I saw the Suicide Squad film yesterday. I had high hopes from the trailers, though I was a little put off when I read that it was poorly received by critics. But then, so was Batman vs Superman. But then, that also wasn’t terribly good. And now I know, neither is Suicide Squad.

First, the plot. It has probably the most generic antagonist motive of all time. Since the trailer went to lengths not to spoil specifics, I’ll respect that and simply say the antagonist’s whole motive is to destroy the world…because she can. That’s it, no other motive. No revenge plot, nothing. The effects were also laughable, since the antagonist turns people into giant blackberry…things. Even with this silly effect, this could’ve been explored by the antagonist overwriting people in the city. But nope. Joker’s inclusion also felt incredibly shoehorned in and like he didn’t belong at all.

Another big issue with the movie is the terrible pacing.  Batman vs Superman had issues with this too. It’s incredibly obvious DC is playing catchup to Marvel and is trying way too hard to force an ensemble. While I do enjoy the development of the characters and the end products are nice, their journey to get there was stiff and wooden. Like the movie had to force too many characters onscreen and develop them ASAP. Like aforementioned Joker. Almost nothing is explained in the film itself and it relies on you knowing the comics.  For instance, Harley falling into chemical vats is included with almost no explanation for why or what they do. Deadshot’s fake eye is introduced, but he sees fine without it.  In fact, Deadshot only wears his mask for one scene.  From the introduction this mask got (every time I put on this mask someone dies), you’d think it’d be an amazing scene, but no, it was just another shooter scene where they take out a bunch of blackberry soldiers and then he just takes the mask back off.

Overall, the film was basically just a big dose of fan service, though surprisingly little of the sexual kind. 2/5