Suicide Squad Official Trailer

[coopasonic]

I do like dumb action films. Smart action films are too full of themselves.

Dumb dramas... hmmm... probably not.

Dumb thrillers... I think that's a paradox.

Dumb documentaries... well, I don't think I've ever actually seen a Michael Moore film.

[hepcat]

I wouldn't call Moore a documentary maker, personally.

[Blackhawk]

But the film has major problems that I can't get past. The character growth is non-existent, even though the script relies on it.

The thing is, most of the points you brought up actually make sense, but only if you know the characters as they have been developed over the last X decades. Just like BvS, though, none of that was communicated to the audience just within the context of the film, and it left fans without a background in the material confused.

Spoiler:

Harley would do anything for her Mr.J, but a little bit of the Dr. Quinzel is still in there, giving her just a spot of compassion.

Digger Harkness (Captain Boomerang) is one of the Rogues (a group of Flash's enemies) that are criminals, but not 'villains' as such. They limit collateral damage, they avoid killing when possible, and sort of embody the 'honor amongst thieves' cliche.

El Diablo still didn't make sense with the 'family' bit, which felt awkward to me, too. There isn't really much background there, though, as he has never been a heavily used character.

But again, none of that was given to the audience, and the only people it made sense to were the fans with a lot of background.

[Blackhawk]

Caddyshack and Groundhog Day are pure misery.

Sorry, but you are alone in the room you just put yourself in.

Why do you hate fun?

Because too much fun makes other people come into the Alone Room!

[hepcat]

[Kraken]

Well, regardless of how muddled it is, you're definitely getting a sequel:
‘Suicide Squad’ Heads For Record-Breaking $145 Million Plus Opening Weekend.

This blows way past the $94 million August record set by Guardians of the Galaxy. Doesn't seem fair, really.

My fear is that they'll view the box office as a sign that they should go back to their original methods.

Caddyshack and Groundhog Day are pure misery.

Sorry, but you are alone in the room you just put yourself in.

Why do you hate fun?

I'm with him halfway. Groundhog Day ranks up there with The Jerk as one of the best romcoms ever, if your manhood can withstand liking romcoms. Caddyshack is too over-the-top silly for me, though.

[TheMix]

Caddyshack gets a pass because of history. When I was growing up it was re-shown every year. But because of my age I had to snatch glimpses. Animal House was the other one from that time period. I'm not sure what I'd think of them now.... I've grown beyond that kind of stupidity/comedy. But because of my history with them they are considered "classics". Which excuses a lot.

[gameoverman]

I think some stuff was communicated to the audience clearly enough. Regarding the El Diablo character and Harley

Spoiler:

he told the others about his family, they know the worst of what he's done. Yet they still accepted and valued him. He wasn't on the outs, he was with like minded people. That's as close to family as a guy like him can get. Harley clearly bonded with most of them, they did not betray her when she escaped. How are they not her friends by the end?

[hepcat]

I think some of you folks need to go back and re watch Caddyshack, Animal House and other comedies from that day. They were far from "dumb". Dumb is any "comedy" from Seltzer and Friedberg (Meet the Spartans, Scary Movie, etc.). Harold Ramis and John Landis were/are an evolutionary leap above that crap.

p.s. I should probably stop derailing this thread now.

[TheMix]

I think some of you folks need to go back and re watch Caddyshack, Animal House and other comedies from that day. They were far from "dumb". Dumb is any "comedy" from Seltzer and Friedberg (Meet the Spartans, Scary Movie, etc.). Harold Ramis and John Landis were/are an evolutionary leap above that crap.

I agree. I also include Stripes in my "Holy Trinity". I just checked IMDB to make sure I wasn't misguided. IMDB says 1978, 1980 and 1981. Close enough. I consider all three of those to be "must see".

[Blackhawk]

Nah, they're not dumb. They just had a certain style to them that I found utterly obnoxious. The characters bothered me enough that I never had fun with them doing funny things. I liked Ghostbusters, The Three Amigos, and some of the National Lampoon's Vaction movies. Other than that, almost any SNL group comedy of that era left me cold. This includes Stripes and the Blues Brothers, too.

[gameoverman]

A lot of those era of comedies work best if you are/were high on something when you first saw them. That was a time when I was drinking and smoking pot, so those movies were right up my alley. Also, you did need to be into the SNL vibe since they were influenced by that so much,.

I can't, for instance, imagine showing someone Animal House for the first time now and having them think it's the classic I think it is. They might think it's funny but otherwise nothing of note.

[Holman]

I think Bill Murray is in a category all his own. Stripes is a weak movie except when Bill Murray is talking, when it's great.

We watched Tootsie not too long ago. Murray has a small part as Dustin Hoffman's roommate, but he still manages to steal every scene he's in.

[msteelers]

But again, none of that was given to the audience, and the only people it made sense to were the fans with a lot of background.

Maybe that's a bigger problem I have with the DCEU. Marvel spent 5 movies laying the groundwork for The Avengers, but DC is trying to have it all without putting in the work.

[rshetts2]

I think some of you folks need to go back and re watch Caddyshack, Animal House and other comedies from that day. They were far from "dumb". Dumb is any "comedy" from Seltzer and Friedberg (Meet the Spartans, Scary Movie, etc.). Harold Ramis and John Landis were/are an evolutionary leap above that crap.

I agree. I also include Stripes in my "Holy Trinity". I just checked IMDB to make sure I wasn't misguided. IMDB says 1978, 1980 and 1981. Close enough. I consider all three of those to be "must see".

Honestly they just dont make many good comedies anymore. I mean compare Young Frankenstein to Scary Movie. Or Blazing Saddles to A Million Ways to Die in the West. Its just not fair.

[morlac]

Well, regardless of how muddled it is, you're definitely getting a sequel:
‘Suicide Squad’ Heads For Record-Breaking $145 Million Plus Opening Weekend.

This blows way past the $94 million August record set by Guardians of the Galaxy. Doesn't seem fair, really.

It will probably get a sequel but they still need to make roughly 600 million just to break even. I'm not sure they will make it.

[El Guapo]

But again, none of that was given to the audience, and the only people it made sense to were the fans with a lot of background.

Maybe that's a bigger problem I have with the DCEU. Marvel spent 5 movies laying the groundwork for The Avengers, but DC is trying to have it all without putting in the work.

I wonder if they felt like they didn't have as much time, because Marvel spent the last 5+ years saturating the market with superhero movies.

Though regardless, it seems reasonably clear that the DC studio heads don't know what they're doing (though maybe that will now change with the new head honcho).

[gilraen]

I wonder if they felt like they didn't have as much time, because Marvel spent the last 5+ years saturating the market with superhero movies.

Though regardless, it seems reasonably clear that the DC studio heads don't know what they're doing (though maybe that will now change with the new head honcho).

Both points are probably related: if DC were the first ones to come out with superhero movies, they would be judged on a different scale. Now Marvel has done such an awesome job, DC studio not only has to measure up, but they also have to catch up...all the while being compared to Marvel.

Again, I liked the movie well enough (maybe even more so because my ticket was free ) It was fun to watch and it made enough sense, even without any prior background knowledge, where I didn't feel like I was lost in the plot.

[gameoverman]

Even if a movie doesn't have legs and doesn't break even it might get a sequel. A huge opening shows there is a high level of audience awareness and interest in the material. This could lead to a feeling like "If we can make that much with a problematic movie, imagine what a good sequel will make".

[Isgrimnur]

Lawsuit?

Reddit user BlackPanther2016 has threatened to begin legal action against Warner Bros and DC Comics later this week, claiming that teasing Joker scenes in trailers that did not make the final film amounts to “unjust false advertising”.

The disgruntled superhero fan argued in a post on Movies subreddit that he should receive a refund after driving 300 miles to London to watch “specific scenes explicitly advertised in TV ads” only to leave feeling ripped off. He says he will file a lawsuit on 11 August, with his “lawyer” brother leading the case.
...
“Suicide Squad trailers showcased several specific Joker scenes that I had to pay for the whole movie just so that I can go watch those specific scenes that Warner Bros/DC Comics had advertised in their trailers and TV spots. ... None of these scenes were in the movie.

“I drove 300 miles to London to go watch these specific scenes they had explicitly advertised in their TV ads…and they didn't show them to me. Adding to this, they were also two specific Katana scenes they advertised that were also the reason I wanted to go watch the movie. ... These scenes were advertised several times in the first trailer and many TV ads but they didn’t show it to me in the movie. I wasted a lot of money paying and travelling to go watch this movie because of these specific scenes they had advertised to me and all of us saying, ‘Hey, check out our preview! This will all be in our movie, come watch it on the 5th!’ All lies.

“I told the theatre about this unjust act and said ‘I didn’t get what I came here to see, can I have my money back?’ They laughed at me and kicked me out. So I’m now taking this to court. I want my refund, the trauma of being embarrassed as I was being kicked out and people laughing at me for wanting my refund, and also the £160 of fuel money I used to drive to London from Scotland.

[El Guapo]

Ohhhh shoot, he's got a lawyer brother. IT'S ON.

[Isgrimnur]

EX PARTE!

[El Guapo]

Also, while I hesitate to doubt the power of his lawyer brother, I feel like I have heard that Scotland also has movie theatres.

[Isgrimnur]

reddit OP

Edit: For those of you who seem to be baffled by me driving to London to watch a movie, let just remind you - Suicide Squad premiered in London. I also didn't get this ticket by winning some radio competition or through some charity. Top dollar was spent on this.

[Isgrimnur]

And if there was EVER a doubt as to how awesome some of our members are...

[Blackhawk]

I can't wait to see the filing.

[El Guapo]

I can't wait to see the filing.

I think it's more likely than not that nothing ever gets filed.

[cheeba]

Just got back. It wasn't bad at all. I'd give it like a B or B-. Margot Robbie was awesome and I really wish they had first done a Batman vs. Joker + Harley movie before Suicide Squad. There was way too much Will Smith. As others have said, it was obvious that a lot of content was removed. The soundtrack was very good. A lot of potential wasted, but it was still worth the $9.

[hepcat]

I saw it last night. I...was not impressed.

The characters:

Deadshot - Smith did better than I expected. I even ended up liking him. He kept the jokey stuff to a minimum. Something that I felt was necessary for the character.

Harley - Robbie nailed it. But I think we already knew she'd be the break out star.

Joker - Hated Leto's attempt to cross breed The Joker with a James Cagney impersonation. While Ledger's Joker wasn't what I envisioned initially, I appreciated Nolan's creation of a nihilist version of the character. That Joker had depth. Leto's Joker I wanted gone after 4 minutes.

Diablo - I ended up liking him too after initially finding him a little flat. However, I think they cut out some of his story as his big scene towards the end came out of nowhere. I think the comic version explains it, but the film made zero attempt. But it could have been the victim of massive cuts, as others have mentioned.

Croc - He was okay.

Katana - They could have replaced her with a mannequin at the 30 minute mark and I probably wouldn't have noticed until the credits ran and I saw "Special guest star - a CPR dummy as Katana".

Flag - I always like Joel Kinnaman. But his character really wasn't fleshed out at all. Of course, most of the other characters weren't either. So I won't hold that against the film.

Enchantress - I actually wish they had replaced Cara Delevingne with a CPR dummy. Then I might have enjoyed her performance more.

The plot:

Spoiler:

The whole Enchantress as the villain plot should have been ditched. It was just flat and lifeless. It may have worked if they had dumped the brother character (he just came across as an excuse to use CGI) and hired an actress who could actually...well..act. But even then, I still would've felt that that whole thing was disconnected from the story for 90 percent of the run time.

I felt the whole "we're a family!" end scene was contrived, and it destroyed every previous attempt at establishing these characters as villains. My eye sockets weren't big enough for the rolling that went on when that popped up in the final scenes.

I don't know why, but I actually liked Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang. I shouldn't have, but I did. Even though he had nothing to do except fly a remote drone with a camera for 6 seconds, and drink a beer. Also, explain the damn unicorn if you're going to focus on it more than once.

That mid credit scene was so blatantly ripped off from Marvel that I had to laugh. For god's sake, are the folks behind DC live action films that creatively bankrupt that they have to just take stuff whole cloth from other films?

It was, at best, a mediocre film. But I would place it just a few notches above the Fantastic Four reboot from a short while back.

[Blackhawk]

Enchantress - I actually wish they had replaced Cara Delevingne with a CPR dummy. Then I might have enjoyed her performance more.

There was a scene where she was supposed to be channeling a spell of some sort of in the background, surrounded by black smoke and so forth. She just stood there and... twitched, staring at the camera. It looked like she was trying out for Amateur Night at a strip club.

[hepcat]

During that whole scene she was like some bizarre version of a belly dancer. I think she was trying for enigmatic and alien, but what we got was stroke victim.

[coopasonic]

I can't counter any of your points, they just didn't bother me as much. I liked Harley, Diablo, Deadshot and Boomerang in approximately that order. I liked Joker too but he doesn't count as he was basically a cameo. The rest were meh, but Harley really made it and I am not just speaking lasciviously here.

Thinking back on it, yeah the whole villain thing was crap. It was just an excuse to have this group interact, but I enjoyed that interaction.

[El Guapo]

During that whole scene she was like some bizarre version of a belly dancer. I think she was trying for enigmatic and alien, but what we got was stroke victim.

Hey, presumably enigmatic aliens have strokes too.

[Isgrimnur]

Someone should replace The Enchantress with Edgar from Men in Black.

[hepcat]

I can't counter any of your points, they just didn't bother me as much.

I think they were on the right path at the start. They just left that path too quickly and then never found their way back. I enjoyed the character interactions, for the most part. It felt like they tried to take their cue from the far superior Assault on Arkham in that regard. But that ending...oof. I wasn't expecting (nor wanted) a feel good movie in a tale about psychotic killers, hitmen and thieves.

[TheMix]

I see your point. And mostly agree.

I'm completely on-board with the lack of a "story" for the "villain(s)". It actually reminded me more of the first Star Trek reboot film. The "story" is really the main characters and their interactions. The bad guys feel like a side story. For big portions of this film I essentially forgot there even was a villain.

I think I'll spoiler just in case. I'm trying to avoid specifics, but some are difficult to completely avoid.

Spoiler:

I also think "family" was a bit strong. But that they formed a bond was mostly believable. Based on them being in the same boat. Except Boomerang. They made it clear that he didn't play well with partners. I guess that self-preservation trumps habits. Up until the final scene he made sense. Once the threat was removed to his self-preservation, his subsequent actions were completely counter to the character that they had built up. There needed to be something else to make it believable. As for the others:
- Harley is crazy, so her actions were never really a "surprise".
- They showed that Deadshot has a conscience. He isn't a sociopath. So I had no problem buying his bonding with the others.
- Croc could have gone either way. But the character they built (since I never read the comics) wasn't so much a "monster" by personality as a response to how people reacted to him. So I bought that he would bond with people that accepted him for who he is.
- Diablo was a gang banger that was apparently (hinted at) corrupted by his powers. But he clearly has strong family and, presumably, loyalty. Again, to me this was an acceptance thing.

I do agree that there could have been a bit more effort spent bringing them together.

I don't really have strong feelings about Katana, other than that she added nothing to the film. At all. A throwaway character that was almost completely undeveloped.

[Blackhawk]

Boomerang's background, from the comics, may give some insight.

Spoiler:

Digger Harkness was from a severely neglectful family that lived out in the middle of nowhere in a shack in Australia. As I recall, his mother conceived him either from a previous marriage or adultery, and his male-parent-figure took it out on him.

He was presented as a severely damaged abuse victim who doesn't work with others because he doesn't trust others, and only knows how to deal with people through anger and alcohol. But because of his lack of real family, he was always desperately yearning to belong, so when someone earned his loyalty, he tried very, very hard to impress them and was loyal. He was this way with Captain Cold and the Rogues.

[TheMix]

Thanks! That does clarify things. Now it makes more sense. Also, there might be a cut scene that shows what he did during that short off-screen break. Which also would go a long way towards making things fit better.

[Zarathud]

Just finished watching. I agree, a Joker + Harley v. Batflek movie would have been a great building block. Missed opportunity in DC's rush to catch up to and outdo Marvel.

The Joker is different by being manipulative insane--not jokey or nihilistic. Mr. J is on another mental plane of existence, playing with others as his toys. He manipulates others into his delusions, which is why Harley is so special. Harley was amazing, and their interactions together are frightening. More than Lex, this Joker is a villain who could drive Batman to the brink. The Joker scenes were cut heavily to avoid it becoming Harley's story -- but I would have enjoyed that.

The story failed where it tried too hard to show the bad guys' separate internal motivations. Harley shaming them could have worked to bring them together. Or it could have relied on a few common elements of what the bad guys wanted (love, redemption, respect). Family was stretching.

Spoiler:

Will Smith played the role they wanted, and the director/writer/studio leaned too heavily on his acting/persona to fix the plot holes. There was no need for the whole "I figured it out by finding your book, now level with me" scene. Deadshot wasn't stupid enough to need the Cliffs Notes.

Where Suicide Squad suffered most seemed to be over ambition and lack of focus, which seems to be the DC hallmark. Too many transitions were cut for time. It's definitely going to be better as an extended edition Blu-Ray, but it's still enjoyable. The hot mess at the end was almost inevitable.

[YellowKing]

I still think they should do a Nightwing movie. Would give them a chance to explore some lesser-known Gotham villains, maybe even Batgirl, without being tied to a full-blown Batman film. And it would give them a chance to erase the terrible incarnations of Batgirl and Robin that Joel Schumacher vomited up.