Little on the line for this Suicide Squad

Will Smith and Margot Robbie star in Suicide Squad. Image courtesy Warner Bros.

With a better script, better fight sequences, more thoughtful approach to its premise, and a deeper understanding of several of its characters, Suicide Squad could have served as the antidote to the DC dourness that has weighed down the studio's other efforts, the spunky, rebellious younger sibling of the Superman-driven franchise. The name itself hints at a series with a little more bite to it than the average superhero fare, something a little more dangerous than a sullen god from Kansas. Then again, if wishes were fishes, David Fincher would be in charge of this project, and Suicide Squad wouldn't suffer from the rather notable problems that opened this paragraph. For a movie whose sole purpose for being is to appeal to ravenous comic book fans, Suicide Squad does a piss poor job of fulfilling that reason to be.

Suicide Squad is a difficult movie to mesh with due to its haphazard assemblage and a plot that is hideously stupid even for a comic book adaptation. The story segmentation is weighted so poorly character arcs are either blunted or pushed through without any time to develop organically. Viewers learn little about Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang or Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's Killer Croc (Adam Beach’s Slipknot exists to be killed off early), and they get force fed the backstories for Will Smith's Deadshot, Jay Hernandez's Diablo, Cara Delevingne's Enchantress, Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flagg and Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn. That the movie spends so much time focusing on Deadshot and Quinn, and the audience comes away with little real insight to their characters aside from within the two-hour window is disappointing and worrisome for the impending solo film for Robbie's Harley Quinn.

It is a reflection though of the underlying issue inherent within the concept of Suicide Squad that would stump even the best of filmmakers, let alone one as inconsistent as writer/director David Ayer. The very nature of the film is to have villains serve as the heroes (in this case to replace Superman after his demise in the last DC film), which raises the question of whether or not a person can be a proverbial bad guy when he or she does something heroic. In other words, if someone commits a heroic act, must it be somehow within their very nature to do so in the first place? Suicide Squad offers lots of forgiveness for its characters, showing them to be devoted fathers, misunderstood beasts, self-loathing arsonists, love-struck fools, and Australian to provide some grounding for their heroism. Therein lies the fundamental problem with Suicide Squad: humanizing the villains too much removes the aura of malevolent ambiguity from those characters, thus making them far less interesting to watch. Suicide Squad is a film large on bravado yet without the means or willingness to fulfill the promises it keeps, like the short kid in elementary school who taunted the bigger kids then ran away when any threat of repercussion emerged. It claims to be a legitimate anti-hero movie, yet it lacks the willingness to make any of its characters unlikable. Deadshot is considered the world's greatest assassin yet is provided moral codes, scumbag assassination targets, and a precocious 11-year-old daughter to call upon to strengthen his verve ( although Smith probably wouldn't have taken the role had he been a remorseless killer).

If there is any one character who does fit that description, its Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller, the woman who formed the Suicide Squad in the first place. Waller is a ruthless, stone cold bureaucrat, a woman who knows the right buttons to push behind the scenes to get things done but is willing and able to get grab an assault rifle and fire off a few rounds when the time calls for it. Surrounded by figures who want her dead and more, Waller stands her ground and then some, turning some of the scariest figure in DC’s catalog into withering husks. Davis fills out all of those requirements perfectly, exuding authority and just the right amount of menace in her delivery.

Suicide Squad would be a pretty interesting film if it mirrored Waller’s personality, yet the film is much more akin to the characterization of the Joker as portrayed by Jordan Catalano (or, rather, Jared Leto). Leto does not offer an optimal or particularly interesting interpretation of the most intense villain in the DC universe; his portrayal is more of a poseur, a guy whose tough act is never menacing or particularly dangerous. Like the film he’s in, Leto’s Joker is gaudy, feckless and otherwise mostly harmless.

Review: Two and a half out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: PG-13

Run time: 123 minutes

Genre: Action

Ask Away

Target audience: DC Comics fanatics.

Take the whole family?: Stick with the PG-13 rating. The film is tame for what it should be, but it still contains oodles of graphic violence.

Theater or Netflix?: Netflix is acceptable, although matinee it if you do have a burning desire to see it.

Any sympathies for Harley Quinn?: Loads of it for both actress Margot Robbie and for the character. Aside from an inconsistent accent, Robbie does the best she can for a character built to be eye candy for the male members of the audience. It's a terrible reduction for a female character made interesting for her tragic backstory (which the film botches because of course it does) and for her ingenuity and feisty nature. Contrary to the film's assertions, Joker isn't what makes Harley Quinn interesting.

Watch this instead: DC has had its best luck adapting its material in the animated realm, in particular TV series like Batman: The Animated Series (Harley Quinn originated from that show), Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans.

Meet Deadpool, America's stabbiest superbeing

Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool in, well, "Deadpool." Image courtesy 20th Century Fox.

From the opening credits to the final roll, “Deadpool” posits itself as a very different kind of comic film, one that never takes itself too seriously while mocking the conventions the wildly popular genre has adopted and embraced. And, for the most part, the backs up its claim; it's bloodier than any other property related to a Marvel or DC character, and the hero by default has no qualms dropping a motherfucker or two. There is, however, one area in which it can't help but follow the standard hero story, the one chink in its armor that undermines the purpose of this grand superhero experiment.

I'll bring that point up again later, because it’s time now for a little introduction to the Deadpool character, a popular figure in Marvel Comics but not exactly a star like the X-Men or Spider-Man. Our hero started off as Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds), a mercenary who sells himself as an amoral killer but is more akin to Rick Blaine (wait, did I just compare “Deadpool” to “Casablanca”?). He does have a sweet spot for Morena Baccarin's Vanessa, and the two are even set to be betrothed until Reynolds develops all of the cancer. His odds of survival are nil, but he is given one last shot at a cure through a secret experiment headed by Ajax (Ed Skrein, showing much more life than he did in that “Transporter” flick he did).

But, of course, nothing is that easy in a superhero flick, as Skrein is a ruthless scientist, aided by a punch-tacular Gina Carano. (Totally unrelated, but her IMDB page leads off with “Gina Joy Carano was born under a tornado warning”.) The cure is to torture Reynolds until his latent mutant powers are unleashed. The result is the ability to regenerate his body at the expense of looking like Ryan Reynolds. Angered by what happened, Reynolds seeks revenge against Skrein with the assistance of bartender Weasel (T. J. Miller) and two X-Men: Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic), who serves as Reynolds' Jiminy Cricket, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand). Also along for the ride are blind roommate Al (Leslie Uggams) and cab driver Dopinder (Karan Soni).

“Deadpool” is the movie “Kick-Ass” (versions one and two) wanted to be: A deconstruction of the genre is which the violence is rendered as both cartoonish and with a squirm-inducing verisimilitude. Bloody hell, does this thing get bloody; chunks of people rain down with abandon in the opening fight sequence, with one guy even going splat against an intersection sign. (Fun fact: mixing a green sign and a bloody carcass does not create yellow). It does get painful at times, but there's always a hint of levity to the proceedings to temper the constant violence, especially a scene in which our hero pursues a man while driving a Zamboni. (One reason why there's no way in hell Disney would do a "Deadpool" film. Fox, clearly, gives zero fucks about such concerns.)

Reynolds' Deadpool comments about preposterous nature of that sequence while riding the Zamboni. Deadpool comments on just about everything in “Deadpool”; the film's budget, Reynolds' checkered history as a film star, the X-Men, the fact he breaks the fourth wall repeatedly, his intent. Yet, somehow, this isn't cloying in the least. Reynolds delivers these little asides with vigor and earnestness, and it is very refreshing to have a comic film that, again, realizes how ridiculous it is that these things have gotten so popular. (Compare that to next month's “Batman v Superman,” which will be the dourest of things.)

Now we bounce back to the caveat alluded to in the opening paragraph highlighting the movie's most glaring weakness. What goes wrong is the back half of the plot, the one in which Reynolds' Deadpool saves Baccarin from the villain, reducing a character who started off as an equal to Snow White (she is literally encased in glass during the rescue). Because of course the woman is kidnapped, and of course she becomes a plot device, and of course the film won't even chide itself on how lazy that concept is. It's not even all that necessary to begin with; revenge is more than enough motivation for someone like Deadpool to seek out Skrein amid a deadly rampage. Why should the character be redeemed when the film has both Reynolds and an early save the cat moment to make him likable?

OK, so I'm being a little hard on a film that I admittedly enjoyed very much. I laughed through most of it, enjoyed the solid action sequences and the wisecracks and all of the meta commentary. It's a Bugs Bunny cartoon (an overused description, but apt nonetheless) disguised as a superhero film starring a man more than willing to mock himself for his own failings. It's a very welcome reprieve from the hyper serious yet tame superhero flicks that have permeated the theaters in recent years. And, again, he chases after a man on a fucking Zamboni.

Review: Four out of Five Stars

Click here to see the trailer.

Rating: R

Run time: 108 minutes (One hour and 48 minutes)

Genre: Action

Ask Away

Target audience: People who love the character and viewers in search of a little more bite to their superhero.

Take the whole family?: Considering the trailer shows Deadpool holding a man above his head with two swords, I'll strongly urge against taking the kids.

Theater or Netflix?: It would make for a fascinating Valentine's Day feature for couples with a wicked sense of humor.

Has Ryan Reynolds redeemed himself?: I honestly don't think he really had to – he's been excellent in “Adventureland” and in the better than expected “Just Friends” – but he deserves kudos for pursuing what is clearly a passion project. Plus, he's just perfect as Deadpool too; sly and irritating but still oddly likable despite the destruction he causes.

Watch this as well?: A better “Howard the Duck” film would have worked – the character also has a knack for breaking that fourth wall – but I'll go with the Netflix series “Jessica Jones,” which, like “Deadpool,” has a sharper edge than the average Marvel-related fair.