Suicide Squad

Figuring that they are all expendable and therefore perfect for a suicide mission, United States intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) decides to assemble a team of dangerous incarcerated supervillains for a top-secret assignment. The team, including Deadshot (Will Smith) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), must learn to work together as they are armed with government weapons and given their instructions. Dubbed Task Force X, the criminals unite to battle a mysterious and powerful entity linked to one of their own. Meanwhile, the diabolical Joker (Jared Leto) launches an evil agenda of his own – to find and reclaim the woman he loves, no matter what the cost. It is somewhat well established that DC does villains a lot better than it does heroes, and so Suicide Squad proves to be a lot better that some of its more conventional heroic fare. It dares to be fun, and it certainly feels comic book-like in its visual stylings. Of course, placing a number of quality actors at its forefront help it out a lot. Will Smith, odd as it is to say on his run of form, is quite good – he quips and even brings a little bit of heart to proceedings. He and Robbie completely steal the show, with interludes from Davis’ terrifying Waller and Leto’s unhinged Joker. Suicide Squad is not without flaws, but it is perfectly good fun (and certainly a welcome contrast to the pervasive dourness in DC films) and an enjoyable watch.

Reece Goodall