Review: Suicide Squad

I know, I know, I NEVER do movie reviews. Maybe once or twice before. I’m not really a flick chick. Being raised with no TV and only seeing a handful of movies on the big screen before adulthood will do that, I think. Anyway, I do like a good movie, but my idea of a fun ride on the big screen isn’t the same as the critics, so… I just don’t make it to theaters often.

But this was special. My daughter (the Otaku Princess) turned 16 today, and for her present I took her and the Jr Mad Scientist to the movies, and then to Hot Topic for a bit of a shopping spree. It was totally worth it.

And the movie wasn’t bad, either! Let’s preface this review with something: I’m going to get spoileriffic here. I don’t with books, but if you haven’t seen the movie and you want to, I’m putting a photo here to prevent you from seeing something you wish you hadn’t, and those of you who want, can just move along. Short non-spoiler review: Good fun. Gritty, LOL moments, romance where you least expect it. Classic team formed under pressure plot. Don’t expect depth, expect lots and lots of cartridges flying and explosions.

I like Marvel movies. I didn’t grow up reading comic books, so I’m walking into the movies with no backstory, no expectations. The Otaku Princess (OP) is joining me now. 

OP: Suicide squad isn’t really a popular comic. Not a lot of people go read it. It’s not like Batman, or Superman, or Wonder Woman.

C: So Superman. He’s Dead?!

OP: Oh, yeah, that happened in the last movie. Batman vs Superman.

C: So did this movie live up to your expectations?

OP: No, it did not. Not whatsoever. There was so expecting that I didn’t get. I was expecting the Harley Quinn and Joker dynamic to be totally different, and Deadshot was mildly different than I expected. It was better than what I expected, I didn’t expect what they did at all.

C: I had fun watching it, although there were parts that were a bit disturbing. I wasn’t thrilled about the whole ‘sociopath in charge’ character of Waller. But it made sense.

OP: Waller has always been insane. Nobody likes her, that’s her character: she controls them and she does it with an iron fist. In a story of bad guys, the person who’s supposed to be the good guy is actually the bad guy. It gives you a person to hate, because in every story you have to have someone to hate.

C: What about Flag? I liked him, and you could tell he didn’t like being an asshole.

OP: I don’t know all that much about Flag. I know he’s the one who actually goes into danger instead of Waller. In this movie he’s there to save the girl he loves. He’s the human one.

C: I thought Deadshot was kind of sweet.

OP: Well, he’s a Dad. Everyone expects him to be hardcore, but deep down he’s just a Dad doing what he needs to keep his little girl safe.

C: The scene at the end where he’s teaching her math and she got the hypoteneuse as a ballistics solution, I almost laughed out loud.

OP: That was pretty funny. Obviously he rubs off on her.

C: Do you think we’ll see her again as a superhero?

OP: I kinda hope not. I would assume he would try to keep her out of it. He just wants her to be safe and have a good life, the best life he can give her.

C: So Harley Quinn was chewing the scenery in this movie, and I thought she was a hoot. You said she was different from what you expected?

OP: It kinda goes hand in hand with her and the Joker. In the movie the Joker treated her better as a person than in the comic books. The real Harley has like a more human side. In the New 52 she has a kid. She has kindness deep down. In this one, she was crazy because she legitimately was insane.

C: You probably won’t know what I mean, but the scene where the witch was promising her a dream, she reminded me a of a mob bosses’s wife. And then I saw that a lot in her, but I’ve seen too many Godfather movies.

OP: She kinda is a mob bosses’s girlfriend, to be honest.

C: I thought the villain(s) were a little silly.

OP: Harley’s sill…

C: Not Harley. The witch.

OP: I kinda feel like they could have found a different villain. Or a different job. Like breaking into somewhere that shouldn’t be broken into. A covert job, that’s what you’d imagine a secret team like that doing, like if they didn’t want it noticed, they wouldn’t have them going and saving the world.

C: So did you actually think the Joker was dead?”

OP: Yes. Very much so to the point where I almost started crying. ‘Cause I just love Harley, she’s my favorite villain, I just want her to be happy. In the comics I’d be like, ok, he can die, because he wasn’t nice to her. But in the movie he was good to her, like a healthy happy, so I was sad when I thought he was dead.

C: Did the team coming together as fast as they did in the movie, did that work for you? It didn’t feel rushed?

OP: No, not really, cause, some of them normally work alone. They’re being forced to do it, it’s not like they were all buddy-buddy in the beginning, but then they came together to protect Flag. They didn’t want to die, so they wanted to make it work.

C: What was up with Katana? Was that her name?

OP: Katana, I don’t know much about her actual story, but in this story she was a back-up for Flag. He knew if they ganged up on him to get the detonator, he was screwed. So she was there to help contain them.

C: So what do you think comes next? Is Batman going to go rogue?

OP: Batman isn’t gonna go rogue. At least not like supervillain rogue. He’s not going to go like “join the Joker and everyone becomes evil!” If you’re talking about rogue against the government, then he already is. Superman is going to come back, they are making a Justice League movie.

C: So will Harley be in the Justice League?

OP: No, definitely not.

C: Do you want to see Wonder Woman? I liked the trailer.

OP: I’ve never been a big fan. I like the character, I like that she’s a strong woman who doesn’t need anyone. I’m more into the whole vigilante thing, like Green Arrow, and Batman.

C: Have any final thoughts?

OP: I think that this was a good movie. I hope DC doesn’t make another one, because that would be repetitive. It had a sense of closure, like that was done. It was fun to fangirl and it was satisfying, but it doesn’t need more. Comically accurate is just not something they should put in movies. If you’re going to put everything in, it will never be perfect, and it would have to be rated R, and their fanbase is too young for that.

The First Reader: Some of the newer DC movies kinda suck.

OP: I know how they changed Superman, and there were some major plot points they changed they shouldn’t have changed. I don’t care about costumes changing.

C: Batman looks lumpy!

OP: Old men are supposed to look lumpy!

OP The Batman suit has changed a lot.

TFR: The best bat suit was on Adam West.

OP (falling backwards): That was so cheesy!

Cedar here – We’re having a great convo, but at this point it’s not about the movie, so I’ll leave you and debate the merits of Catwoman (Julie Newmar is teh Best!) and let you all imagine the furor.

TFR: Eartha Kitt!!