Suicide Squad Faces Its Own Death
Suicide Squad, one of the most hyped movies of the year, fails to meet high expectations.
September 22, 2016
Months, weeks, and then days approached one of the most highly anticipated moments in cinematic history. Suicide Squad. Right after watching the trailer, I knew this was a movie I couldn’t miss. After a lackluster Batman v Superman, I had really hoped Suicide Squad would be able to redeem the DC Extended Universe. DC, however, fell short of my expectations. As McKenna Ebert ’18 said, “I didn’t like it. It was terrible.”
The anticipation surrounding the movie’s release was mainly due to the movie’s prominent cast, which included actors like Will Smith, Margot Robbie and Viola Davis. Margot Robbie, who played Harley Quinn, stood out. She was able to incorporate everything Harley Quinn demanded — an insane, hilarious character who doesn’t understand why she’s so funny. Like all the characters in the film, Harley Quinn has a tragic backstory, which Robbie was able to incorporate in the present day character — a difficult task that Robbie nailed.
Suicide Squad is, at its core, a character-driven movie with traditional antagonists as the protagonists. Straying from the typical archetype and character roles, the screenwriters had the chance to develop the characters in a way that would otherwise be extremely difficult in a traditional superhero film. Though an attempt was made, the writers were not successful in that task. A few characters like Deadshot, played by Will Smith, were well developed, but other characters fell short. Matthew Maddalon ’17 said, “It seems that Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and Katana were sort of there, but they were never developed.” The best example of this lack of character development is seen in Slipknot, played by Adam Beach. As Emma Edmund ’18 said, “It’s a pity that Slipknot’s character wasn’t developed. What happened to him seemed less meaningful.” It was very clear that the writing was the weakest point in the film and “kind of wacked up,” as Jared Zukoski ‘19 said.
Suicide Squad failed to live up to its high expectations. It is a film that should have been amazing but instead faced a greater tragedy: its own death.
