“Suicide Squad” Review (*½)

Margot Robbie stars as Harley Quinn in “Suicide Squad.”

“Suicide Squad,” Warner Brothers’ latest attempt at furthering the DC Extended Universe, is the most profoundly disappointing film of 2016. Ever since we saw the first image of Jared Leto’s neon gangster Joker, we’ve been, at the very least, curious. Like many, I thought it was a strange choice but held out hope—hope that felt justified as soon as that amazing first trailer dropped. It seemed like Warner Brothers was willing to take creative risks and do something we haven’t yet seen in the rapidly expanding superhero space. Unfortunately what we ended up with is a convoluted, underwritten mess that, like too many blockbusters these days, basically boils down to giant CGI blobs fighting each other.

David Ayer wrote and directed the film and was either given too much freedom by the studio or not enough. The film is choppy and poorly constructed. There’s even some weirdly obvious editing mistakes. There is definitely some striking imagery throughout that I’m sure made better storyboards than actual scenes.

The problems with “Suicide Squad” are glaringly and frustratingly obvious. We’re thrown into film immediately as Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) reads off a list of supposed super villains and we watch as their half-assed origin stories flash across the screen (all of which would make better films on their own). We see glimpses of Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and how she became crazy. We learn that Deadshot (Will Smith) is a for-hire assassin who would do anything for his daughter. We’re introduced to Dr. June Moon, played by Cara Delevingne, who has been possessed by a witch because she… fell in a cave? I think? The point is that none of these characters get one single moment to show us who they are. Instead we’re simply told that they’re the worst of the worst, which makes it nearly impossible to care about any one of them.

Viola Davis plays Amanda Waller in “Suicide Squad.”