IT (2017) Movie Review (Non Spoilers)

We all float down here....

SUICIDE SQUAD NON-SPOILER REVIEW

Just shoot me.....

It feels so good to be so bad

SUICIDE SQUAD

Synopsis:

In the aftermath of all that happened in Batman v Superman, the US government realizes that not all men of steel who fall from space will fight for truth, justice and the American way.  With contingencies for every foreseeable human circumstance, they decide it's time to come up with one on a superhuman scale.  Should another Superman come to earth and decide to waltz in to the White House and take the president, the government now has a rag tag group of bad guys they can use to fight him off.

They're immediately put to the test when a supernatural threat calls for the special skills of the Suicide Squad to deal with it.

THE ROSTER:

Deadshot (Will Smith)

Essentially the best assassin in the world, Will Smith brings the sharpshooter to life and is as Will Smith about it as only Will Smith can be.

With his 11 year old daughter used as leverage, Deadshot will do all he can to see her again.

Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie)

The queen to the Joker, played by Margot Robbie, puts on her crazy face armed with her Louisville slugger and is ready for action.  The voices are strong in this one as she prances around dreaming of her puddin' coming to rescue her. 

El Diablo (Jay Hernandez)

Involuntary arsonist and apparent former Latin King (look for the scene where he adorns a golden crown made of fire), Diablo is tormented by his power and the consequences of losing control of it.  

Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje)

The reptilian monster with the insatiable appetite for raw flesh is needed for his muscle.

The Enchantress (Cara Delevingne)

Over 6000 years old, she has seen more  than anyone in the group and holds secrets that they wish they'd never know. 

Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney)

Jai Courtney delivers a surprisingly animated performance as a violent Australian bank robber who uses an obvious weapon for everything from killing people to scoping out an area. 

Slipknot (Adam Beach)

Calm down metal heads, this is a lesser known villain whose "power" is climbing.  He uses indestructible ropes to be able to get around not unlike Batman with his grappling hooks. 

Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman)

The babysitter of the baddies, Flag keeps a tight leash on them with the threat of blowing their heads off via explosive chip implanted in their necks.  He's Captain America without the superpowers.  

Katana (Karen Fukuhara)

Another character named after their weapon of choice, this masked warrior wields a sword that traps in it the souls of those whose lives it takes.  Katana is a friend of Flag and assists him in keeping the squad in check.

Amanda Waller (Viola Davis)

The brains behind the whole operation and the finger on the trigger of the implanted bombs, Waller proves over and over again that no matter how bad these villains are, she's always worse.

Joker (Jared Leto)

Not part of the squad himself, Joker does all he can to get his queen back by his side!

Batman (Ben Affleck)

Batffleck appears to continue kicking some butt after his awesome portrayal in Batman v Superman.  Don't look for him to appear often, or even to do much, but at least we're left salivating over the prospects of who he'll face in his own movie other than the Joker.

THE VERDICT:

So I can't blame this on DC Comics because it isn't their fault...Warner Brothers has a problem: In trying to catch up with Marvel Studios, Warner Bros is trying to stuff a massive amount of story lines into DC Universe movie to get us through their phases 1 & 2 and have us at phase 3 when Marvel reaches theirs.  The issue with this is that while Marvel has gone through a long process of making bad movies and bad movie mistakes, they have grown into what they are now.  Warner Brothers is trying to bypass the mistakes by making extremely plot heavy and badly paced movies which are making them look worse.

Another problem seen in Man of Steel, Batman v Superman and now Suicide Squad is the extremely heavy reliance on CGI.  Unfortunately, the CGI quality Warner Brothers uses is not as good as Marvel and it's evident with their unnecessarily large open spaces in the middle of cities and extremely dark environments used to hide flaws.

"They'll never notice the painfully fake background lol"

This is what made me like the movie a lot less.  Instead of putting the squad up against yet another generic villain with the generic plot of world domination, they should have started with a super villain who cannot be touched by military.  Maybe instead of the villain used, the Joker could have been the one they tried to take out.  It certainly would have made for a better story.  

The squad themselves were pretty likeable and one of them pulls off quite an unexpected surprise in the climactic battle in the end.

Will Smith is my favorite actor, but I was expecting an edge out of him in this.  He's supposed to be an assassin, a villain, and instead I just got Mike Lowery from the Bad Boys movies.  I understand he loves his daughter, but even in Bad Boys 2 the villain loved his daughter yet he was a ruthless killer who did not joke around.

Hey!  It's Deadshot!

Harley Quinn was not used nearly as much as you would think.  Her action scenes were limited and did not show the athleticism and skill we know she's capable of.  It felt as if Robbie was trying too hard to be Harley-esque with her little quips and jokes way too often.

Killer Croc, I felt, was the stereotypical black man from the ghetto.  From the way he spoke to the way he dressed and even walked, I actually felt a little uncomfortable about him. 

Jai Courtney is usually emotionless and bland, but he did a great job in this film as Boomerang.  I'll let you be the judge of the role Slipknot had in the film (I also can't wait to hear the backlash from him punching a woman in the movie).

By far, the two most interesting characters were the Enchantress and El Diablo.  While the Enchantress was dazzling and scary at the same time, Diablo was interesting as a man who saw his power as a curse after doing the wrong thing all his life.

Jared Leto gave a fair performance as the Joker.  I tip my hat to him.  Heath Ledger was better in my opinion, but he was also a different Joker.  Leto's Joker was similar in some ways, more outlandish in some ways, more dangerous and less threatening in some ways.  It will ultimately be a personal decision on your part as to who did better as the clown prince of crime.  For this current DC Universe, Leto's Joker works well and I cannot wait to see him clash with Batman.

Which do you like better?

The standout in this movie, however, is Amanda Waller!  I won't say much about her as I believe you should experience her for yourself, but Viola Davis did a REMARKABLE job!  She was calm, collected, vicious, cold and calculating.  I look forward to seeing her character in future movies.

One thing I must give this movie much credit for is the introduction and use of heavy "magic" and supernatural activity in a superhero world that is meant to be as close to reality as possible.  It was a good move considering Marvel has Doctor Strange coming out soon.  

Unfortunately, the positives did not outweigh the negatives for me in here.

MY RATING:

2.5 out of 5 stars

Keep your eyes open for a special cameo that has not been publicized.  It was good enough to make me hope there was going to be more later on in the movie. 

"We promise we're better on DVD"

Thank you for reading and making this the success it is!  If there are any movies you'd like to see reviewed, feel free to email me at jayreviewsfilms@gmail.com.  

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