Suicide Squad
What do you do when a superman breaks bad?
That’s the worry of intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis: Custody). Her solution is a squad of the worst villains America has ever known.
Her villainous team includes:
• Enchantress (Cara Delevingne: Pan), a millennia-old deity possessing the body of an archeologist;
• Deadshot (Will Smith: Concussion), a mercenary named for his aim;
• Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie: The Legend of Tarzan), a violent psychotic and girlfriend of …
• The Joker (Jared Leto: Dallas Buyers Club);
• Boomerang (Jai Courtney: Man Down), a violent thief;
• Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Concussion) an amphibious mutant;
• Diablo (Jay Hernandez: Bad Moms) a flame-shooting gangster.
Waller believes she can keep them under her control with the help of military man Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman: House of Cards) — who is a bit compromised as he’s secretly in love with the woman inhabited by Enchantress.
The plan does not go well. Waller loses control of Enchantress, who creates a super weapon to destroy the earth.
An incoherent blend of weak performances, an awful story and poor editing, Suicide Squad is almost impressive in its total failure. The script is challenged by logical fallacies. Production was plagued by studio meddling, meaning that director David Ayer (Fury) might bear the whole blame. Tone is off balance between dark drama and goofy comedy. Repetitive flashbacks have nothing to do with the story and offer no new information.
Smith and Robbie work hard to charm their way out of the mire, creating characters that might hope to return in interesting solo films. On the other hand, Leto’s Joker is a bizarre mishmash of villainy, and Delevingne’s Enchantress is distinguished only by jerky belly dancing and intense staring.
It could have been great. Instead, it’s a disaster.
Terrible Action • PG-13 • 123 mins.