‘A’ sustains the energy
The latest installment in the DC Universe film franchise is one of this summer’s most anticipated films, Suicide Squad. The premise basically has to do with a secret government agency headed by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) recruiting super-villains for special black ops assignments in exchange for shorter prison sentences — akin to turning to wolves to protect the herd of sheep.
It’s a promising premise, and as written and directed by David Ayer, who played a major role in bringing us films such as Fury, End of Watch and Training
Day, people were actually cheering in the cinemas earlier in the year when the first trailers were released. Coming on the heels of Batman v Superman, this was touted as the vehicle that would bring a diverse cast of supervillains into the spotlight, paving the way for future DC films.
For the first 40 minutes of the film, as the villains are being introduced and as we get to know Amanda Waller, the film engages us with energetic fervor. Will Smith as Deadshot, Jared Leto as the Joker, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Jay Hernandez as Diablo, Jai Courtney as Boomerang and Adewale Agbaje as Killer Croc all give us a distinct cast of characters. And we have Cara Delevingne as the Enchantress, who along with her brother, eventually become our main antagonists. And for me, stealing these scenes from under the noses of this motley crew of su- per bad guys is the most ruthless of them all, Amanda herself. Manipulative, ambitious and determined are personified in Amanda, who while being on the side of law enforcement, displays no scruples at all in getting her way — making her the most interesting of characters.
Jared creates his own Joker, not taking the Heath Ledger route, and Robbie as Quinn handles most of the comedic asides, the shafts of humor that regularly punctuate the film’s narrative. It is when introductions have been made and we move on to the mission proper that I felt the film falters. This because Cara as the Enchantress is not a strong enough villain to the other villains, and the brother who is her accomplice is never really developed as a character.
With a PG-13 rating, the film still can’t seem to decide in what direction it really wants to go — in contrast to say Deadpool, where the film really embraced it’s R rating. With Suicide Squad, the language and jokes are tepid at best, and we rely more on the action and CGI to get us through this second half of the film. The energy and engagement of the first half just isn’t duplicated.
Personally, I felt the big success of this film outing is Viola as Amanda. She elicits the strongest reaction, whether we admire or loathe her, we respect the stature and shadow she casts throughout the proceedings — it is after all, her A-Team.