Re: DC's "Suicide Squad" (August 5th, 2016)
SlashFilm
But the characters are lovable, the world they live in is intriguingly weird, and all in all Suicide Squad offers a playful alternative to DC’s more straightforward superhero films. Can Suicide Squad singlehandedly save the DC cinematic universe? No, probably not. But it’s an encouraging reminder that yes, DC knows how to have a good time.
The Hollywood Reporter
Unfortunately, the result resembles a sports dream team whose combined efforts don’t nearly measure up to the talents of its individual players.
Telegraph
When you compare Suicide Squad to what James Gunn and Marvel Studios achieved in Guardians of the Galaxy – low-profile property, oddball characters, make-it-fun brief – the film makes you cringe so hard your teeth come loose. But it’s a slog even on its own crushingly puerile terms.
TimeOut
The big fear about the punky, not-for-kids comic-book movie ‘Suicide Squad’ was that it might be too try-hard: Hollywood awkwardly slumming it with the alt crowd. But this loony wise-cracking DC Comics story, directed with anti-glossy grit by David Ayer (‘End of Watch’, ‘Fury’), plays like a twisted B-side to some of the slicker movies in the comics world.
Empire
So it’s only sensible they’re finally placed front, centre and in the firing line. Filling its entire super-team with previously unseen antagonists, Suicide Squad represents a Flash-speed sprint of a catch-up for the rapidly forming DC Cinematic Universe. And, on that front at least, it’s a real hoot.
The Playlist
And while “Suicide Squad” isn’t as poorly stitched together as its nearly unintelligible forebear “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice,” it’s still a patchy, makeshift effort of mismatched tones, tacked on jokes and messy narrative. While a flippant sense of humor assists its entertainment factor, the second DCU film ain’t no “Deadpool” either.
HitFix
Whatever the case, when Suicide Squad gets it right, I like it a lot, and it gets it right often enough that I like a lot of it. It won’t deliver the decisive knockout blow that ends the DC/Marvel rivalry that the most impassioned fans seem to want, but nothing will. What it does is make a case for how much fun this universe can be when the characters are embraced fully and when a filmmaker seems excited by the opportunities afforded by those characters.
The Wrap (video review, with a small-ish text review)
After a week of avoiding overzealous fanboys on social media curious for my take on “Suicide Squad,” the embargo is finally lifted and I can now share my thoughts on the movie. And they’re mostly positive,
USA Today
There’s both undeniable sincerity and an over-the-top punk rock vibe to writer/director David Ayer’s completely bonkers ode to supervillains (***½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters nationwide Friday) tapped to contribute to the greater good. It helps flesh out the comic-book world of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, plus makes a bunch of obscure outsiders just as engaging and fun to watch as that well-known Dark Knight.
ScreenCrush
Director David Ayer tries to liven things up with a couple of flashy DC cameos and lots of iconic rock songs on the soundtrack. But that’s just the proverbial lipstick on the dead pig that Jared Leto sent to his co-stars to prove his Method bona fides as the Joker. This opening sequence has all the excitement of a mildly contentious HR meeting, and the movie gets no better from there. Bland, boring, and sometimes borderline incoherent, Suicide Squad is a disappointing disaster.
Village Voice
Luckily, that bit of poetic portent is among the very few sops to shared-universe franchise-building in this otherwise gleefully nihilistic movie. David Ayer's film may not always work, but when it does, it's a perverse delight.
CinemaBlend
It was hoped that Suicide Squad could be a major step forward for the DC Extended Universe, but it's not exactly that -- with the film frustratingly and consistently stepping on its own toes. It lacks the convolution problems of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but is also so simple that it doesn't carry any weight. It has a sense of humor and fun, bolstered by a bombastic and multi-textured soundtrack, but its action is also repetitive and disengaging (hurt by the villain's plot lacking clarity and specificity). And while Ayer's vision for these characters is exciting, you're still left wanting more out of the ensemble as a whole within the story being told. It's definitely an improvement over the last chapter of the DCEU, but we've still come to expect more from the comic book movie genre.
Chicago Sun-Times
Suicide Squad does have its moments of beautiful comic-book visuals.... Those are just tantalizing hints of a better movie that never materialized.
GameSpot (?!?)
Superhero movies typically focus on the "good guys" fighting some irredeemable and malevolent force--the kind that's easy to hate. Suicide Squad takes that narrative in a different direction. It's still an exciting roller coaster ride full of glitz and predictable set-piece moments, but this isn't the sort of comic book movie you're probably expecting. It's better.
(source Neogaf)
