The Suicide Squad (6/10)
Well this was a letdown.
I mean, maybe it's my own fault - people, including on this forum, were saying it's the best thing in the history of ever, but having read it...sorry guys, I'm not sold. Frankly, I don't think it's that much better than the first Suicide Squad, and if ranking the DCEU as a whole, it would probably take the #7 place.
Anyway, random thoughts:
-Rick Flag's character arc in this movie either makes no sense, or is short-served, depending on how you view things. This is a guy that Amanda Waller sends to die (if he's the leader of Task Force X, shouldn't he be with Bloodsport's team, not on the decoy assault?), but beyond that, he snaps when realizing what Project Starfish is. So, let me check...he's fine with all the shit Waller pulls in Suicide Squad (which includes shooting FBI agents, and causing the destruction of a city and multiple deaths of innocents), but when he's confronted with this, THAT'S what gets him to snap? I'm not saying his reaction is wrong in isolation, but Flag feels like a completely different character here. That, or we're missing a chunk of character development.
-Similarly, Bloodsport. Watching this, I have no idea why he isn't Deadshot. Even recasting Elba as Deadshot would have worked better. Because it's not just that both of them have daughter issues, it's that Bloodsport is established as knowing Flag before being recruited, as explained by a one-off line describing a mission to "Qurac." If he was Deadshot, and this built off the first film, this would work. Here, any hint of a prior history is simultaniously brushed aside, or undercut. Deadshot shooting Peacemaker to avenge Flag? Good writing. Bloodsport doing it? Not nearly as impactful, even if you factor in saving Cleo.
-That's generally a criticism that can apply to most characters in the film - they're either underdeveloped, or don't feel like their alternate selves. As another example, Amanda Waller is grossly incompetent, and yeah, sure, that's a running theme/gag in the film, that Task Force X/ARGUS is terrible at what it does (if you want, you can read that as political commentary, of US forces going in guns shooting, to the point that they even kill friendly rebels), but from the in-universe standpoint, well, the first film showed that Waller was over her head, here, she's terrible at what she does.
But even then, it's not just the US guys that are terrible at their jobs, the Colto Maltese aren't much better. The president is an idiot, and makes comments on Harley that make no sense (she's a symbol of anti-US sentiment, despite the fact that she worked for them in Midway City, and I'm skeptical that her time in Gotham would get overseas attention).
-Speaking of other characters, I don't get the affection for King Shark. He has some funny moments, sure, but he's invincible. He's pretty much the group's Hulk, able to stand numerous gunshots and still be standing. So when your character's invincible, it does take away some of the tension. Still, Ratcatcher 2 is a cutie, I guess.
-Speaking of the first film, this one relies on music tracks a lot, and to be frank, little of it is welcome. I don't know why the first film gets flak for that while the second one doesn't.
-I'll give the movie some credit - there's some funny lines, and the directorial style is nice, at times, such as when objects in-universe are used as subtitles, but on the other, the final fight at the end feels really off in how it's paced and edited.
So, yeah. The movie's okay, but that's really all it is - okay. It's an okay action movie. But I can't for the life of me understand its popularity. Looking at similar works, Gunn's GoTG films are better, and again, I don't think it's that much better than the first Suicide Squad movie, and if anything, its links to the first, however tenuous, work against it.
Edit: Oh, and Peter Capaldi playing a mad doctor who confronts an intergalactic space monster...gee, subtle.
