Well, I just got back from seeing it. I liked parts of it, but on the whole I think it was pretty mediocre. One of the main reasons is that there is a kind of disconnect in the brain when you see something that doesn't know what it quite wants to be. Is it trying to be really dark? Is it trying to be comedic? Is it trying to build up relationships and characters you care about, or is it more about quirky action? And most importantly, does it want to be a balls out, over the top Deadpool type movie, or does it want to be a bland, crowd pleasing movie with no real stakes or surprises? It takes skill to merge different approaches in a film, and while Ayer handled suspense, action, drama, and humor pretty well in Fury, that didn't happen very well in this movie IMO. And I think the issues were too widespread to fall totally on the shoulders of the editors and producers. The unwarranted sentimentality in particular seemed extremely out of place. I think the Red Letter Media guys spoke to this, but the characters didn't really seem like bad guys at all. They would do something that made them seem like a sociopath, but it seemed like that was an exception to the "real" person they were, which was good deep down. And that undercuts the whole premise of the movie. When they heard that Diablo's kids got killed, they essentially all started tearing up. And Harley gave a lame, "we're never going to be able to be normal, so we should just be emo instead!" type speech which made me like her much less. This approach makes sense if you want to appeal to the broadest audience possible, but also makes the movie less interesting and fulfilling.
Katana was freaking pointless. Which sucks. No Outsiders movie in her future
The one scene that really highlighted some of the narrative problems was when they all went to the bar, because they got disenchanted with the whole thing after finding out. . .what? Something they couldn't have figured out just observing what was going on around them? And Katana just seemed disgusted with Flagg and went with the others for no reason whatsoever. There were little bits throughout that narratively didn't make a lot of sense, like with Batman V Superman. I can accept that here or there, as we have to in most movies. And I can overlook a lot if the movie has other, strong qualities. But there seemed to be too much of it here without a tradeoff elsewhere justifying it, and so it became a bit distracting.
I thought Deadshot was the best thing about the movie. No, he's not the comic version. Yes, he's just Will Smith being Will Smith. But I thought it worked. He was also a bit cheesy and melodramatic, but somehow. . .a more justifiable kind of cheesy. A Will Smith kind of cheesy, honed by years of being the Fresh Prince and dealing with "very special episodes" such as that time he dealt with his deadbeat dad paid off. I want to see more of him in these movies, so I hope WB can afford him. I liked bits of Captain Boomerang, except when he just looked kind of melancholy, hanging out in the background, totally in opposition to what his character appeared to be in his opening scene, when he told Slipknot they should escape, when he bolted (for about 2 seconds) after Flagg busted the head explosion device, etc.
Villains weren't great. Like I believe Khev posted earlier, would have been better to give them a less over the top threat to face. But it could have been worse. This is standard with comic book movies, so I give it a pass for trying to be conventional there.
One thing I disagree with many about though, was Joker. I thought he was pretty good! Also a bit too sentimental and cheesy for my tastes, with his true love of Harley instead of just using her when it suits him. The Animated Series did a much much better job handling their relationship. But given the apparent deleted scenes, this may not have always been the case. I liked the bits and pieces we saw of him, though. I was actually expecting to see a lot less of him than we did, given all the comments. He seemed to keep hanging around and popping up here and there. Even if he wasn't particularly important to the overall story, he gave it some texture.
Vat of acid seemed an obvious nod to how Joker was created in other media. Ace Chemicals was on the side. Dug the Ostrander easter egg, as well.
So, all in all, mediocre movie. They didn't have the balls to go all out with what this could have been. And I get it, but they missed a chance to have another Deadpool type hit by reigning it in I think. I suspect the big dropoff from Saturday is an omen of things to come, because audiences generally aren't going to get too excited about something that is as bland as this is in many ways. I would rank it higher than BvS, but only because I didn't care as much about any of the characters here going in. And possibly because I've become primed to expect disappointment with the Snyderverse movies. I would like to see a more fleshed out "director's cut" if such a thing were to exist. But otherwise I doubt I'll see it again.
I need more of that and less Honka honka beef.
