In contrast to Marvel Studios‘ streak of successes, DC Comics just hasn’t been able stick the superhero genre without enraging their fanbase — not to mention critics!
After a gloomy Man Of Steel and depressingly boring Batman V Superman, many fans hoped Suicide Squad would inject the franchise with some colorful, deranged fun.
But based on the first wave of reviews, this psychotic but lovable band of misfits tries a bit too hard to be the next Guardians Of The Galaxy — and due to director David Ayer‘s clunky script, the story is one candy-coated mess.
Video: Jared Leto Scares Jimmy Fallon With A ‘Present From The Joker’!
While critics admit Suicide Squad is more fun than its bleak predecessors, it’s apparently very messy fun — full of way more flashbacks than actual plot…
From the hypersexualization of Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn to the tonal shifts of Will Smith‘s Deadshot to the disappointing absence of Jared Leto‘s terrifying Joker, the film seems to have disappointed more than it thrilled.
Are YOU planning on seeing Suicide Squad in theaters this weekend? Before you go, brace yourself for the reviews (below)!
Matt Singer, ScreenCrush: From the first scene to the last, it’s an absolute mess, one whose harried pacing, jumbled narrative, and blaring soundtrack of radio hits suggests a desperate post-production attempt to reconfigure what Ayer got on set into something palatable and poppy.
Peter Debruge, Variety: “Robbie seems to represent what red-blooded, Maxim-reading audiences want from women on-screen in the year 2016: A doctor stripped of her intelligence and her conservative tweed professional attire, squeezed into hooker hot-pants and a too-tight baby T, who walks like a pole dancer and fights like some sort of homicidal cheerleader. Ayer allows Harley Quinn a certain deranged sense of humor, giving her the chance to deliver the sarcastic zinger to multiple scenes, but he only half-recognizes what a tragic character she is, and it’s discouraging to think that the film’s biggest laugh comes at the expense of Batman punching her in the face.”
Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter: “The action of the film’s middle and latter stages is largely set in a gloomy murk that recalls far too many previous dour sci-fi/fantasy films, and by that point, vestiges of the opening stretch’s humor and snap long have fallen by the wayside. Suicide Squad may not quite commit harakiri, but it certainly feels like it’s taken far too many sleeping pills.”
Alison Willmore, BuzzFeed: “Its characters are supposedly hardened, selfish outcasts who nevertheless declare themselves family faster than a bunch of tenderhearted fourth-graders at summer camp. Its plot is maddeningly circular, with the Suicide Squad getting activated to fight a frustratingly silly-looking antagonist who wouldn’t be around if someone hadn’t tried to put together the Suicide Squad.”
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: “The walking dead aren’t the only clich├â┬⌐s that eat away at the potential in this material. Superfreaks become supersweeties and Suicide Squad: Dawn of Dullness (my subtitle) does the impossible. Forget Batman v Superman — at least it tried. This botch job makes Fantastic Four look good.”
Brian Truitt, USA Today: “Leto’s weirdo take on the Clown Prince of Crime is a far cry from the late Heath Ledger, though it definitely works. A tattooed Tony Montana type, this Joker is a nightclub owner with a thing for bling and a psychopathic determination to find his main squeeze. His relatively brief screen time leaves you wanting more, and Leto and Robbie make a distinctly dynamic duo in their fleeting scenes together.”
Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: “Writer-director David Ayer skillfully sets up the film, introducing each of the crazies with caffeinated comic-book energy. But their mission… is a bit of a bust. The stakes should feel higher. As someone who isn’t fluent in Suicide Squad lore, I can’t imagine there wasn’t a better villain in its back ├é┬¡catalog… For DC, which blew it with Batman v Superman last spring, Suicide Squad is a small step forward. But it could have been a giant leap.”
Jen Yamato, The Daily Beast: “Needless to say stylistic flourishes, like unstable villains, are bountiful in Suicide Squad. The fun is in letting yourself go along with every silly bit. Do you like montages and flashbacks? Ayer loves them. He cannot get enough of them. He leans on both far too heavily for far too long in a movie so stuffed to the rafters with colorful characters, there’s barely any room for a serviceable plot.”
Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun Times: “Suicide Squad does have its moments of beautiful comic-book visuals. A glimpse of the Joker’s OCD; a gorgeous and weird flashback to the moment Harley Quinn was “baptized;” blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameos from DC Universe stalwarts; a few solid exchanges between Smith and Kinnaman. Those are just tantalizing hints of a better movie that never materialized.”
[Image via Warner Bros..]
Related Posts
