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| Photo Courtesy of heroichollywood.com |
They say a hero is only as good as their villains and when it comes to great villains, DC Comics has no shortage of the world's most infamous and iconic bad guys. From Lex Luthor to General Zod, Two Face to the clown prince of crime himself, the Joker, the DC universe is teeming with countless rogue's running the gamut from crime bosses, assassins, rogue super-humans, megalomaniacs, tragic figures and downright psychopaths. In addition to these well known rogues, DC is home to many lesser known yet still badass villains and antagonists who keep our heroes busy on a daily basis. Now that we've taken our first giant step into DC's connected cinematic universe and seen DC's three biggest icons, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman on screen together for the first time ever, laying the groundwork for the Justice League, it was about time to introduce DC's most infamous group of super villains, Task Force X, or as they're more commonly known: Suicide Squad.
David Ayer's Suicide Squad is the third film in the DC cinematic universe which was kicked off by 2013's Man of Steel and followed by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. While those two films laid the groundwork and established the grittier, more realistic tone of the universe, Suicide Squad introduces the viewer to a few of the key meta-humans and anti-heroes lurking within the vast depths of the DC Universe. The film is a great comedic and thrilling counterpoint to the more serious and mythic tone of the previous two films while building upon the grittier, edgier tone already established.
For those not familiar, Suicide Squad is a team of anti-social bad guys brought together by master manipulator, Amanda Waller, played by Viola Davis. After Superman's heroic sacrifice in BvS: Dawn of Justice, Waller worries that the next being with god-like powers won't share Superman's values and seeks to form a team of enhanced people whose "unique" skills might come in handy when the next threat arises. The Squad consists of a few well known DC villains, most notably the Joker's girlfriend, Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie. Harley's been in the comics for a few decades, but we've never gotten a live action version of her until now. Harley Quinn started out as Harleen Quinzel, a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who was given the task of analyzing the Joker. Instead, Joker crawled his way under her skin and she became infatuated with him, ultimately joining him in his crusade of chaos and death. The film picks up with Harley already confined at the notorious Belle Reve prison, providing a few flashbacks showing her being seduced by the Joker and ultimately being apprehended by the Batman, played once again by Ben Affleck.
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| Jared Leto's shocking new take on the Joker Photo courtesy of www.elheraldo.hn |
Imprisoned along with Harley at Belle Reve are the other core members of Task Force X. Chief among them is Deadshot (Will Smith), the world's greatest hit man for hire who's trying to make a life for his daughter before also being apprehended by Batman. Smith does a great job conveying both Deadshot's razor sharp humor and his underlying heart. Next up there's Captain Boomerang, an aussie who's known primarily as an enemy of the Flash. As his name suggests, he commits crimes using a variety of deadly boomerang gadgets. Jai Courtney plays him with quirky humor which never veers into campiness. He's portrayed as seriously as can be for someone named Captain Boomerang. Then there's Killer Croc, a.k.a Waylon Jones, a fairly well known Batman adversary born with a rare skin condition that left him covered in crocodile scales. Further experimentation turned him into more of a croc than a man and at Belle Reve he's kept in an underground sewer cell. Next up is the aptly named El Diablo, a former gang member with pyro-kinetic abilities who in a fit of anger inadvertently killed his wife and children. Since being imprisoned at Belle Reve, he's sworn off violence forever, that is until he's unwittingly recruited into Task Force X. Finally we have Enchantress, a.k.a archeologist June Moone, who becomes possessed by an ancient sorceress who overtakes her whenever she utters the word "Enchantress." Toss in Katana, a Japanese super-heroine with a sword that traps the souls of its victims and the group's handler, Colonel Rick Flag and you have the Suicide Squad.
Using entertaining and informative flashbacks, the film does a great job of concisely showing how each of these people ended up in Belle Reve and demonstrating their unique skills. Not good at playing nice with others, they're each coerced into working together for Waller to prevent a supernatural threat. The film's appeal lies in how these renegade characters and their extreme personalities clash, often to humorous effect. Margot Robbie shines as the wildly unhinged and mercurial Harley Quinn, providing most of the film's humor while Will Smith knocks it out of the park as Deadshot without stealing anyone else's thunder. Each character brings something unique to the table. Whereas DC's two previous films were epic, almost mythical explorations of what it means to be a hero in the real world, Suicide Squad is a burst of pure thrills, all out action and humor which comes across naturally given the charismatic and extreme nature of these characters.
Undoubtedly, the film's most anticipated character is the one and only clown prince of crime, the Joker, played by Jared Leto. It's been almost a decade since Christopher Nolan's masterpiece The Dark Knight, but the comic book world is still reeling from the late Heath Ledger's unforgettable take on the Joker as a psychopathic terrorist of anarchy and death. While Ledger's portrayal was the Joker stripped down to his raw, terrifying essence as an unstoppable force of chaos and devastation, Leto's seems a bit closer in spirit to the classic Joker of recent comics. He's still brutally unhinged, psychotic and unpredictable, but rather than wanting to watch the world burn, this Joker feels more like a sadistic crime boss who's main priority in the film is getting Harley back. In the little screen time he had, Leto did a great job conveying Joker's sadistic creepiness, but he wasn't in the film enough to make an impression anywhere near as impactful as Ledger. Still, Harley Quinn with her beloved "puddin" Mr. J was something right out of the comics. I'd like to see more of their crazy relationship explored in future films. The Joker acts as a wild card in this film, following his own separate agenda and the main focus is the Squad as a way to introduce this assortment of wild and unpredictable characters. Ultimately, Suicide Squad didn't have the same intense impact on me that Man of Steel or BvS had, but that's mainly because I have such an emotional investment in Batman and Superman. Suicide Squad's not a movie that'll have you contemplating for days after seeing it, but in this case, that's a good thing. The characters don't warrant super serious attitudes because they're anti-heroes who don't play by the rules and embrace the absurdity of life. Superman and especially Batman on the other hand have traditionally always been more serious characters because of their consciences. Suicide Squad is a great counterpoint to DC's previous two films, an indication of the thrilling fun and excitement to come in the DC universe now that our heroes have come through the existential darkness and will soon be doing what we all know they do best, going head to head with the countless villains and anti-heroes who make up the vast world of DC comics.
