With the success of
superhero movies of the past few years mostly down to Marvel, it was important
for DC to do something to level the playing field and, Suicide Squad, the third movie in its series, certainly sets itself
apart. First, there are the heroes, a group of infamous villains co-opted to
work for the ‘good guys’; it’s the old Dirty Dozen concept but with
meta-humans, as characters with super powers are called these days. That in
itself can be a tricky task for a story in any medium but Suicide Squad does it well by humanizing the meta-humans in simple
but effective ways, Killer Croc, for instance, is the downtrodden outsider, the
mistreated freak with an understandable grudge against everyone, rather than
simply a mutant killer who lives in the sewers.
Second is the movie’s
place in the current DC film universe. Not only is it a notably darker universe
than Marvel’s, or most versions of DC’s own, it’s a series that focuses not on
the real-world potentialities of meta-humans. Most notably, the threat of Superman
in Man of Steel as opposed to the
instant adulation he usually receives. His arrival, and the appearance of
meta-humans has created a shift in the way the world works and Suicide Squad explores the human face of
this. Hence, Killer Croc’s mistreatment in prison, and the utter criminal
lunacy of the Joker and his addled paramour Harley Quinn.
The main way the film
explores this however is through the squad’s manipulation by the government, in
particular, Amanda Waller, a shadowy high-ranking official who’ll kill her own
staff to protect information. Her ruthlessness and role as puppeteer, next to
the squad’s humanized qualities, effectively question who the ‘bad guys’ really
are in this scenario. This is especially successful through the character of
Deadshot, an assassin for hire, who’s also a father who misses his daughter.
Despite the advertising for the film suggesting Harley Quinn and the Joker were
the main characters, it’s Deadshot that Suicide
Squad is hinged upon and it’s for that reason it works as a film. Will
Smith gives him enough depth for us to root for him, even though we know he’s
actually a murderer for hire with little regard for human life.
The film’s weakness is
in its tendency to have spontaneous scenes for no good reason and some whacky
editing. Harley stopping the action to steal a handbag might be in character
but it only really served to interrupt the flow of the story. Rumours of studio
interference might explain that but we’ll never really know.
The Enchantress, the
nominal villain of the film, is arguably a weak-spot too. Her scheme is almost
fully fledged before the heroes are even aware of what’s happening and there is
little conflict with her or involving her at all. This breaks from the
Hollywood playbook and probably has some in a flutter, but the film is not
about the heroes saving the world; it’s about a group of troubled – and troubling
– characters being played by a government. In the end, the Enchantress is a
plot-device to bring them together, which some may not like but is an age-old
storytelling device. Besides which, her own powers mirror Amanda Waller’s
creation of the Suicide Squad and her
use of leverage by knowing as much as possible about the individuals.
In all, Suicide Squad is a good movie, with a
strong cast that explores a dark and violent world on a human level. It
balances action, drama and comedy well, with occasional disruptive moments
seemingly designed for fans of specific characters. Well worth a watch.
