Movie Review: Suicide Squad - A Jumbled Puzzle (SPOILERS)

Here we are again. Another DC film, another bashing on Rotten Tomatoes. I understood the mixed reaction to "Man of Steel." I'll keep defending "Batman v Superman" for being unfairly criticized. But with "Suicide Squad", I hate to admit it, but maybe the critics aren't unfounded this time. Now, personally, I've never been that interested in the Suicide Squad in the comics. That doesn't play a role in my feelings of the movie though. I've seen plenty of comic book movies where I don't follow the source material and I can still enjoy them. Hell, after the second trailer for "Suicide Squad", I thought it could be even better than "Batman v Superman." Now, it's not as horrible as the critics are making it out to be. It had all the right pieces and was still entertaining, but I find it to be the weakest of the three DC Extended Universe films so far.

The story itself is not what I was expecting. I kind of thought it would be a lot more grounded and dirty compared to "Batman v Superman" with these nasty and crazy people forced on a black ops mission going after a certain villain with a connection to one of the team members and then it explodes into something out of their league. But in actuality, right off the bat their main mission and target are that of a magical nature. Now that kind of story could have worked, but when it takes up most of the movie and and we know the scale of the threat straight away, there isn't too much in terms of build-up.
At the very least though, the action is pretty grounded, considering most of the characters aren't superpowered. Everyone has their moments, but just don't expect it to be at the level of "Batman v Superman". However, it didn't help during the climax of the film where there's a lot of smoke and dust that obscures the fighting and half the time only features character silhouettes.

If there's anything that saves this movie though, it's the characters. The introductions are so-so, working better for some than others, but its when they first come together and begin working as a team, playing off each other, that's where they truly shine. I think it's better to go through and give my thoughts on each character:
* Viola Davis as Amanda Waller: She's a cold-hearted bitch...which means her character was done justice. She's manipulative, willing to kill anyone to protect her self interest (even her employees), and even considered using Enchantress to create an army of near indestructible minions for her own use.
* Will Smith as Deadshot: Come on, it's Will Smith. Of course he's going to give a charming performance (we can forgive him for "After Earth; he was Shyamalan'd after all). Out of all the male characters, he's the one who's the most snarky. He's also probably the only guy on the team who's truly bad but still has a heart when it comes to his daughter.
* Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn: Oh hell yes. Robbie is Harley incarnate. She's funny, sexy, and like Deadshot, still has love in her heart for a special someone. That special someone is a homicidal clown, but it's still love. So why isn't she my favorite overall? Well, it has to do with one of the issues of the film: pacing. The film begins with some introductions to the team. Most of them were done well, but I thought Harley had a very abridged version. We see some brief flashbacks to when she was still a doctor at Arkham and joined up with the Joker, but again, it's very abridged. I know this Harley already has a history and fans know it, but I wanted to know more, like how exactly did this version Joker ensnare her? But I'll have more on that later. Point is, Robbie killed it and if she is going to star in a female centric DC film, bring it on.
* Jay Hernandez as El Diablo: Out of the whole team, El Diablo is the only one with actual powers and is also the most sympathetic character in the movie. The way he uses his powers is really entertaining to watch, even when he does the littlest things, although there's one moment during the climax that was a little over the top, but still fits with what was established. But to borrow a quote from Black Widow, he "avoids the fight because he knows he'll win." Because he was responsible for his own personal tragedy, he turns himself in to Belle Reve as penance and really doesn't want to get involved in the battles at first.
* Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag: Flag is a character I kind of had to warm up to, mostly through his animosity with Deadshot which later turned into mutual respect. But what the film wants more is for you to feel emotional for Flag because his girlfriend, June Moore, is the human possessed by the Enchantress and there's the possibility that he'll have to kill the woman he loves. This is a problem of pacing, as well as exposition. Through Waller, we find out that she placed Flag in charge of Moore because she knew it would lead to a romantic relationship between the two, which makes Flag easier for her to manipulate. The problem is though, we don't see this relationship grow, and it made me question, why should I care? More on Enchantress in a bit.
* Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang: What you see in the trailers is pretty much what you get. He's violent. He's crazy. He's Australian. He drinks. It makes for some laughs though, but I feel there's more that could have been done with him, especially since he's one of the most well-known members of the Squad. It's possible he could have been outshined by everyone else, especially Smith and Robbie, but then again, Jai Courtney hasn't found much luck in Hollywood between the recent Robocop and Terminator reboots. I hope he gets another chance to play the character again, like in the Flash movie looking for payback.
* Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Killer Croc: Croc doesn't do much but deliver one-liners at first, but he does become a little more impressive during the climax. My problem though is I thought he was a little small. Most of the time he's wearing a jacket, but out of it, he's not as muscular as you'd think. It's like his head is too big for his body. In the comics, Croc's body does mutate further, so a future appearance could work things out.
* Karen Fukuhara as Katana: Why was she even here? Her in-story reason was to watch Flag's back in case one of the Squad goes after him. But on two occasions where Flag is being dragged off by Enchantress' minions, it takes most of the Squad to save him. She just didn't seem necessary, despite entertaining sword skills, particularly in the climax. But her introduction does bring out a good Harley moment...and she gets hit on by Captain Boomerang...so there's that.
* Adam Beach as Slipknot: Okay, is there anyone going into this movie who DIDN'T expect the character that was barely shown in trailers to go rogue and get his head blown up because of it so they could demonstrate the nanobomb? ...I didn't think so.
* Cara Delevingine as June Moore/Enchantress: So while an intended member of the Squad, they flip the script and make her our main villain of the movie. She actually has two forms: her possessed form, which is a lot more dirty, and a complete form, which makes her more like an evil goddess. Not only does the dirtier appearance look more believable, but I would have believed Doomsday was actually there in "Batman v Superman" than the complete Enchantress here (and the overacting didn't help). Oh and apparently she has a brother who helps...except they don't tell us his name...which made he again question why I should care (I looked it up when I got home though and it's Incubus, but I stand by my IDC). I honestly just didn't think this was the right choice for the main villain. I would have liked to see her work with the team, which would have helped build her relationship with Flag more, and when the major shit went down, that's when she could have gone full powered.

But let's talk about what probably for a lot of people was one of the main draws for the movie: Jared Leto as the Joker. Coming off eight years from Heath Ledger brilliant depiction of the character in "The Dark Knight", many were expecting Leto to at least compete with, if not top that performance. The verdict: still in deliberation. The Joker isn't in it as much as you'd expect and it's questionable whether he was necessary. I thought they were showing very little of him in the trailers so they could save the good stuff for the film itself, much like Spider-Man in Civil War. In fact, that's a good comparison. It's a glorified cameo that wasn't so much a necessity but adds more fun. But while we saw enough of Tom Holland's Spidey to compare him to Maguire and Garfield, we don't get that luxury with Leto's Joker. This is another problem with the pacing. We don't have time to fully immerse ourselves with this Joker, although there's enough to see the potential in this version. I heard that a lot of Leto's scenes were scrapped from the final cut, which is noticeable. We don't get the "I can't wait to show you my toys" line, we don't see him with part of his face burned and pulling a pin out of a grenade with his teeth, and a set photo from a flashback scene of Harley pointing a gun at Joker also didn't seem to make it. Hopefully we get to see these scenes when it comes out on DVD, either through deleted scenes or another extended cut (more on that in a bit). The worst part of it though is that we don't get to see Leto's Joker interact in person with Affleck's Batman. Even if it was just 30 seconds (no pun intended), it would have been enough for me. Leto has potential, but as is stands, Heath Ledger is still the best Joker.

Speaking of Batman, his appearances in this film were brief but still entertaining. Compared to how he was in "Batman v Superman", it was actually nice to see him taking in actual supervillains like Deadshot and Harley Quinn (who he punches out hard after she comes at him with a knife).

Closing out the topic on characters though, DC really needs to stop building mystery around what characters certain actors are playing. Back in "Batman v Superman", Scoot McNairy played Wallace Keefe, the Wayne employee who lost his legs during the battle in Metropolis. Speculation before that included Flash and Jimmy Olsen. With "Suicide Squad", we get two instances. Ike Barinholtz of MadTV fame played a head security officer at Belle Reve, and the last speculation I saw was that he could be Hugo Strange. But the bigger speculation was who Scott Eastwood was playing, either being an undercover Dick Grayson or Oliver Queen. I listened intently during the movie to catch his name, only to watch the credits to find he was just another soldier. So seriously DC, stop making us speculate who certain actors are playing. We're going to automatically assume it's someone big, only to make us feel stupid when it's no one important.

Now this is more of a little problem, but I had a hard time seeing where this film stands within the grand plan of the DCEU, even though it's built off of events of "Batman v Superman" and the mid-credits scene offers more build-up for "Justice League". It's easier to see with the MCU, especially since all the Phase One films were leading up to the Avengers. But while we have "Man of Steel", "Batman v Superman", and "Wonder Woman" leading up to "Justice League" with "The Flash" and "Aquaman" coming afterwards, where does "Suicide Squad" fit in? Maybe there's just something I'm not seeing.

When the negative reviews started hitting, so did the behind the scenes drama of reshoots and alternate cuts. After the response to "Batman v Superman", despite denials, reshoots for "Suicide Squad" were partly done to insert more humor and make it a little lighter. First off, I don't think that this is a film that needed to be "lighter". On a scale of "Guardians of the Galaxy" and "Deadpool", this film is somewhere in between. I reference those films because those are the ones that WB were most likely trying to evoke from audiences, with the bad guys trying to be good.
Speaking of "Guardians" though, "Suicide Squad" also has an extensive repertoire of music, featuring almost twice as many songs as the Awesome Mix with a mix of classic rock, some hip hop, and a pinch of alternative. While it was entertaining and some songs were used better than others, it didn't have the same magic like in "Guardians", and I couldn't help but feel like they were trying too hard in that aspect. I might have bought the soundtrack if it wasn't cut in half and had a majority of the good songs on it, and I was hoping it could have been as good as the Awesome Mix. 
One could say it is lighter than "Batman v Superman", mostly for the humor. It's hard to tell whether more jokes were added during the reshoots, but I wouldn't have been surprised. I wouldn't say it hurt the film though. There was a lot of laughs at the showing I went to and I was adding to it. I do take it as a sign though that they're trying to lighten things up for the future films, which will probably help "Justice League" more than anything, despite my own feelings that they should still try and stand out from Marvel.
But this brings me to a major issue that's affected both of DC's movies this year: studio interference. "Batman v Superman" got thrashed by critics for its theatrical cut but redeemed itself with the extended edition. Is history repeating itself with "Suicide Squad"? Will there be an extended edition for that as well? My point is, we shouldn't have to wait an additional few months to see the true version of the movie. WB needs to learn to respect the vision of the director, and they need to learn that lesson soon. "Wonder Woman" is the last DC film before "Justice League", and if they can't get one positively received film before that, it could affect some's expectations for what is essentially going to be their "Avengers" moment. I'd hate to see Wonder Woman, the first female hero finally getting her own movie, to go through the same thing.

So overall, maybe I'm being a little overcritical, but I still found "Suicide Squad" to be an entertaining film even with its problems and possibly being a little over-hyped. I'm glad though that other fans are enjoying it more than I did and that they're flocking to theaters this weekend; the screening I went to was more packed than when I went to "Batman v Superman". I think I might enjoy it a little more after seeing it again, but at the moment, while it's not my favorite DCEU film, it still has its merits despite what the critics say.

RATING: 6.5/10

Rebirth Reviews Part 2: 'Justice League' and 'Nightwing'

Welcome to part two of my Rebirth Review series. Before we get to the actual reviews first, a bit of an update on how I'm proceeding this series after the Rebirth one-shots.
I'm still toying with the idea of getting ALL the first collected volumes of each corresponding Rebirth series that I'm not currently reading, but there are some I know for sure I'll be getting.
The series I'll be reading in trades regardless: 'Superman', 'Titans', and 'Teen Titans'.
The first volumes of books I'll be getting just to try them out: 'Green Arrow' and 'Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps'. I'm also considering getting 'Supergirl' because the art by Brian Ching looks pretty good and the story could be worth a shot.
That said, let's start this part of the series with seeing how the flagship New 52 title begins anew.

Story and Art by Bryan Hitch

After nearly five years, Geoff Johns, recently promoted to president and chief creative officer at DC Comics, hands the reigns of the Justice League over to Bryan Hitch. This isn't Hitch's first foray into the League though. After "Convergence", a new 'Justice League of America' series was launched with Hitch writing and drawing. That series has yet to be concluded because much like Jim Lee and David Finch, Hitch is notorious for not being able to work on a deadline. It's part of the reason that while I had interest in 'JLA', I decided to trade-wait that story because of the expected delays, even though the story itself has been referenced in other books, including this one. I'm not even sure I'll still get it at this point.

Speaking of art, Hitch does draw this one-shot and he has a unique style, where you can look at it and immediately say 'that's by Bryan Hitch.' Personally, I'm not a big fan. It's not that it looks bad, but it just looks off to me. He does a good job with landscapes and alien creatures, but people's bodies (particularly the faces) are sometimes in weird positions. Maybe it has to do with the characters being in motion. Thankfully though, Tony Daniel, who has worked on not just the previous volume of Justice League, but also Batman and Superman, will be the main artist of the book. He's quite good and is able to make a deadline (and also provided the cover above).

Story wise for this one-shot, there's one thing that works, and one that doesn't. For what works, it's the character interactions, particularly the League discussing how to handle this giant alien creature called a Reaper from engulfing a city (they don't say which one) and its inhabitants. They all sound like you'd expect. But outside of that, there are two other scenes shown. One is at the home of the pre-Flashpoint Lois and Clark, who are discussing whether Clark should join up with the League now that their Superman is dead. The League, still mourning, have also been discussing this idea, though uneasy about the fact that another Superman has been living on their world for years and not sure. If anything, the League, especially Batman, wants him close to keep an eye on him and make sure he can be trusted. Between the two conversations, the other correlation is how the New 52 Superman's death and the discovery and succession of the pre-Flashpoint Superman may be too connected to be a coincidence.

A couple more notes. I've felt more this way while reading Action Comics, but I see it applicable here as well. When I read Superman and Lois, the voices I hear are Tim Daly and Dana DeLaney from the animated series. With the New 52 versions, I kind of felt like I had to force those voices in my head because they were very different from what people expect from the characters. But using the voices with the pre-Flashpoint versions, it feels so much more natural, because these are the versions people expect. That's also kind of the reason I don't like that the League are uneasy about this Superman because they don't know him. Batman even says "He claims he's Superman, but we know nothing about him." I know this trustbuilding will probably be a plot-point in the book for awhile, but I myself, already familiar with this character, know he can be trusted. In the end though, he doesn't officially join the League, but says he'll "be around".

Now the thing about the story that doesn't work. The threat of the story is one of an extinction level. On one hand, it's nice that to see a story where it doesn't take 6 issues to fight off an invasion. However, it appears that this is Hitch's go-to story. Between from what I've heard of Hitch's 'JLA' and reading the first issue of the new volume of Justice League (and I've been trying not to talk about the stories following the Rebirth one-shots so soon), it involves an alien force threatening to destroy the Earth and take over the population's minds. I realize that the League is THE team to fight off the major threats, but there should be some variety. Geoff Johns' run included a villain targeting the League because he blamed them for the death of his family, and a virus outbreak that was granting normal humans super powers. I know it's too early to tell, but I hope Hitch brings some different story types. Another thing about this story though is that I think Hitch is channeling the first Avengers movie, especially in the end where they tell the creature to run and let his kind and anyone else know that Earth is protected by the Justice League. It's kind of similar to what Nick Fury said: "[The Avengers] surely are [dangerous]. And the whole world knows it. Every world knows it."

I guess the only other thing to talk about is the team line-up. Carrying over are Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg. And in addition to the pre-Flashpoint Superman, the other two members are the new Green Lanterns, Simon Baz and Jessica Cruz (not sure why the League needs two Lanterns but whatever). Baz hasn't had much spotlight since his debut so it's nice to see him in a starring major role again. Cruz has been working with the League since after "Forever Evil" trying to use Power Ring's powers for good, but was inducted into the Green Lantern Corps at the end of "Darkseid War". Apparently there's some kind of attraction between her and Flash and a future solicit says shes going to ask him out, which will kind of put a damper on my thought from the Flash Rebirth special that Barry and Iris were going to get back together. Guess we'll have to see what happens.

Justice League's Rebirth one-shot in my opinion isn't a perfect set-up for the future of the series (especially the art), but it offers an idea of what's to come: big threats and a good team dynamic.

Written by Tim Seeley

Art by Yanick Paquette

For the last two years, Dick Grayson has been playing super spy in his eponymous title, "Grayson". But now he's back in black (and blue) in the role he's made his own, Nightwing. While this one-shot sets up his return to his former identity, it also pays tribute to his previous title as an agent of Spyral. It's written in such a way that I feel that a new reader can easily follow along with what happened, along with make them interested in going back and read the "Grayson" title. Having read it myself, I really do recommend it. The best interactions Dick has in that series as well as this one-shot are with fellow agent Tiger (who Dick affectionately calls 'Tony' to his annoyance) and Midnighter, member of the superhero team Stormwatch who considers him and Dick to be "arch-frenemies".

Looking toward the future though, Dick and Damian are hanging out, which acts as a framing device for Dick's last missions as a Spyral agent (shown through flashbacks). I always enjoy the interaction between the two, going back to when they were partners as Batman and Robin. I won't spoil the specifics, but there's some follow-up to events from the "Robin War" crossover event that's a little too complicated to explain here and just gets glossed over in the one-shot. So I guess that's one aspect that probably requires from additional reading to understand. Let's just say it has to do with the main antagonists Dick will be facing for the beginning of his new series.

Dick has a cool inner monologue about the meaning of the name 'Nightwing'. Many may not know this, but it actually comes from a superhero from Krypton. It meant 'eternally reborn to start anew'. It certainly fits with Dick with all the roles he's undertaken in his career, from Robin, to Batman, and now, once again, Nightwing.

While Yanick Paquette is only working on the Rebirth one-shot, the art here is excellent. There are some instances where I think Dick or Damian's faces look a little weird, but I've gotten used to it after a couple re-reads (though I guess weird faces is the connection between these two reviews).

Now for a little commentary on aesthetics. First off, when Dick became Nightwing again when the New 52 began, he had a black/red color scheme instead of black/blue. Some people were upset about it, but I wasn't. Personally, I think the red kind of fits better because it connects more with his past as Robin. But I do like the blue. That said, I also kind of wish they went back to the logo they used for his solo book in the 90's and early 00's. It would have fit better with the 'Rebirth' theme. Either that or at least removie that bat-symbol behind the name in the current logo.

Out of all the Rebirth one-shots I've read so far, Nightwing's is the one that's nearly perfect, paying respect to the past that mostly won't leave readers asking questions while setting up what's to come.

It's going to be awhile before the next part of Rebirth Reviews, but when we return, it will be to the future world of Batman Beyond in another story of role reclamation.