dark and scary and wacky all at once.  You've never seen this movie before.  It's like this-there's a group of super-bad people and then, some other terrible people from the really-bad government make the super-bad people do things-or else death.  Did you get all that?  There are really no good guys.  Really.  The only comparison I can make is maybe The Devil's Rejects?  Not in tone, but in that you root for the bad guys.  This one's not nearly as gory as that one and it's also way more fun.

Why the hell do you care about these corrupt convicts?  It's because they care about things.  It's so simple.  It's really hard not to empathize with someone who is doing something awful, but you can still see them having gigantic feelings about someone (or something) else.  Each member of the so-called 'Suicide Squad' and even the main villain of the movie (Haha-I know, right?) are completely devoted to something.  And it's freaking compelling.  You root for the bad guys to escape more than once so that they can be with these people (or places..or things) they love.  It's insane, right?!  That's the point, I think.

Okay, what else?  Um...I didn't expect to like all of the characters.  In all honesty, I expected a Joker and Harley movie that had some other random folks thrown in.  While I got those characters for sure, I got so much more!!  I'd never heard of El Diablo or Slipknot.  One's pretty new to comics and the other is so old, he's like a D-list character.  Why should I care about them?  Also, I thought Katana was a good guy...what's she doing in there?  All of your questions will be answered.  And as for the characters I did know...let's break that down.

We'll start with Harley Quinn (obviously).  Margot Robbie killed it.  Hahahahahaa!  Harley is always has been a sexy, psychotic, intelligent, perky, love-lorn acrobat.  So, you know-f*ck yeah, that finally happened.  Killer Croc was just freaking cool.  IT WAS KILLER CROC IN LIVE-ACTION, PEOPLE.  I mean...appreciate that, right?  He was always bobbing his head like he was looking for a way to bite your head off.  Again-YES.  I cared about Rick Flag more than I thought I would...so, good writing and acting there.

Amanda Waller was exactly what she should have been.  Viola Davis owned.  As for Enchantress/June Moon: someone's been reading the New 52.  Her screen time felt just like reading a comic; bravo.  Ah, Captain Boomerang.  Can someone please find a way to put his character into all of the upcoming DC movies?  I don't care if it's a cameo where he gets caught every time.  Do this...we will appreciate it.  And can we all just take a moment to acknowledge how stupid everyone who said that Will Smith couldn't play Deadshot was?  He absolutely nailed that shit and then heaped on some more awesome.  His character was entertaining across a spectrum of emotions.

Other little things that you should see this movie for: Harley and Joker's magnetism.  It's real and it's palpable.  The soundtrack.  The music was the best punctuation the story could've had.  The comic or character homages and nods.  When I left this movie, it made me want a Gotham City Sirens movie with Harley and Catwoman and Ivy.  It made me anticipate the dialogue that's sure to go down between the Joker and Batman in the future.  It cemented the idea that Jason Todd has come and gone from Batman's life.   Point is, I wanted to see more.  And if that doesn't qualify as successful, I'm not really sure what definition people are giving the word 'successful' these days.

MEMORABLE SCENE:
Deadshot on top of the car, the Alex Ross-homage clip, Amanda Waller with that gun, El Diablo vs Incubus, when the Joker decided to jump, the pink unicorn...Harley vs the guards, the bar scene, the fire scene; ALL of the cameos!  It's just so good.

FAVORITE CHARACTER:
I mean, Harley Quinn's my gut reaction, so let's say most surprising?  Boomerang or Deadshot.  Probably Captain Boomerang, though.  He was a riot.

QUOTE:
Harley Quinn: "Stupid Bats!  You're ruining date night!"

RATING:
20 out of 10.  17 trillion out of 10.  This movie was made for people like me.  It wasn't made for stuffy critics or hard-core Marvel fans who are in love with Spider-Man.  This was made for grew-up-in-Gotham, card-carrying DC fanboys and girls.  If that's not you, you just might not get it.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
If you liked Suicide Squad, you might be messed up enough to like these other movies that are similar in either tone or characters: Heathers (1988), Mystery Men (1999), Sin City (2005), Smokin' Aces (2006),  Seven Psychopaths (2012), Rapture-Palooza (2013), Stretch (2014)

EXTRAS:
Did you know that Margot Robbie and Will Smith did a movie called Focus together?  Me, neither.  Can anyone tell me if it's any good?

I won't say a word about the Joker...if everything I've already said hasn't convinced you to watch this
movie, there's no hope for you anyway.