The 100 Worst Movies of the '10s, #81: SUICIDE SQUAD (2016)

82. ATLAS SHRUGGED: PART I (2011)
81. SUICIDE SQUAD (2016)



DC movies seem to want us to like them so, so badly. While Kevin Feige and the Marvel crew seem to be able to spin out some decently entertaining narratives out of nowhere--even the lesser ones like Doctor Strange have a lot going for them--Geoff Johns and DC are obviously trying very hard to make something that fits the public's desire. Suicide Squad was reportedly overhauled pretty heavily in post-production because the studio determined that what audiences wanted was an irreverent but overall pleasant antihero story like Guardians of the Galaxy.

Apparently what director David Ayer, the writer of Training Day and director of End of Watch, delivered to them was too abrasive, so they lightened it up, and boy, does it show. Suicide Squad seems to have been made entirely out of chaff. Its story is perfunctory, its characters forgettable, and its centerpiece--the romance between the Joker (Jared Leto) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie)--is barely even addressed.

Ayer reportedly directed Leto to method-act during filming, which led to his essentially being a jerk to all the other actors. This is already a pretty silly and unproductive way to get a performance, but it's made all the more pointless when we realize that Leto is barely in the movie and in some cases shares no screen time with his castmates. The only actor who doubles significantly with Leto is Robbie, and even she has to spend most of the movie without him.

The premise is interesting, even if Ayer doesn't do much with it. Government official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, who I hope took home a lot of money for this role) assembles a Justice League of her own, but one of villains instead of heroes. Why villains? For one thing, it's better to have the worst people working for you, I suppose. For another, since they're already incarcerated, they can be easily controlled. In addition to Harley Quinn, the crew includes Deadshot (Will Smith), Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje), Slipknot (Adam Beach), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), and Katana (Karen Fukuhara). The team is soon dispatched to stop an evil Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) from bringing about the apocalypse.

The pieces are in place for a fun adventure--and might still be, if James Gunn's inauspiciously-named sequel The Suicide Squad is up to par--but nothing comes together. The plot and characters are overpopulated and no fun. The only actor who registers is Robbie, who delivers a knockout performance as Harley, endowing a difficult character--how do you play someone whose primary characteristic is being controlled by another person?--with agency and power despite the lazy writing.