The Sunday Mail
Tinashe Kusema The Big & Small Screen
The latest DC Comics and Warner Brothers blockbuster hit “Suicide Squad” is here. Will Smith turns back the hands of time and brought back shades of the “Fresh Prince” we all knew and loved in the ‘90s; while Viola Davis and Margot Robbie really shine and give a new meaning to the phrase “strongwomen”. The terrible CGI did little to ruin the film’s simple premise, and the action sequences are not bad at all. The film has done well financially, raking in over US$300 million in its opening week.
Despite all this, “Suicide Squad” has divided critics and moviegoers alike. I would even go so far as to call it the John Cena of 2016 movies. You either love it or hate it. So why all the hate? Two words: Jared Leto!
For as long I can remember, during the film’s marketing and production, most of the hype revolved around Jared Leto’s take on “The Joker” character.
“Unhinged”, “scary” and “deep” were some of the superlatives used to describe the Leto and his method process to get into the character. Tales of him shying away from his co-stars, sending them dead rats as gifts and pulling pranks during filming became the stuff of legend on the Internet.
Unfortunately, David Ayer, the film’s writer, did not give him enough material to really sink his teeth into.
In fact, the little snippets we were served during the trailer and marketing campaign are by and large his only meaningful and memorable contributions to “Suicide Squad”. More on that later.
In the aftermath of Superman’s death in “Batman V Superman — Dawn of Justice”, intelligence operative Amanda Waller (Davis) assembles a team of some of the world’s most dangerous criminals to be used as disposable assets in high-risk operations.
Hitman Deadshot (Smith), the deranged Harley Quinn (Margot), former gangster Diablo (Jay Hernandez), thief Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and cannibal Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) are fitted with tiny explosives in their necks that will denote should they disobey order or try and escape.
The team is put under the watchful eye of Captain Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and sent on their first mission when a mysterious alien force invades the city and starts wreaking havoc.
The team finds itself in crosshairs of underworld boss The Joker (Leto) when he finds out his girlfriend (Quinn) is a government experimental lab rat and he sets out to rescue her.
Now for the review proper.
Firstly, the trio of Smith, Davis and Margot really did an outstanding job.
Smith brought a new dimension to the role of Floyd Lawton aka Deadshot, humanising and grounding him. Unlike the cold heartless killer of the comics and other film and television adaptations, Deadshot seamlessly fits into the role of the unwilling leader of this squad of criminals.
Smith nails the action sequences and brings that balance between comic relief and serious acting in only the way he can. Waller is devious, calculating, mysterious and dangerous; character traits that really should be Davis’ go-to things when selecting roles. She does it so well and if you still doubt me, then I urge you to watch “How to Get Away with Murder”.
Margot, well she is insane, and pairing her up with the equally deranged Quinn was masterful casting. The rest of the film’s cast play second fiddle and while they have their merits, they cannot hold a candle to Smith, Davis and Margot.
Back to Leto.
He is no Jack Nicholson and does not belong in the same sentence with Heath Ledger. Unless the sentence is “Ledger will always be a better Joker than Leto”.
Leto’s The Joker is unconvincing. He spends the few minutes of camera time he has flip-flopping between being a straight laced-up deranged bad guy, and a man in love.
While his predecessors, Nicholson and Ledger, were more grounded and left us wanting more, Leto gives us way too much too fast and too soon.
Hell, I am just going to come out and say it: Leto’s joker sucks, and that is not only an indictment on his acting abilities but also the bad writing for his role.
The Joker plays virtually no part in the bigger scheme of things and ends up being a distraction.
Given that the film’s big bad Incubus, was a total waste, there was plenty of room for The Joker to be written into the scheme of things.
Incubus is this movie’s undoing, a terrible waste of CGI. Warner Brothers’ take on Incubus is nothing like the original.
