It’s a genre that has been tested and met with success in the past that of banding villains together to fight a bigger villain. Hollywood has dished out ‘The Dirty Dozen’ and closer home we have had the timeless classic ‘Sholay’. Now the film under review ‘Suicide Squad’ has been bashed left, right and center in its hometown by critics but one can safely say that it ain’t as bad as that saved by its formidable star power and humor.
The emergence of an inhuman entity the Enchantress who plans to take over the world forces the US government (No…not again!) to come up with a covert operation headed by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) where some badass villains are banded together after being tempted with various promises to serve their interests on a suicide mission to fight the evil. We have Deadshot (Will Smith) an excellent marksman with any gun, the quirky Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) a boomerang expert, El Diablo (Jay Hernandez) who has the power to generate flames, Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) a reptilian cannibal and Katana (Karen Fukuhara) a terrific sword fighter. The rest of the screenplay is about whether these vibrant super villains can function as a team and defeat the evil or their own evilness will cause them to implode.
Not the state of the art CG, not the grand set pieces nor the terrific action that holds your attention but it is the excellent star cast who win you over. Will Smith has the uncanny ability to make all his heroes (even if they are superheroes, remember ‘Hancock) so human that you root for him the instant you see him. It is the same in this one and while he is terrific mouthing his punch lines he is also very convincing when he pines for his daughter. Next to Smith it is Margot Robbie who steals the show with her school girl like charm. She is quirky, slick, dangerous, crazy and all that in a sexy way. The scene when she believes the Joker is dead and sits teary eyed on a car in the rain and then when the Squad members arrive quickly flashes a smile and greets them gets a thundering applause from the audience signaling that Robbie has arrived so far as here in India. Jay Hernandez as El Diablo is another actor who draws the attention with his acting. The rest are all evenly good with Viola Davis turning in a chilling performance as the ruthless head of operations. Jared Leto brings in his own to the Joker character that we have seen the great Jack Nicholson and the late Heath Ledger who won an Oscar for it. Fans get their chance to erupt when Batman (Ben Affleck) puts in his fleeting cameo.
The CG works, production design and other technical aspects are what we expect from a big buck flick like ‘Suicide Squad’. The action sequences are enjoyable to a certain extent but give a feeling of Déjà vu. David Ayer who has written the celebrated ‘Training Day’ has not brought the same kind of intensity to this film, which may have made it different from the usual fare dished out. It takes too much time to establish each character and they are still half baked except for Smith and Robbie. The make up of the Enchantress and the magnetic field that forms above her has been seen a number of times in many films and is boring. Similarly there are large loop holes in the script for example the army that the Enchantress creates are easily punched and kicked by the Squad and especially Harley Quinn handles them with a baseball bat then the military could have gunned them down by themselves. The pacing too is uneven and makes the viewing a tad tedious.
Verdict : Worth the money you pay just for watching Will Smith and Margot Robbie and a few laughs are bonuses.
