The trailer for Suicide Squad, a.k.a. DC Comics’s answer to The Avengers (2012) is one of my favourite movie trailers of 2016. Fast forward to the first hour of actually watching Suicide Squad and I’m thinking… ‘Why does this feel like such a big mess?’

After my surprise at my initial reaction, the movie does thankfully become a little more watchable, after the first hour. Though certainly not enough to make Suicide Squad a particularly great experience.

A sizeable part of my issue with director David Ayer’s film is linked to the fact that, unlike Marvel’s The Avengers, stand-alone movies for most, if not all of the characters in Suicide Squad, don’t previously exist. This adds to the already gargantuan challenge of weaving a well-constructed and engaging story featuring all the numerous players, something this film fails to do. I didn’t realise how much Marvel’s approach made a lot of sense until, as a non-reader of comic books, I watched Suicide Squad.

Additionally, I know that superhero movies aren’t real but something about Suicide Squad was even more unbelievable than any other superhero movie I remember watching. I must admit that Cara Delevigne’s portrayal of Enchantress didn’t help matters. ‘Ridiculous’ is unfortunately the word that came to mind most times I saw her character and heard her speak.

As for the characters I did like, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) is cool but I found that I didn’t identify with her as much as I thought I would. The fact that all members of the Suicide Squad are hardcore criminals, I’m sure has something to do with it.

Deadshot (Will Smith) is another favourite because he too has that cool factor, thanks in large part to the nature of his particular set of skills. That, combined with how his story is shot is part of what kept me watching. Harley Quinn and Deadshot’s dynamic also helped hold the story together, where possible.

‘Is Jared Leto’s Joker going to be as arresting as Heath Ledger’s brilliant work in The Dark Knight (2008)?’ This was a question I wanted the answer to and I kind of got it… but not really, because The Joker is barely seen in this movie. And even though he is one of the better-known characters before this film – thanks to Batman, Joker’s stand-alone movie really should have come before Suicide Squad.

Overall, Suicide Squad is a movie you watch if you’re curious enough. It’s just not as good as it should have been.

Last but not least, I didn’t want to have to say that ‘Marvel’s The Avengers did it better‘, but I’ve never really been very good at lying to myself.

Happy Film Loving,

G