REVIEW: ‘Suicide Squad’ has too many characters, not enough thrills

Suicide Squad, the new DC comic-book-to-movie adaptation, can be fun for a few minutes, but the characters in this misguided superhero flick can’t sustain the energy or enthusiasm. There are several problems with the narrative, least of all that the two-hour movie involves too much exposition. That’s mostly because of the number of characters who receive screen time.

Count them (you’ll run out of fingers soon enough): Deadshot (Will Smith), a sniper hitman with a soft spot for his daughter; Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), a crazed woman who is smitten with The Joker (Jared Leto); Diablo (Jay Hernandez), a former gang member who can shoot flames from the palms of his hands; Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), an evil spirit that has been unleashed on an unsuspecting victim (June Moone, also played by Delevingne).

There are even more. Viola Davis is Amanda Waller, the brains behind the so-called Suicide Squad. Joel Kinnaman is Joe Flag, Waller’s number two and love interest to Moone. Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) is half-man-half-crocodile.

There are even more, but I digress.

Suicide Squad cannot keep track of its villains, quasi-villains and governmental types. There are no heroes here, although Flag comes close. With such an expansive roster of talent, no individual receives enough attention to earn the audience’s respect. The closest characters to actual leads are Deadshot and Harley Quinn; however, Deadshot is the least interesting character of the Suicide Squad, and Robbie’s portrayal of Quinn is legendarily wrongheaded.

Smith, who once ruled summer blockbusters, has some clever line deliveries as the hitman trying to get back to his family. The problem for Deadshot, and the rest of the Suicide Squad, is that he’s locked up serving a life sentence for his many sins. Their ticket out of maximum-security prison, where they are humiliated by a corrupt guard (Ike Barinholtz), is to follow Waller’s directions, hunt down the Enchantress and save the world. Waller’s insurance that they won’t flee: tracking devices inserted into their necks that can explode at the touch of a button.

The Enchantress is one of the weakest villains to emerge on the cinematic superhero landscape in some time. Her backstory is brief and not convincing. Moone was hiking near a forgotten temple in a jungle and unleashed the Enchantress’ spirit. How this unleashing leads to a world-domination plot is unclear, and the lack of subtext on this pivotal character is one of the most glaring errors in the film.

Robbie’s interpretation of the Harley Quinn character is unfortunate. She puts on a fake New York / New Jersey accent that is laughably bad and mildly confusing. She receives a decent amount of backstory, in which the audience learns about her strange relationship with The Joker, but few people will be able to get beyond her accent and annoying lines. This could have been a strong, memorable character, but instead she’s one of the weakest parts of Suicide Squad.

Leto has fun with The Joker role, but this is not his film. The Joker plays only a secondary part, so he’s relegated to scene stealer whenever he’s on screen. And that’s never a good attribute when he’s only a supporting character.

Writer-director David Ayer’s decision to include The Joker, plus other cameos from the DC Universe, smacks of franchise plugs rather than seamless storytelling. Let the Suicide Squad stand alone. God knows there are enough of them. The icing on this cake would be if Ben Affleck turned up as Batman. Oh wait, that happens, too.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Suicide Squad
• 2016
• Written and directed by David Ayer
• Based on the comic book by John Ostrander
• Starring Will Smith, Viola Davis, Ike Barinholtz, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Ben Affleck, Common, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Cara Delevingne, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Joel Kinnaman, Scott Eastwood, Karen Fukuhara and Adam Beach
• Running time: 2 hours
• Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behavior, suggestive content and language
• Rating: