Fans were hearing about the live action Suicide Squad movie for over a year before its release. At times the amount of press, sneak peaks, images, and news surrounding the film were even a bit too much, seemingly giving away borderline spoilers. What ever happened to the element of surprise when a new movie comes out?
Well, I’ve finally seen the movie. And here are my thoughts…
**WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!**
Things I liked:
Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. I did not have high hopes for this character after seeing the trailers and I initially hated the wardrobe choice. It bothered me that they chose to dress her like a teenager who shops at Hot Topic when so many cosplayers do a fantastic job with so many different Harley Quinn looks. But I was pleasantly surprised to have warmed up to her while watching the movie. I thought the writing stayed true to the character and that Margot Robbie did a great job portraying her. I love that she was silly and typical Harley Quinn when she wanted but was also serious and expressed emotions when she needed to. And after watching her in action, the Hot Topic outfit did start to grow on me.
- Will Smith as Deadshot. Even when you think Will Smith might play the part as typical Will Smith, he surprises you and actually displays a convincing Deadshot!
- Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. There is no doubt that Viola Davis is a phenomenal actress. But what also made her performance so great was the way her character was written so true to Amanda Waller from the comics and animation. Her “don’t f*** with me” attitude mixed with her ruthless, tough demeanor and the way she did not even hesitate before shooting everyone in the room was so freakin’ awesome and I enjoyed watching her throughout.
Things I feel were lacking:
- Action Movie Action. Why shouldn’t a movie about comic book super villains be considered an action movie? Well, there was plenty of opportunity in this film but
the results were not that exciting. The scene where the squad first battles the faceless creatures was good… not great, but good. Other than that, I was not very excited by the choreography or the way the final battle—the climax of the whole movie, by the way—played out. Some of the fight scenes were a little too dark and the camera was too close to see what was going on. I just didn’t see any action that really stood out to be as being awesome so I was a little disappointed with that.
- Jared Leto as the Joker. His performance wasn’t terrible, but I did not think it was great either. And honestly, most of my disdain for the Joker in this movie was not Jared Leto’s fault but more the direction they went with the character. He’s definitely more of a kingpin type character in this movie. That’s fine, but personally I don’t think I like this pimp Joker who wears bling and cares about money. I do, however, agree with the amount of screen time he got. It was great that they introduced him and then used him sparingly. If he had been in it any more, it would have been too much for this particular story.
- Forced Characters. As exciting as it was to see Killer Croc and Katana, they definitely did not do much. Yes, Killer Croc had his moment when he guided those
men into the sewer to plant the bomb, but I still would have liked to see more of him. Unfortunately, Katana was even more useless in this story than he was. It was cool to see her talking to her husband’s soul in her sword and she did look pretty awesome, but she contributed nothing to the story. It would have been cool if they had saved her for a different movie and made her more significant. But hey, that doesn’t mean they won’t utilize her more later, right? #suicidesquadsequel
Things I think could have been done better:
- The Mission. Task Force X is put together for covert operations, espionage, and missions that government officials want to keep classified. That way if they get caught, the bad guys are thrown under the bus and it won’t get traced back to the officials. They’re basically supposed to do Amanda Waller’s dirty work for her. In this movie, however, they’re used as more of a Justice League type group sent to save the day from a powerful meta-human who intends to destroy the world. Does that sound like a covert op to you? I understand that the reason they were sent on this mission is because Amanda Waller’s original plan with the Enchantress went awry and they were the only ones who could stop her. I get that. But I think it would have been a way cooler movie to see them breaking and entering, manipulating guards, and stealing something very heavily protected. You know, bad guy things. It would have showcased each of their skills more and honestly, I think it would have made a lot more sense.
- Exposition. I do like that we got to see clips of each person’s past but I don’t really like that it was done through Amanda Waller’s exposition. I would have liked to see
the story unfold and then as each character enters the story, we get to learn about them with scenes from their origin. Or what if the movie had started with either June Moone going into that cave and being overtaken by the Enchantress or with Batman catching Deadshot and him getting thrown into Belle Reve Penitentiary? Then we fast forward to present day and see that June Moone has been acquired by Amanda Waller and that Floyd Lawton has been locked up for a while now and that’s how the story begins. I’m not trying to do David Ayer’s job or anything, but I think either one of these options would have made awesome first scenes and would have eliminated the need for so much exposition. Just sayin’.
Overall, I thought Suicide Squad was fine. Unfortunately, I did not love it. But I also didn’t think it was terrible… definitely not as terrible as the negative reviews are making it out to be. As a DC fan, I’m looking forward to seeing more and hoping that all the things that seem forced and passed over too quickly will be fixed as the universe comes together more.
Honestly, I think my main gripe with this movie is that I wanted it to be every bit as awesome as the animated Batman: Assault on Arkham. Everything about that movie is wonderful and I will definitely watch that one if I ever need a Suicide Squad fix. If you haven’t seen it yet, WATCH IT! Here, I’ll leave you with this trailer…
Photo Credits:
http://screenrant.com/suicide-squad-movie-calendars/
http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/suicide-squad/images/39669032/title/suicide-squad-harley-quinn-poster-photo
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/suicide-squad-trailer-takeaways-epic-clip/story?id=36398625
http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/suicide-squad-katanas-loyalty-secret-of-her-blade-revealed
http://moviepilot.com/posts/3380684
I think giving them a romantic relationship was a good idea and not uncharacteristic of either of them. When I first heard that they were going to have a relationship in the film, I, again, related it to when Barbara gets shot. The incident already affects her father, but to have it also affect someone who cares about her romantically further adds to the impact, especially if it’s Batman. So I’m fine with the idea of Batman and Batgirl having sex and a relationship. However, the way the relationship dictated her decisions and had such a huge impact on how she performed as Batgirl bothered the tiny feminist in me (and trust me, that tiny feminist is not that easily bothered).
Earlier this spring, news got out that the Disney Channel had an awesome plan to celebrate the 100th Disney Channel Original Movie with a mega-marathon; over 50 Disney Channel Original Movies for four days straight during Memorial Day weekend. Like most 90’s kids, I immediately scoured the internet to find out when my childhood favorites would be airing for what felt like the first time in forever. OMG TIME TO SET THE DVR!
Watching teenagers fight for what they believe in and accomplish their wildest dreams even though the odds are against them is the greatest thing ever. Cheesy writing? Hell no, get outta here! Even as a grown adult woman, the epic line in Motocrossed about “a woman coming out on top in a man’s sport” can still inspire me like no other. Not to mention the words of wisdom Andy Brinker got from his dad about not confusing what you do with who you are—who would have thought that Brink! could have such meaning to me at this point in my life?
I had mixed feelings about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice for a long time before it came out. I was not crazy about Man of Steel (but then again, I’m not a big Superman fan), and I was afraid that DC’s attempt to keep up with the Marvel live action movies was forced and would fall short. I’d much rather DC make more animated films instead!
When I was nine years old, I saw Grease for the first time and became extremely obsessed. Seriously, ask my parents. I watched the movie at least once a day…every single day… for over three months straight. During that time, I listened to the soundtrack several times a day—sometimes up to five or six times in a row. I pretty much carried my Grease VHS tape with me everywhere and tried to convince my friends that we should watch it, yet again, at every sleepover I went to. Didi Conn wrote a behind-the-scenes recount of the making of the movie called Frenchy’s “Grease” Scrapbook, which remains one of the few non-fiction books I’ve actually read all the way through.
The last example is how Eugene, the nerd character, is perceived. In the original film, Eugene is nothing more than a stereotypical nerd who gets bullied and ridiculed by the cool kids for moments of comic relief. Yeah, there’s no way that would fly in today’s world. In Grease Live, Eugene is still a stereotypical nerd, but by the end of the movie, he’s a T-Bird! Ummm… WHAT! Turns out that without Eugene’s genius knowledge of physics (and other smart stuff) the T-Birds don’t stand a chance of winning against the Scorpions at Thunder Road. Looks like the cool kids can learn from the nerds after all—another common theme in today’s teenager movies. When Danny wins the race, he thanks Eugene for his help and gives him his T-Bird jacket. It should also be noted that Grease Live’s version of Eugene also defies all odds and ends up with Patty Simcox, a popular cheerleader. You go, nerd! It sure makes Eugene’s character way more meaningful, doesn’t it?
One issue that the original Grease does tackle is teen pregnancy. What it doesn’t do, however, is conclude the storyline in any meaningful way. It has a happy ending because it turns out it was a false alarm (Hooray for not being teenage parents!), but is that really a good message for teenagers? The movie is basically saying that if you get pregnant, just hope that it’s a false alarm because then everything will be good again! Oy. Grease Live does the right thing and addresses the issue with a little bit more responsibility. During the Thunder Road scene, Kenickie has second thoughts about racing because he realizes he has a kid on the way and wants to be a responsible parent. During the carnival scene, he expresses his feelings for Rizzo and tells her that he wants to commit to her and the baby. Yes, it was also a false alarm in this version, but the ending is even happier because we know that if she actually had a baby, Kenickie would have done the right thing and stepped up as a father.
Corgis, Comics, Clothes, and Cinema 