Film Review : "Suicide Squad"

 Is the new Suicide Squad movie better than the first installment ? Well that is a pretty low bar.For all practical purposes it is a sequel . The only similarities it bears to Gunn’s other SuperHero films is much like the first Guardians When it comes to the characters the bulk of them were in the fringe so even comic book fans do not have a great deal invested inh how they show up on screen . More people knew who Howard the Duck was than knew who Groot was , now Groot is a household name. Harley, Captain Boomerang, and Flagg were the only hold over aside from Amanda Waller who they have positioned as the Nick Fury of DC. This is Margot’s 3rd outing as Harley Quinn, so she has the character on lock. Everyone else had plenty of wiggle room      

DC’s track record with anything non- Batman related is pretty dreadful. Sure the first ⅔ of “Wonder Woman” was pretty good, but the formula of throwing the rest of the effects budget at the end of the movie, shat all over it . This movie worked where “Aqua-man” failed in terms of blending the humor. They had come pretty close in the past thanks to Harley Quinn who has been DC’s attempt at Deadpool. 4th wall breaking anti- heroics heavy on the crazy  absurdity which finally works here as the rest of the script gives it something to contrast. There is also a balance with Rat Catcher, who does not compete with Harley to see who can bring the most girl power. It is just organic and works. 

King Shark, Peace Maker and Polka Dot man all excel at what they bring to the characters though at times it feels Cena is having to try too hard , when with Polka Dot Man it is more organic. The style ,feel and direction of the movie all work well. Starro was oddly used and handled, I would have preferred to have seen them go up against the Legion of Doom , as there was no personal connection to the bad guy or reason for them to turn around and do something different. Why become heroes? That kind of went against who they are as characters and they should not have felt the need to save the world without a personal investment. Kind of a crucial part of who they are. So this was fun yet, flawed in some vert fundamental ways though given the track record these movies have had it was an improvement for sure, the bar just could not have been any lower.

Film Review : "Birds of Prey"

"Birds of Prey" opened and it was crickets on Facebook. There were no updates about how great it was . Just awkward silence even with the 80 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating paid for by Warner Brothers, a great many people are not surprised this movie bombed. The studios obviously not being counted among them as they think high lighting Harley in the title will help. Maybe a focus group told them this. This is a shock to Warner Bros as I am sure they thought anything connected to Bat-man is bullet proof after Joker.  When I walked out of  the theater after seeing "Suicide Squad" I remember saying "Well that was for kids who go to Hot Topic" . This movie is not that cool. This movie is for little girl's feeling edgy at Claires. My ten year old daughter will like this movie. She has been Harley for two halloween breaking the streak last year with Wednesday Addams . My daughter also watches Youtube channels of kids making slime and doing silly dares. "Birds of Prey" has about that much depth. There are no surprises, they do not even attempt any. Margot Robbie has settled into the role. Too bad it will likely be her last as I do not see them lining up a sequel in this lifetime after the bomb it dropped/

Roise Perez has aged well. Her character felt forced in the story line there was little justification for her teaming up with them.  Black Canary even more forced and Huntress was not that great either. This is not the best argument for female super heroes. Black Canary could have pushed the sex appeal more. Lets face it the way they went with the character that is really all she would have had to offer,. It feels weird not having her around Green Arrow. For the minute she was in costume it worked for me. Huntress however was horrible and too much of a tom boy. That is not how the character should roll. This is a shame as I am a fan of female super heroes,these characters have been pretty hot in the comics. Why could Huntress no be hot and tough.? Speaking of tough the fight scenes were terrible. Why must every female character do a flying head scissors . In a real fight that is the last thing they would want to attempt. , 

Mcgregor was entertaining in his role though lost more menace as the movie progress,. The end was anti climatic and all of which you could seen coming from a mile away. This would have been better if they had nto tried to sell this to kids and gone with a rate R version, but you get what you get. Unless it is hyper realistic it looks like D/C movies will continue to be duds, it held itself together better in the end than say "Shazam" and looked better than Aquaman, but those a very low bars.  It made as much as "Jonah Hex' and I would have to say I liked "Jonah Hex" er.

Film Review : Suicide Squad

Fandom has become like living in a dysfunctional family. In families marred by alcoholism and abuse, the rule is to keep quiet, live with the secret while putting out a united front to the rest of the world. In fandom this done out of a mutual love for comics, movies , gaming or whatever makes you feel part of a bigger trend you see at Dragon-con, Comic-con or where ever you go to cosplay. This culture has created the market for Suicide Squad. It puts people up in arms at Rotten Tomatoes, because people whose job it is to review films dared give Suicide Squad a bad review. I would like to know who you could expect these people who review movies to give a movie that all of a sudden skips the third act and turns into Ghost-Busters a good review. So Suicide Squad is going to be the elephant in the room, that everyone will want to save face and say they liked it. Perhaps they would like it if they are 15 , don't read comics and get most of their entertainment from playing video games because that is clearly the target audience. If you played Grand Theft Auto as Dead Shot and crashed it into Call of  Duty on zombie mode, you would have the plot of this movie.

My wife and I were disputing if Suicide Squad was as bad as Super-man vs Bat-man as we were leaving the theater. We agreed that what Suicide Squad had going for it was the fact that it did not take it self as seriously as Bat-Man vs Super-man. Everyone in our group of six leaving the theater seemed to be in agreement on the fact that Marvel continues to kick D/C's ass when it comes to comic book movies and this film doesn't change that fact. I expected a similar tone to that of Deadpool. I would not let my 6 year old daughter see Deadpool, but I would have no problem with her watching this movie, aside from the fact I would have to sit through it again.

So why is geek culture so afraid to call this movie out for what it is ? Harley Quinn, would be the answer you are looking for. Harley is a beloved character who is a fun loving bad girl no one wants to slut shame. So the character is up on a similar pedestal as Deadpool, who is the Marvel male version of this obnoxious outcast archetype. This is the first time we have seen Harley on the big screen. Margot Robbie's costuming for the role had girls dressing up as her portrayal of  Quinn almost a year before the film's release. In the end she injected personality in her version of Quinn, but her accent reminded me more of Fran Drescher. I could have done without half the dialogue from her. It seemed the focus was more on the swish she had in her hot pants, however this character's sex appeal worked best as a tease, because she had zero chemistry with Leto's Joker.

Leto's Joker was better than Bat-Man Versus Super-man's Lex Luthor, who ruined that movie. In fact I was find with Leto's Joker unless he was interacting with Quinn , as everything became stiff and forced when those two were on-screen aside from the montage that gave a wink to the famous Alex Ross cover. I know people were upset of the dynamics of their relationship, I am not sure how you can believe he was anything more than her pimp in this movie.

Killer Croc was the worst character of the movie and with Will Smith's Dead Shot and Captain Boomerang being the best. I was pretty indifferent to everyone else and really did not care if they lived or died. Bat-man's appearance worked best when he chased down the Joker and took out Quinn with one punch. The best part of the movie aside from some of the little intro stories than brough the characters in was the trailer for Wonder-Wo-man. Lets break the silence here, I love Dr. Strange but if that movie sucks I won't be afraid to tell you to save your money, it's ok to speak out when Hollywood does us wrong if we don't it will keep happening.