*Spoilers ahead*
I don't really feel like writing an analytical review, because even after the second viewing I'm not quite sure where I sand on the film. All I know is that it was very entertaining though ultimately flawed in many aspects, but I don't quite believe that it deserves the hate it gets, while Marvel movies like Ant-man get much more recognition and praise.
First off though, since I'm on the topic of comparison, I'd really like to point out that DC/WB needs to manage their powerlevels. I had a hard time believing that Batman stood any semblance of a chance against superman in BvS, simply because Supes tore through a city with his bare hands with minimal effort. Same deal here, the main bad guy, or at the very least one of them display such ridiculous power that it's literally impossible for me to believe that ANY of the protagonists stood any chance against them. I know, "suspending your disbelief" and all that but there is a noticeable limit as to how much my brain can take. Enchantresses' brother, who serves as his sisters muscle, literally tears through choppers and a train at the beginning of the movie, and demonstrates that he's basically immune to any human level threat. Sure in the end it's El Diablo who kind of holds him off, but him tagging helicopters in mid air and failing to tag Harley Quinn is absolutely ridiculous. Same goes for enchantress, she seems vastly much more powerful at the beginning, though at least with her it does make more sense. That said I didn't really like her that much as a character. I liked her design and mannerisms, but in the end she was another monster twirling villain.
Personally I think the main antagonist should have been a joker. I feel it would have made a much more compelling story, especially when you have Harley Quinn on the team with a microchip in her brain. It would have also painted Joker a force to be reckoned with, but that's just a personal opinion. Speaking of which, I'm not sure about Leto's performance. I do like the design and I still think he's a good fit, though it feels as if WB is testing waters with him. Apparently, the amount of scenes that were cut could have made for a movie on it's own. I guess I can understand this decision, following Ledgers act is tough, not too mention that design wise they're going for something completely different. As for what I thought of it, like I said, i'm not sure. There were some scenes in which I thought he was great in, and then there were others that kinds seemed awkward too me, very loony and cringeworthy.
Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn was fantastic. Though I though the movie was pushing her crazyness way too hard. It's like they had to constantly remind us instead of letting the audience figure it out.
"Oh Harley is sooooo craaazy! You guys! Please like this movie! We can be funny too! See how crazy these guys are! Especially Harley! Oh god please like us!"
The dialogue has this habit of going from very witty to incredibly cringeworthy, the former usually coming from Will Smiths deadshot, which I thought was very well cast, so not much to really add here.
Though not quite in the spotlight, I loved Killer Croc and captain Boomerang. Both of them were simple but very entertaining characters, though I really wish that some of the scenes were cut down so that more of the lessor known characters could get more screen time. Suicide Squad had lots of characters, some of whom couldn't be explored, so it would have been much better if they had cut down on the numbers, since that way they could have had more time to flesh out the others.
The most accurately portrayed character however, in my personal opinion at least was Amanda Waller. Viola Davis carries herself and dances around all the other hardened criminals of the bunch without batting an eye. This is a group of psychos, monsters and killers, yet this little o'l lady puts them in their place without much of an effort. She is the very definition of "The Wall".
Aside from that? it's basically what you expect. A lot of CGI, action and some cameos to set up upcoming movies. Is it a bad movie? No, but it feels like it went through a lot of changes and what we end up with is a collection of quite a bit of good scenes with a lot of mediocre ones. I do think critics are way harsher than they should be, considering it's pretty fun and serviceable, thoughts sadly DC has had a notorious reputation so far, and having Zack Snyder as attached to the project bring out some unnecessary heat as well.
NOTE: My primary reasoning behind writing this blog is to get some people talking and engage in some discussion, so you know, have at it.
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