So I had a little thought.
I love to go to
the movies. I am one of those nerds who
love the dark theater, big screen and excited crowds. It is actually probably the only time I ever
like large amounts of people. But a group of folks enjoying a movie, laughing along and hopping up and down in anticipation of
different events is a fantastic thing.
Film itself is such a big medium for expression that we all have a
favorite movie, or moments on T.V. we remember.
Even those who don’t watch T.V. or movies now, tend to have the memory
of other shows and things that shaped their childhood while they watched them.
Because of this,
when I go to the movies now I am going to do a movie review. I am not a film critic, and my opinion will
probably count for very little. However,
as this is a writing blog, part of the review is going to be what I think I
would have done, or that could have been done better or differently. Once again I would like to express that this
is all a matter of opinion. I could be
dead wrong, and if you think I am that is O.K.
It would be a rather boring world if we all had the same opinions and
expectations.
So, as per the
title, let’s dig into Suicide Squad.
First of all, I
think this is a great popcorn movie.
There is plenty of action, the visual effects are great and there is a
good sense of adventure in this movie.
There were many moments when I found myself grinning like a fool and
enjoying the insanity of it. As a movie
this is a great turn your brain off and enjoy the ride flick.
There were some compelling
characters. Deadshot is wonderfully
played by Will Smith and is arguably the most central character in this
movie. Harley Quinn is wonderfully
brought to life by Margot Robbie. Rick Flag
played by Joel Kinnaman is a great straight man for the craziness to be
happening around. Amanda Waller played
by Viola Davis is very dark and I would say is probably the biggest villain in
the film. After that, everyone is pretty
much pared down to a side character, and even though they have moments that pique
the interest, they are pretty much interchangeable.
I will voice a controversial opinion. I did
enjoy the Joker, played by Jared Leto. I
think it was a great idea to do a version of the Joker that was very different
from Heath Ledger’s Iconic performance.
The manic gangster we got I thought was fun, and great. While he is far from being my favorite Joker,
I enjoyed his performance and I love the thought of him being in a Batman film against Ben
Affleck.
So, here are the
issues. This film suffers from character
bloat. There are way too many faces for
the screen time so a lot of the bad A characters we were promised are little
more than glorified extras. This also
means some of the characters that do get screen time, like the Enchantress, are
not developed enough for use to really care.
I wanted to care about Dr. June Moon’s side of the character, but you
just aren’t given the chance to.
The story line as
well is a lot more complicated than it needs to be. Because of this, it is hard to judge the
characters as actual bad guys when they are constantly making the right
choices. This is something I will
discuss a little below. Needless to say
though, in a team of villains there is not a lot of villainous activity.
What do you expect
though? It’s a PG-13 movie. I don’t mean
that as an insult, but if you expected to see the villains mowing down
innocents and being horrible, this isn’t going to happen in this story line or
with this rating. I will call the
prediction now though, in a little bit, Warner Brothers will announce the
DVD/Blu-Ray will come out with an extended Rated R version like they did with
Batman Vs. Superman. If it is like the
Batman Vs. Superman version, it won’t earn that R rating either, it will just
be a marketing ploy.
So, below is where
I’m going to discuss what I would have done differently and why. As a writer I think this is a good
exercise. Do it even with movies you
think are great and wonderful. It helps
you debate possibilities and their consequences.
The first thing I
would fix, would be to cut unnecessary characters. Slipnot, Killer Croc, Katana, would all be
gone. I could put Captain Boomerang on
this list as well, but I would actually use him to illustrate the purpose
Slipnot did. (If you have seen this you know what I’m talking about) I would
just make that moment happen later so you could get some of the fun banter
Captain Boomerang brought. Or I could take that moment out of the movie
entirely fitting with the change I would make to the plot….
That plot change
would be, instead of keeping these characters in the dark, I would let them
know from moment one what they are up against when they start the mission. If the villains knew, hey we go risk our
lives now, or die in a few days anyway, you don’t really need the slipknot
moment. It also would make sense why
they aren’t acting like complete villains.
You don’t need the subplot of them going to in save person X, or you can
still have that as part of the story, and have it as checkpoint one.
Assuming you cut
the characters and simplify the plot line then guess what, we can now make
Diablo, Enchantress, and the rest of the characters more compelling. That time you are wasting can be put to good
use. Then the movie will be more engaging when that work and time is put into these characters so you can care
about them. All of them. Not just Deadshot and Harley. Yes, the DC
universe gets to introduce less characters, but wouldn’t we rather those
characters were introduced as full interesting characters then glorified
extras? I know I would.
The big question
is, how would you change this film, or would you? What other films would you like to think
about changing? Pick something you love,
that is almost perfect, this makes the question a bigger challenge.
Ben Marble
