Suicide Squad is - objectively and inescapably - garbage. On the writing part, the story makes no sense, plot points get repeated for no reason, backstories serve no purpose other than a cheap way to establish character, and the characters themselves aren’t well-written in the slightest. Aesthetically, the direction defines choppy, characters aren’t well established – one character looks straight out of a Grudge movie while another one looks like those S&M clowns that might fit in Spring Breakers – the tone has “schizophrenic” written all over its face, (no thanks to those reshoots, because that always works!) and the CGI looks distractingly bad. Taken as a whole, it’s the cinematic equivalent of the modern, lazy, pandering rap song made cynically by the intent of establishing a name rather than making good products. BUT…even considering how much I actually listen to those same bad rap songs, I still like it? Yes, the movie has no right to be overrated by anyone with the aforementioned problems in mind (even if the web is still somehow mad about “biased Rotten Tomatoes”), but I still find joy and guilty pleasure in the whole thing, even if any of it sucks.
The story, for the record, is far too convoluted to summarize. After the events of Batman V Superman, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) for some reason comes to the conclusion that the world needs the help of Gotham’s rowdiest criminals. So she recruits Killer Croc, Boomerang, Harley Quinn, El Diablo, Deadshot, and… some other guy, under the help of Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg and Katana to do some rescue mission. Oh, and Davis comes to terms with Enchantress – who looks like she was pulled straight out of a Troma-esque Grudge ripoff – in order to persuade the officials to use the Squad, only to eventually be held hostage for the film to set up a rather questionable twist. Oh, and Enchantress is controlling Flagg’s boring girlfriend as she controls the city via a sky wormhole and a strangely crappy-looking demon brother who serves nothing other than a mini-boss. Oh, and the Joker shows up for no reason for both a flashback and in act 2 and literally drives and/or flies by the screen without any point.
So yeah, like Batman V Superman, the movie suffers greatly from numerous plot issues and bad design choices, but at least it makes more sense since its actually under one man’s helm this time. Now I may like David Ayer’s movies in his unapologetic, openly grimy movie catalog, (I personally think Fury is still his masterpiece) but there is no denying the amount of weight he struggles to carry here, doubly so thanks to the reshoots. Everything from the nonsensical plot (in which we're supposed to believe that the all-powerful witch gets defeated by the old Bugs Bunny trick) to the jarring lack of appeal with the whole thing seems to be under the sway of cynical committee rather than a single vision. Constant shifts in tone, the weak transition of plot elements, and stupid-looking design choices he makes with the purple and green color palette and supercharged cutting techniques make the film look occasionally phony, and that’s before you see the final boss in her crappy-looking silk-sheets-as-smoke-clouds getup. In design, it’s as if Ayer desperately panders to the new age of wannabe gangster Snapchat teens the way he panders to thugs in Harsh Times, as he also shoves on-the-nose pop songs in any scene possible.
However, as someone who objectively follows some people in that demographic, I can’t help but enjoy this broken apparatus. The songs are obnoxiously phoned in but I think it's catchy. The story beats make no sense, but how the film gets there - from action scenes to out-of-place flashbacks - are a joy to watch. Even among the catchy soundtrack and weirdly enjoyable aesthetic, there is quite a lot of genuine good that’s sadly squashed by the vape-stinking baggage. The backstory for both El Diablo and Deadshot are genuinely engaging, however short-shifted, there’s a small bar scene where they share fun, if shallow, banter, and I’d be lying if there aren’t some good payoffs in the action scenes. Plus, I cannot deny the effort by Margot Robbie as the best Harley Quinn ever (although a bit oversexualized) , Will Smith and Viola Davis. All the rest are on autopilot (Killer Croc does nothing in this movie surprisingly), but it's fun to see Jai Courtney hamming up as an Australian stereotype.
Sadly, all the poor actors lose any goodwill by a terrible performance by one Jared Leto as the new Joker. Passing aside the way the film contrives a way to have him swing by in the movie, Leto tries too hard to put a name for himself in this role as he scavenges multiple impressions of both Caesar Romero and Heath Ledger. The result is quite the most embarrassing and the most obnoxious Joker I’ve seen forever. If this shows up in the new Batman movie, then DC/Warner Bros is screwed.
However, with that all in mind, this movie is the ultimate guilty pleasure. Nothing is good about it AT ALL, but I can’t shake off the mindless, pandering, coked-up fun that is Suicide Squad. It's poorly paced, thinly written, awful-looking, and full of shoddy direction, but I appreciate David Ayer for his otherwise flawed commitment. The film is the cinematic equivalent of cherry-colored, vape smoke-engulfed Big Mac, a neat idea doomed to fail but somehow has me entranced by its poor design. To that end, I'm still not convinced to give this movie any higher than a 3. But for the first time, I'm inclined to establish a Guilty Pleasure Rating, which I'll be giving it a 7. Some will love this movie, others will hate it, but I'm treading on both paths for now. Take that for what its worth.
Rating: 3/10
Guilty Pleasure Rating: 7/10
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