There are evident tensions in Suicide Squad - particularly the rating/audience being targeted, lack of consistent tone, comic-strip stylings jostling with blockbuster tropes, and the path to the theatrically-released version - which give rise to mixed results overall. Whilst not as damaged as last year's Fantastic 4, this compromised alleged cut-and-shut product of Ayer's vision and a hasty studio cut gives rise to uneven use of narrative, pacing and deployment of characters. Marvel's Avengers movies had the clear benefit of A-List superheroes and solo films to lay the groundwork and introductions; Suicide Squad is saddled with having to (languorously) introduce the characters (which are mostly at best DC's B- and C-list) and not develop them much thereafter. Nevertheless, the movie has a cracking cast - Hernandez, Smith and the ever-wonderful Robbie are stand-outs - who do their best even when the material remains thin, Delevingne's villain is played well but is unformed and underdeveloped, and for all the reported character work Jared Leto invested in his incarnation of Joker, his take is very interesting but little seen in this movie (like the briefly-used Batfleck, perhaps being saved for the Dark Knight's next outing?). To cap it all, this is another movie set in gloomy rain-filled night: this movie shows some good character work but mostly lacks the fizzing dialogue, brightness and zip that it deserved.
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