Warning: This review may contain spoilers!
Today we are talking about “Suicide Squad”. But it’s not a conventional review; it’s a review in dialogue style. In other words Carola and I sat together and just started talking about it.
We saw it apart from each other and we hadn’t talked about it yet.
First of all we’ll talk a little bit about the plot:
"Suicide Squad" is the name of a group of supervillains, that is recruited by the US government to go on dangerous black op missions (in exchange for reduced sentences). This 'Squad' consists of hitman Deadshot (Will Smith), former psychiatrist and The Joker’s (Jared Leto) love interest Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), pyro kinetic gang leader Diablo (Jay Hernandez), super thief Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), the monstrous Killer Croc (Adewale Agbaje) and assassin Slipknot (Adam Beach). The villains are being held in a secret maximum security facility, when Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) arrives to form the "Suicide Squad". After a lot of talking and promising the six agree to go on a mission, but to be safe Waller injects them with a Nano bomb that she can detonate in case of trouble.
One of Amanda Waller’s other intended recruits is Dr. June Moon. She is a former archeologist turned evil after touching an old witch idol. Through touching the idol June is possessed by an evil witch/goddess named “The Enchantress”. Soon things get out of hand and there is only one group that can save the day…Cue the Suicide Squad…
Liv: So what did you think about it?
Carola: I thought the overall story was kind of lame, but I thought it was a blast watching it. Overall the movie was very predictable, but when I walked out of the cinema I thought it was cool.
Liv: Yes, I agree the story is very predictable, but on the other hand I knew the story behind Suicide Squad, so of course it’s predictable.
Carola: I didn’t know anything about it...
Liv: But you’ve seen it in “Arrow”… so you know the big lines of the story.
Carola: Yes that’s true.
Liv: Also what do you expect when you go to a superhero movie? Most of them are great, but they don’t excel in their storylines. When I go to a super hero movie I expect a “popcorn” movie, I don’t want to have to overthink everything…But back to our movie: Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, that was a great performance.
Carola: Absolutely she was great. Before I went to the movie I heard everyone talk about her great performance and I totally agree. She was hilarious.
Liv: I thought she was the highlight of the movie and I thought Will Smith was ok as Deadshot, although I would have preferred to see Michael Rowe (he plays Deadshot in Arrow).
Carola: Me too, Will Smith was better than I expected, but I preferred Michael Rowe. We saw him at ArcCon and he’s got that rawness that Will Smith lacks. From the beginning of the movie I knew he would eventually be the “good guy”. Michael Rowe is a lot less predictable in his role as Deadshot.
Liv: Exactly Michael Rowe is more convincing as the “bad guy” and that’s what the movie is about. And that is what I think is great about the whole Suicide Squad story, the raw dark edge of the characters.
Carola: True, but I thought it was quite clear from the beginning that they were going to do the right thing and eventually be the good guys.
Liv: Yeah, but are they the good guys? They have to do it, because of the bomb in their head.
Carola: I didn’t like the whole “We are a family now” atmosphere in the last part. And what I thought was really annoying was the whole Joker-Harley relationship. I thought it was to lovey dovey.
Liv: What did you think about Jared Leto as the Joker?
Carola: I thought he was ok as “The Joker”. But he was too dependent.
Liv: You know at first I really didn’t recognize Jared Leto. But I thought it was a little bit too forced. You know what I mean? I think Heath Ledger was genius in his role as The Joker and I had the feeling they were trying too hard to match that performance. And I agree about the whole lovey dovey thing. I think it kind of ridicules the Joker.
Write a comment
Anna Nuttall (Saturday, 27 August 2016 10:17)
I enjoyed watching this - especially after it got panned by critic. The only thing is - they underplayed the joker and I would have liked to see more will smith backstory. I'm looking forward for the Hayley Quinn movie in 2017. xx
Milton Coyne III (Saturday, 27 August 2016 18:49)
I love the way you made your review... I think you should have translated into a Vlog! I really enjoy Suicide Squad and I fell in love with Harley Quinn even more! I am really hoping for a sequel.. I think the actors gave justice to their characters and I love the movie in general... most scenes were cut though
Cathy (Sunday, 28 August 2016)
Great Review! I also love that you decided to use a dialog instead of a one sided personal review like we see on most websites! I agree with Milton, what if you guys started adding a few Vlogs to the Blog! :D This was a pretty good read, and I've never even seen the show!
Jerwel De Perio (Sunday, 28 August 2016 02:21)
Well, no matter what other people say or review about the show, I think the very highlight of it is Harlequin and not Joker. But still, there are a lot of easter egg in here. Just hoping that there will be more chance to show Joker in the future.
ROBERT LEE (Sunday, 28 August 2016 08:37)
To be honest, I haven't thought about watching the Suicide Squad. I know them from Arrow, but see, the difference is in the actors playing the roles I got accustomed to watching. Of the DC TV-verse, gosh, what could use a total revamp is Legends of Tomorrow. All of them except the one who plays Sarah are lame. So... you say this is worth watching?
Cheryle (Sunday, 28 August 2016 11:00)
I recently watched the film and I find Cara's role cool. Who doesn't? I'm satisfied with the overall story but this is not a "one of a kind" movie for me.
Jane (Sunday, 28 August 2016)
I didn't got the chance to see it yet, not sure if I will. If you say it's lame I believe you. But I liked you review, nicely written. The choice to do in a dialog style is very refreshing and makes it fun to read.
Louisa (Monday, 29 August 2016 10:04)
Haven't caught Suicide Squad yet but no worries about the spoilers! My son told me about it since he saw the movie. I think there was so much hype about this movie so expectations were high. I'm looking forward to seeing Harley Quinn. Also curious about Joker. I think Diablo looks good.
Cai Dominguez (Monday, 29 August 2016 17:13)
I'm not sure if it's already showing here in the Philippines. If I'm not mistaken, these are villains turned heroes? Looks interesting. I shoulc check this out :)
Marge (Monday, 29 August 2016 17:46)
I love how you made the review because I honestly enjoyed reading this. It was just like reading a story so I was hooked. I haven't seen the movie yet and I want to see it for Harley Queen. And I think the trailer is cool but I probably won't expect much from it the way I expect for, let's say XMen or Avengers.
Erin (Monday, 29 August 2016 21:57)
I really enjoyed the format of this - and I might watch it as a vlog or something, but I really appreciate just being able to read it too, great way to engage. I've being staying away from seeing this one but might give it a go after reading this!
Yan (Tuesday, 30 August 2016 08:58)
Hey this could be a fun podcast format! I agree on most aspects, the movie was okay but it's not that good. I was disappointed with Joker, entertained by Harley, and surprised by Deadshot. The rest I forgot. For the amount of hype it was given, it was kindof a let down for me. Marvel still makes better superhero movies IMO. XD
Stargazer (Tuesday, 30 August 2016 10:27)
I saw a lot of bad reviews of the movie but I really love all the visuals they offered. Though they revamped the whole look of the suicide squad, i still loved it!
Blair Villanueva (Tuesday, 30 August 2016 14:03)
I haven't watched the movie, and my friends keeps on encouraging me to watch it as they say it's cool. To the point that they are forming their own Suicide Squad for this coming Halloween season.. I think that is fun :)
Shayne (Tuesday, 30 August 2016 18:53)
I haven't watched Suicide Squad yet but I heard reviews saying that it's bad. There's also this particular scene that would have saved it but it was edited out. (the scene re joker and what's the name of the girl?) lol
masterryo (Wednesday, 31 August 2016 03:07)
I would like to agree with Liv, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn did an awesome job in the film.
However, I think it didn't live up to the exception and all the hype it got.
Nonetheless, the plot of the story is very refreshing .
cheers! www.masterryo.com
Eloise (Wednesday, 31 August 2016 05:24)
I have yet to see this movie, I heard the same kind of review that the plot was lame, but visually fun to watch. thanks for the interview style review, changes up the reading style which is entertaining in it's self : )
Maria (Wednesday, 31 August 2016 13:51)
For me, it's a good movie. I may not have read the comics but what I know is that Harley and Joker shouldn't be shipped as a couple. They were terrible, like some would say Joker abused or harmed Harley. But I guess the universe that the movie is in is a different one. I agree that Margot did a great job as Harley. I think she really nailed it! It's like RDJ as Iron Man. It was just really a great fit!
Freelancers Philippines (Friday, 02 September 2016 03:33)
I should have heed the warning.. I haven't watch the film yet... Lol.. I may be very late.. but I will be watching it soon.. the storyline is new to me.. so I think I will still be enjoying watching it.
Thinking about this (Monday, 29 January 2018 00:34)
Will Smith was not the better actor for that part. Harley as in Harlequin stole the movie from all the other actors.
I would give this movie an 8 out of 10 but I was especially annoyed by the dark screen approach to filming. If it is low budget, put the monster or sets or cheap costumes in shadow to hide how cheap the monster or sets or costumes are. However, if you spend big money on sets & other stuff & on nice cameras to film it, let us see what you spent the movie buget on.
The other annnoying thing is that like in those Saturday morning children's shows of old, the camera shows a 20 foot by 12 foot area. Those old shows had to do that for they were filmed on 20 foot by 12 foot sets, or maybe a 20 by 30 foot sets but no bigger. The fight scenes were therefore chopped up. Two or three actors (or maybe stuntpersons) are here, two actors are here, these are fighting here. What is missing is the camera shots that would pull back to show who is where in the scene. Not ever it seems are all of the Suicide Squad in the same camera shot when fighting, making what is going on hard to track. So three is fighting in a dark place happening, but what is going on & why, & are the good guys winning, or beginning to lose after making a good start, or now winning the fight after looking like they might lose or what?
Also I wondered why they had not had Harley swing or slide or tumble into almost every fight scene, foreground or background. I would have really tried to do that of I had has a say in the decisions.