Director: David Ayer
Distributor: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Duration: 122 (or 134) minutes
Suicide Squad Extended Cut (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
It’s been a while since we had anything to do with the members of the Suicide Squad. The last time we saw many of the villains that are found in this task force was in the animated DC movie ‘Assault on Arkham’, which proved to be a highly entertaining movie. This time, the members have altered looks and some have been replaced by other baddies, for the live-action flick, which lured both casual and hardcore fans to the theatres. Opinions were mixed, but overall people seemed to enjoy this new DC experience. We were wondering if we would feel the same, and thus we put on our best riot gear in case these villains would stick to their usual shenanigans.
The story of Suicide Squad is extremely simple, as it just trots along with the original formula of the task force that consists out of villains. Deadshot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) have no strategic value for our world while incarcerated, but if they would be deployed in dangerous zones to take care of possible threats, they would be the equivalent of a team of superheroes. Of course, getting government clearance and having them cooperate are two different things altogether and none seem to be in place. That being said, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has an ace up her sleeve, namely an ancient being, The Enchantress (Cara Delevinge), who is currently under her control, as she possessed the entity’s heart in a secure box. If this rather omnipotent creature doesn’t do as Amanda says, she simply has to poke the heart, in order to inflict great pain and make her obedient once again. After an impressive ‘show-and-tell’ in front of America’s finest generals, she gets clearance to start her team of misfits.
As expected, not everything goes as planned when the Enchantress breaks free, revives her equally as powerful brother, and decides to take over the world. This will be the first mission of the ‘Suicide Squad’, and to make the new members docile, they receive an explosive implant in their necks, which will explode when they try to escape. Nonetheless, it seems that things will not be going according to Waller’s plan.
As the movie does take its time to present you with a little backdrop for all of its characters, it’s safe to say that the rest of the movie doesn’t really move that fast either. The buildup is rather slow, but in many ways, this is not bad, if you like a certain amount of tension mixed with a hefty dose of crummy one-liners. It seems that the DC movies are all following this type of pattern, and it’s good to have something to hold on to, but those who are seeking a lot of action, all the time, might be left wanting a tad more. If you can look past a fairly calm beginning, the tempo of this movie is actually just right.
Most portions of the CGI scenes look rather good, realistic even, but there’s a select amount of scenes that just look so horribly done they spoil the mood for the minutes to come. The prison footage scene with Diablo is probably the prime example of this, as you can see the footage is fake as hell. Other small snippets, like poor lip-synching for the Enchantress, also feel as if the production team simply wanted to rush things, instead of perfecting them. Some moments, when she is speaking with her modified voice, it feels as you’re watching an eighties Jackie Chan movie. Then again, the Suicide Squad could have made Rumble in the Bronx that much more interesting.
It has to be said, while it’s strange to see Jared Leto portraying the Joker, he does a rather formidable job at that, albeit in his own original way. The other cast members do an equally outstanding job, but it’s probably Will Smith, as Deadshot, and Margot Robbie, as Harley Quinn who stand out the most. The duo carries the movie from start to finish, with a hefty amount of one-liners, gags, and of course impressive battle sequences. There isn’t really that much that goes wrong in this department, and this might actually be what makes the movie rather good.
This Blu-ray release of Suicide Squad Extended Cut has loads of special features. Of course, the extra disc with the longer uncut version of the movie is already a fun extra by itself, you’ll also get a small documentary of the sources of the villains, the dynamics between the Joker and Harley, overall concepts, how the cast had to shape up and so on. You’ll have a movie worth of content after you’ve plowed through the already considerably long movie.
Conclusion
Above all Suicide Squad proves to be mindless fun and the Extended Cut throws a lot of additional content on the table. If you’re a fan of the DC Universe and its inhabitants, you’ll surely enjoy this flick, if you can turn a blind eye to some script choices and alterations of certain characters. If you’re into an action-packed flick, albeit with a reasonably slow buildup, and you also like a lot of special features to come with a physical release, this one will probably give a few evenings’ worths of amusement.
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