Expectations:
As superhero films continue to spiral out of control, Warner Brothers was happy to bring us Guardians of the Galaxy 1.5--a.k.a. Suicide Squad. And, of course, I was happy to watch--partly because of the hype and excitement that accents every new superhero franchise... but mostly because of the promise of the Caped Crusader and Will Smith. For the most part, I tried to avoid the (daily) new Suicide Squad trailers, for the sake of actually being a little surprised and interested during the film. Then, the reviews and criticism began to flow in, and many people preached that the trailers were actually better (and completely different) than the film. As a result, my expectations were not very high, but, really... Will Smith... So, who cares.
Spoilers ahead...
Plot:
A lot of fuss has been made over the Joker's absence throughout much of this film, and, while some might argue that the film would be much improved with more Joker, I must disagree. A large problem with this film sat right in the Enchantress's heart (or lack thereof). Not only was every Enchantress moment overly dramatic, but the whole bit with her being in love with the unbearable army dude (Joel Kinnaman) was terrible. However, the Suicide Squad and their magic powers are not quite necessary to take down the Joker, making a supernatural villain a necessity. But, the biggest problem--by far--was the lack of cohesion among the Suicide "Squad." Unfortunately, the film felt more like the Suicide Individuals because there was never a moment to bring everyone together. Each and every squad member had their motives, which the film spent time establishing, but there was never any reason for them to make sacrifices for one another, which they managed to do numerous times anyway.
Characters:
As I said before, the Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) and her lover-boy were unbearable, but the "Psylocke Award" for useless characters goes to Karen Fukuhara's Katana, who did absolutely nothing but stare at her sword. Literally, that's all she did. Thankfully, the rest of the cast was decent or great, even if they didn't interact particularly well with one another. As expected, Margot Robbie was spot-on as Harley Quinn, really piquing my interest in the character and her portrayal, as well her strange and intriguing relationship with the Joker. And, very unexpectedly, Jai Courtney was wonderfully cast, as Boomerang--a character that didn't accomplish very much but certainly provided laughs and a little bit of group cohesiveness.
But, the real hero of this film was the wonderful, the talented, the MAN himself... Mr. Will Smith. Honestly, I cannot remember the last time that I loved Will Smith in an action role, but boy did I miss him so very much. There was once as day when Will Smith was my favorite actor, and his turn as Deadshot helped me recall those glorious days. We can only hope that he continues to choose great roles and focuses on himself a little more than those crazy children of his.
Conclusion:
My expectations for Suicide Squad were not very high, but, even so, the film could have been much better than it was. There was so much potential, with Smith and Robbie blowing the roof off of their respective performances, yet we ended up with a mediocre film that was critically despised. But, to all the Will Smith fans out there, looking for hope in an action-movie world filled with The Rock, Chris Hemworth, and, logically, Harrison Ford, I would encourage you to check Suicide Squad out. If you're anything like me, you'll be so excited to love Will Smith that everything else will just fade away! I give Suicide Squad 2.88 out of 5 stars.
