Suicide Squad

Went out and saw Suicide Squad the other day, it has not received very favorable reviews, but a couple people who have opinions I respect said it was decent so I took a shot at it.

It is actually a pretty good movie!

Suicide Squad is based off the intermittently running DC comic of the same name, it is basically a Dirty Dozen type thing except using supervillians. The line up changes regularly, because you know, Suicide Squad, but that concept is the same, the team we have in this film consists of Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Diablo, Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang, and some dude who can climb stuff good who I can't be bothered to look up. Katana(she uses a katana) is also there but apparently not technically part of the team.

They go up against Enchantress, a villain who is basically like some Aztec goddess or something who is trying to kill everyone for reasons that are unclear.
Oh yeah, the Joker is in the movie too, basically pursuing his own romantic subplot and unconnected to any other events.

Shit gets exploded, people say witty lines and do badass things, victory happens cue hooks for the Justice League movie.

The DC Universe movies have been technically proficient and I guess told decent stories, but what they have been lacking is any sense of fun, they tend to be pretty, I guess dreary is the right word. They take themselves too seriously and seem to expect the rest of us to do the same, this cannot be said for the television offerings, which are fully aware they live in a world where a man named Captain Cold is a legitimate threat. Suicide Squad follows the latter a bit, it feels loose, and comfortable with the fact that super hero stuff, especially ensemble outings, are kind of silly and there isn't anything you can really do about that.

It's not a comedy by any stretch, though of course quips come fast and constantly, the threats are serious and the stakes high, but I thought they managed to address that while still not being up their own as about trying to make high art or some shit. I herd they did reshoots to make it lighter, and I gotta say that was probably a good idea because if it was much darker light would not escape. Balancing humor and a serious story is tough, and I suspect it is even tougher when you have to make people care about Captain Boomerang as well. I feel like the writers did a pretty decent job.

Though I still didn't care about Captain Boomerang, he was basically useless and just there to fill space, didn't even have any memorable lines.

The flick has problems sure, Captain Boomerang for one, also there is a bit of feminist critique to be made when the only major female team member is literally in her underwear the entire time. Also the majority of her plot is, once again, a love story of sorts although I feel that angle is a bit subverted when it is the Joker we are talking about here, and it doesn't go quite as you expect. The story has a few holes that kind of glare at you once it is over, but for the most part this is a quite enjoyable experience.

In short, it's hot out and this is the big dumb action movie of the summer, go see it, you won't feel like it was a wasted afternoon.