Suicide Squad - the only thing suicidal is this film!

To say that 'Suicide Squad' suffers from too thin of a plot is giving it far too much credit.  While this muddle of a mess boosts a fantastic cast, with little storyline, directionless direction and a collage of shots that are swimming in darkness; the most talented cast of A List actors out there could not save this film.

I am not entirely sure where writer/director David Ayer was going with this. After last year's 'Fury', I was confident that Ayer could pull off a winning superhero film for Warner Bros & DC; that perhaps this is them one the rights the ship for the DC franchise and brings it closer to the magic that Marvel has captured on film.  Sadly, it misses on all marks.

The cast is a good one, so that is the second part of the promise. Margot Robbie (made famous in 'The Wolf of Wallstreet') was perfectly cast as the maniacal Harley Quinn, girlfriend of the Joker. Unfortunately Ayer simply did not give her much to work with. But I will say this, when she was on screen, she took up the life of the film. I am hoping for a Harely Quinn feature in the future. And sadly, there are a lot of DC movies planned for the future, so hang on.

But I digress, we were talking about the cast. Will Smith as the hitman for hire 'Deadshot' was (as always) a stand out performance. I am sure there is a stand alone Deadshot feature coming soon as well. If DC understood the movies as Marvel does, they will green light a Deadshot film in the same vein of 'Deadpool', the superhero movie that redefined Ryan Reynolds. Rounding out the squad were least memorable performances, simply because they were smaller and Ayer seemed not to know what to do with them. Jai Courtney as the Aussie villain boomerang had some potential, but was wasted here. Jay Hernandez as the firestarter Diablo seemed equally interesting, but was never fleshed out enough. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Croc, a half man, half alligator was.... well, I really don't know why he was there.  Karen Fukuhara as the female Samari Katana was there to help wrangle all the villains in (I think). Rounding out this band of misfits was  Cara Delevingne  as the Enchantress, who somehow was the girlfriend of the team leader, Joel Kinnaman as Col. Rick Flagg.

All of these characters and not one of them fleshed out enough so that we give a hoot about what happens to them.  Our merry band is all brought together by a power hungry government operative played by Viola Davis; who I am sure is wishing she were back on network TV instead having to explain herself for starring in 'Suicide Squad'. Anyway, Amanda Walker (Davis) brings these villains together to go on missions the good guys cannot.  It's the world after the death of Superman in 'Batman vs Superman' (now out in DVD in an R version - which trust me, doesn't help it), Walker convinces the powers that be, it takes a 'metahuman' (superpowered) to defeat a 'metahuman'. Pulling the most lethal they have in captive together, the villians are injected with an explosive device in the necks; if they get out of line, their heads are blown off.

Sounds promising, doesn't it? Have you seen the trailers? Each and everyone of them made me (and millions of others) want to see this film. Do yourself a favor, watch the trailers and skip the film!  But wait, there's more. The Squad's first mission is to free a captive that is trapped in a 'terrorist action'. But the person trapped is Walker and she is trapped by the monster she let loose! See what I mean, a thin plot made worse by a convoluted storyline, made even worse by Ayres penchant for shooting in dark, moody tones. Even the lighter moments of the film seemed to be slapped in there at the last minute. Which I am guessing it was as the film was plagued with last minute reshoots.

It's almost as if Ayer went and saw 'Guardians of the Galaxy' one night and 'The Avengers' another and tried to recreate that Marvel magic. The problem is, the Marvel films have stories and characters that you can feel for. They follow some logic (as much logic as you can get in a superhero film); you feel for the characters. The only thing you feel in 'Suicide Squad' is the need for a nap every 5 minutes.

Most disappointing of all was Jared Leto as The Joker.  I was really amped up for a wild performance that would give me goosebumps. Instead, I went 'Eh'.  I am hoping we see Leto as Joker again with a bit more character that he can chew and spit out.  The soundtrack is a killer; they learned that much from the Guardians, but even that doesn't save this film.

This is a 'D' effort at best. If you have to go see it, and a lot of you do and have, see it in the standard version. Don't waste time or money on 3D. But if you have a choice, wait for the DVD which I am sure will be out in about a month.