Story, villain problems continue to plague the DCEU
(Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
Suicide Squad
Suicide Squad demonstrates the depth of DC villain roster by having them be the protagonists of the movie. It is a fun movie, and despite a very tough job to establish so many villains, director David Ayer does a quality job.
The key to the film is of course Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) who has become a beloved villain since her creation by Bruce Timm and Paul Dini in Batman: The Animated Series. This is by far one my favorite series, so I was ecstatic to see Quinn come to the big screen. And was very satisfied with Robbie’s portrayal.
The portrayal of the new Joker (Jared Leto) left something to be desired. Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight (2008) may have had something to do with my apprehension for this new take. But, Leto’s Joker is only tangential to the plot, and even Ayer himself admitted on Twitter that was a mistake:
"“Wish I had a time machine. I’d make Joker the main villain and engineer a more grounded story. I have to take the good and the bad and learn from it. I love making movies and I love DC. I’m a High School dropout and used to paint houses for a living. I’m lucky to have the job I have. I have to give the characters the stories and plots they deserve next time.”"
Instead, Suicide Squad has Enchantress as the main villain, and a really over-the-top battle at the end of the film. A Joker centered plot might have been great. But the real point is a more “grounded story” with a non super-powered villain would have been better for this kind of movie.
Even the animated film Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014) was a better demonstration on how to tell a Suicide Squad story. In that film, the squad goes after a thumb drive hidden in Riddler’s cane. It is simple and makes for an interesting story that involves breaking into Arkham Asylum, which brings in a whole bunch of other villains as well.
The ending of Suicide Squad, much like the ending of Man of Steel, looks like a threat way too big for this particular group. But beyond that, it isn’t all that interesting visually – just another computer-generated (CG) mess at the end. A grounded story could have created better action sequences, and really demonstrated how effective this team could be at doing the dirty covert work for the government.