‘Suicide Squad’ Review Roundup: New DC Tentpole Fails To Impress Critics

Suicide Squad, the David Ayer-directed DC Comics summer blockbuster, is hitting theaters this weekend to tepid reviews from film’s top critics

Unlike most of the comic book flicks hitting the theaters in recent years, Suicide Squad isn’t centered around superheroes. Instead, it zeroes in on the villains of the DC Universe – The Joker (Jared Leto), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith) Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and others. They’re released from imprisonment to aid the government in taking on a threat to the world, in the form of Enchantress (Cara Delevingne) – scientist June Moon possessed by a dark witch.

Suicide Squad Reviews

Though Suicide Squad‘s trailer seemed to promise a darkly fun film, reviews claim that the movie is short on humor and, like DC Comics’ other recent pictures, heavy on the dark. There are also too many characters and too much time spent giving them all mini origin stories within the movie, bogging it down and taking away from the story’s overall arc. Those less inclined to pan the picture believe that the heavy focus on character bumps Suicide Squad above the likes of Man of Steel and the more recent Batman vs. Superman.

“All of Suicide Squad is TMI, a bunch of character stuff and plot stuff chopped and diced and tossed up on the screen with no regard for plot or logic or mood, as if we’re just not supposed to care about those things anymore. The script is loaded with jokes and devoid of wit; the movie’s overall tone is snickering and dour. The setting is your standard gloomy, grimy, grayed-out post-apocalyptic city, the same one we’ve seen hundreds of times before in hundreds of other movies.” – Stephanie Zacharek, TIME Magazine

“Whereas “Batman v Superman” managed to raise certain pseudo-provocative questions about how real people might react to being protected by vigilante “meta-humans,” “Suicide Squad” deals with a 100% unreasonable solution to future threats. Like “Deadpool” earlier this year, it’s entertaining insofar as it allows the characters to crack wise and act out, though they can only go so far within the confines of MPAA guidelines and the rigid DC mythology. On paper, this could have been the antidote to an increasingly codified strain of comic-book movies, but in the end, it’s just another high-attitude version of the same.” – Peter Debruge, Variety

“The fantastic felons of Suicide Squad have got soul and they’re superbad. There’s both undeniable sincerity and an over-the-top punk rock vibe to writer/director David Ayer’s completely bonkers ode to supervillains (***½ out of four; rated PG-13; in theaters nationwide Friday) tapped to contribute to the greater good. […] Like The Dirty Dozen for the Hot Topic generation, the team gets in-your-face introductions and things just grow more mental from there. But compared to its ilk, Suicide Squad is an excellently quirky, proudly raised middle finger to the staid superhero-movie establishment.” – Brian Truitt, USA Today

“Admitted, even with its flaws, at least “Suicide Squad” is trying to give diehard fans the kind of comic-book movie they’ve been waiting for this summer – bizarre characters, great costumes, fistfights and firepower and the usual leave-a-city-in-ruins ending. For DC – and its restive fans – it’s a move in the right direction. But, sorry, as far as movies about superhero supergroups go? The Guardians, and the Avengers, still have these jokers beat.” – Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger