– By Cate Marquis –
Margot Robbie steals show in comic book villians team-up SUICIDE SQUAD
“Suicide Squad,” the latest comic book movie to hit summertime movie screens, features a team of lesser-known villains. The villains form a kind of “Dirty Dozen” team, released from prison to fight other bad guys, under the steely control of U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). The bad guys are promised shortened sentences if they succeed, but death if they fail.
In the film, the team is an array of minor adversaries who have faced off against various comic book heroes, some with superpowers and some just super-skilled – the Joker’s girlfriend Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), sure-shot assassin Deadshot (Will Smith), fire-shooting Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Aussie bank robber/boomerang expert Boomerang (Jai Courtney), water-dwelling half man/half crocodile Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), knot-expert Slipknot (Adam Beach) and an ancient goddess called Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) who has taken over the body of an unlucky archaeologist. For their first mission, the villains are under the supervision of military commander Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and his assistant, Samurai-sword wielding Katana (Karen Fukuhara).
Okay, some of those powers are less than impressive, but that is part of the comic’s appeal. The film is based on a 1980s comic book series written by husband and wife team John Ostrander and the late Kim Yale, at a time when women were a rare presence in the world of comics. The Suicide Squad comics used little-known oddball villains to create an unusual series that often had a feminist bent or explored overlooked subjects that other comics of the era ignored.
Margot Robbie pretty much steals this movie with her high-energy, comic-crazy Harley Quinn. The film gets off to a slow start, with an overlong and plodding introduction of characters and a somber, low-energy mission for the first 20 minutes, with the same darker, somber tone as the recent “Batman VS Superman.” Things finally get going when the villains, ready to chuck it all when the battle sags and things look bleak, decide to head for a bar. Once it gets going, “Suicide Squad” does deliver some good action entertainment.
One thing that is consistently strong in this film is the overall look, which is terrific, with great costumes, dark city sets and impressive visual effects and action sequences. Although this concept has real comic potential, director David Ayer only occasionally dips into that well. Robbie’s Harley Quinn is the character who most reliably goes for that comic side. Jared Leto plays The Joker, and we get several scenes of their strange love story, scenes that are surprisingly romantic and affecting. There is another touch of romance in the film, between Flag and the woman whose body Enchantress is occupying, and sometimes takes over. Other characters have their human, vulnerable side as well, particularly Will Smith’s Deadshot in his bond with his young daughter. Although this is a team of supposed bad guys, they often seem much less evil than their government overseer Waller, who exhibits some chillingly cold-hearted behavior towards her own staff. Davis plays Waller with a cold, closed-down demeanor that makes her all the more frightening.
“Suicide Squad” is delivers an impressive, entertaining performance from Margot Robbie, aided by nice work by Will Smith and Jared Leto in particular, bracketed by some visually entertaining effects. There is sure to be a sequel, and hopefully the some more of the comic potential lurking in this concept while be put to use, as well as some of the unusual concepts in the comics.
© Cate Marquis
