When you see DC commiting Suicide... again
Title: Suicide Squad
Year: 2016
Director: David Ayer
Other: M/14, 123 min, Action/ Adventure/ Comedy
Rating: IMDB: 6,9; Rotten Tomatoes: 26% vs 71%
This entire thing is a suicidal mess for DC... Am I having a Déjà vu?
You may recall that one post I made when the first trailer for Suicide Squad came out, a couple of months ago. By then it was of my utmost conviction that we had two options with this film: it was going to be brilliant and a real turn on DC's filmmaking since Man of Steel,OR it was going to be the worst shit ever. Guess what?
Let me first tell you that, although I'm an assumed fan of Marvel's Cinema and TV strategy (mostly 'cause I love all things organised) I am also, and ultimately, a geek girl. And, as so, I have no interest on Marvel's supremacy over anything. The only thing I want is good super-hero contents, with density, and plot, and all kinds of experiences and emotions. Trust me, I take no joy on spending my own money to go to the movies only to see the DC universe sinking and making more casualties than the Titanic (especially when they grab and take my beloved Superman with them). Likewise, I don't tend to concentrate on the bad parts of things that really carry something good. The problem is there are things with no possible salvation.
Suicide Squad is, much to my dismay, one of those things. And one could talk about the lazy writing, the lack of plot consistency, or even how dull most of the characters are conceived, and how forgettable they are. All of these aspects have core problems, indeed, but what made it for me was the - at the lack of a better word - shitty editing of the film. The scenes are glued together with some gummy spit and barely hold, together or apart. The construction is rushed and terrible, and even the soundtrack - which has some absolutely amazing songs - is not properly used. The mastery we see in the trailer just doesn't exist in the film and, as a result, there's simply no way to try and cover the other (many) holes. Besides, the amount of dull exposition, especially at the beggining (with two big scenes that could easily be only one), points to the choice of some crippled and old narrative techniques that are no longer used because they just don't work. And although the backstories are somewhat important, the way they are showed is lazy and rudimental at best, and the huge amount of backstory scenes makes me wonder if they are really needed at all. Though it's not a backstory scene, a clear example of scenes which don't make a contribution to the film is the bag stealing scene from the trailer. It's supposed to be a comic relief scene, but it has no purpose and it ends up just being plain stupid.
It is, indeed, a film with a good and promising premise, but poorly constructed. Even most of the action scenes are dull and lazy (not kidding), and the villains are kind of forgotten. Their purpose is unclear and they are not characters in themselves, but only excuses for something to happen. In this point Cara Delevigne's acting doesn't help, as that must be some of the worst acting I've seen at least this year. The movie is, in fact, filled with characters with no purpose, and even Amanda Waller, Viola Davis supposedly super badass character (you can see she channeled some of her Annalise Keating for this), is a shady thing who does bad things you don't know exactly why.
Though my general opinion is not at all positive, there are two negative points that have been persistently pointed out and discussed and with which I cannot agree. The first is the problem of the sexualization and objectification of Margot Robbie's character, Harley Quinn. With this, I'm not saying that Harley is not objectified or sexualized in the movie, but I honestly believe that aspect is and have been an intrinsic part of the character. Though I may concede that she's sometimes inadequately used as comic relief, her sexualization does not defines her as a person, and although it is part of her, it's not her only and sole trait. Furthermore, Harley is, in my opinion, the best character by far, and Margot does a wonderfull job with little to nothing (in movie aspects) to hold on to. Despite the terrible writing, you wonder about who she is, what's in her mind. Was she always a little mad, even before Joker? Does she questions her sanity? You don't know, but Margot's interpretation makes you wonder, and that's brilliant, given the circunstances. The second issue raised be the viewers is the romanticizing of Joker and Harley's relationship. I don't agree with that either. In my opinion, if you look clearly at their scenes, you can see the relationship IS abusive as HELL. The thing is, there are some scenes that are presented with the filter of Harley's thoughts and so, what you see is Harley romanticizing her relationship, which is fair enough and an intrinsecal part of it. The scene which shows them married as a normal couple is a good example of that. And Margot's take on the part makes me wonder if Harley ever questions herself about it, about if the feeling she has are also real on Joker's side. When she touches her necklace, we can almost see her question herself, like "I'll see him again, and that's super, but is it good?".
And, speaking about Joker, Jared Leto proves himself again to be a monster on screen. His Joker is different and extreme, and I loved it. I would love to see him in a decently written film with enough scenes and plot destined to him, just to see what how far he's capable of going.
So, yeah, Suicide Squad is an unprecedented level of mess, and it is - in many aspects and IMHO - inferior to the - until now - let down of the year, Batman vs Superman. But it can be entertaining, so, yey! My only problem with this is I really believe DC could make quality content, and it's not doing it only because they are stubborn enough not to want to take a step back and review their strategy. I fear a lot for the entire DC film project. The next is Wonder Woman, and I'm so scared. Let us brace ourselves and prepare for impact.
Let me first tell you that, although I'm an assumed fan of Marvel's Cinema and TV strategy (mostly 'cause I love all things organised) I am also, and ultimately, a geek girl. And, as so, I have no interest on Marvel's supremacy over anything. The only thing I want is good super-hero contents, with density, and plot, and all kinds of experiences and emotions. Trust me, I take no joy on spending my own money to go to the movies only to see the DC universe sinking and making more casualties than the Titanic (especially when they grab and take my beloved Superman with them). Likewise, I don't tend to concentrate on the bad parts of things that really carry something good. The problem is there are things with no possible salvation.
Suicide Squad is, much to my dismay, one of those things. And one could talk about the lazy writing, the lack of plot consistency, or even how dull most of the characters are conceived, and how forgettable they are. All of these aspects have core problems, indeed, but what made it for me was the - at the lack of a better word - shitty editing of the film. The scenes are glued together with some gummy spit and barely hold, together or apart. The construction is rushed and terrible, and even the soundtrack - which has some absolutely amazing songs - is not properly used. The mastery we see in the trailer just doesn't exist in the film and, as a result, there's simply no way to try and cover the other (many) holes. Besides, the amount of dull exposition, especially at the beggining (with two big scenes that could easily be only one), points to the choice of some crippled and old narrative techniques that are no longer used because they just don't work. And although the backstories are somewhat important, the way they are showed is lazy and rudimental at best, and the huge amount of backstory scenes makes me wonder if they are really needed at all. Though it's not a backstory scene, a clear example of scenes which don't make a contribution to the film is the bag stealing scene from the trailer. It's supposed to be a comic relief scene, but it has no purpose and it ends up just being plain stupid.
It is, indeed, a film with a good and promising premise, but poorly constructed. Even most of the action scenes are dull and lazy (not kidding), and the villains are kind of forgotten. Their purpose is unclear and they are not characters in themselves, but only excuses for something to happen. In this point Cara Delevigne's acting doesn't help, as that must be some of the worst acting I've seen at least this year. The movie is, in fact, filled with characters with no purpose, and even Amanda Waller, Viola Davis supposedly super badass character (you can see she channeled some of her Annalise Keating for this), is a shady thing who does bad things you don't know exactly why.
Though my general opinion is not at all positive, there are two negative points that have been persistently pointed out and discussed and with which I cannot agree. The first is the problem of the sexualization and objectification of Margot Robbie's character, Harley Quinn. With this, I'm not saying that Harley is not objectified or sexualized in the movie, but I honestly believe that aspect is and have been an intrinsic part of the character. Though I may concede that she's sometimes inadequately used as comic relief, her sexualization does not defines her as a person, and although it is part of her, it's not her only and sole trait. Furthermore, Harley is, in my opinion, the best character by far, and Margot does a wonderfull job with little to nothing (in movie aspects) to hold on to. Despite the terrible writing, you wonder about who she is, what's in her mind. Was she always a little mad, even before Joker? Does she questions her sanity? You don't know, but Margot's interpretation makes you wonder, and that's brilliant, given the circunstances. The second issue raised be the viewers is the romanticizing of Joker and Harley's relationship. I don't agree with that either. In my opinion, if you look clearly at their scenes, you can see the relationship IS abusive as HELL. The thing is, there are some scenes that are presented with the filter of Harley's thoughts and so, what you see is Harley romanticizing her relationship, which is fair enough and an intrinsecal part of it. The scene which shows them married as a normal couple is a good example of that. And Margot's take on the part makes me wonder if Harley ever questions herself about it, about if the feeling she has are also real on Joker's side. When she touches her necklace, we can almost see her question herself, like "I'll see him again, and that's super, but is it good?".
And, speaking about Joker, Jared Leto proves himself again to be a monster on screen. His Joker is different and extreme, and I loved it. I would love to see him in a decently written film with enough scenes and plot destined to him, just to see what how far he's capable of going.
So, yeah, Suicide Squad is an unprecedented level of mess, and it is - in many aspects and IMHO - inferior to the - until now - let down of the year, Batman vs Superman. But it can be entertaining, so, yey! My only problem with this is I really believe DC could make quality content, and it's not doing it only because they are stubborn enough not to want to take a step back and review their strategy. I fear a lot for the entire DC film project. The next is Wonder Woman, and I'm so scared. Let us brace ourselves and prepare for impact.
