The Film (2/5)

    Believe it or not I had high hopes for Suicide Squad. I didn't bother to see it in theaters, and I know the film had massive backlash, but so did its predecessor Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice. However, I actually ended up enjoying the earlier film more than quite a bit. I will not go so far as to say that BvS was a masterpiece of superhero filmmaking, but it was a dumb and entertaining film, and viewed upon that level I enjoyed it. I hoped for as much with Suicide Squad.

   The story for Suicide Squad at least what little there is follows a group of supervillains united by government employee Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). The government still fears a "Superman" type after the death of Supes, but one who is legitimately evil. In response to this Waller wants to assemble a group of evil supervillains to do the governments work incognito.   To this end she has imprisoned Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Killer Croc, Diablo, and more. She then offers them their freedom should they work for her. The opportunity soon arises when one of her "pets" Enchantress goes rogue, and resurrects her supernatural brother Incubus in Midway City and they soon begin to reek havoc there. The group most go in, and do the saving rather then the destroying.

   Suicide Squad is a difficult film to synopsize. The one I just did doesn't even scratch the surface. There are flashbacks detailing the back stories of Diablo, Harley, and Deadshot among some of the other members of the "Squad", and other side stories that are prominent in the film. Unfortunately, what this leaves the film with is a lot of baggage that slows down the film, and confuses what should have been a straight forward narrative.   We also have Jared Leto first in Harley Quinn's flashback scenes, and then in his own present day narrative trying to save Quinn.   The film could have been fun, but really it ended up lacking.

   The film's only saving grace was the performances. Margot Robbie was entertaining as Harley Quinn, and Will Smith was a fine Deadshot. Though I'll admit they too come with baggage. The Quinn of the comics and animation though connected to Joker was less of his plaything, and pushed back against him. This one seemed more submissive, and less strong.  Also, I'm absolutely tiring of the "doing it for their kids" subplot that is played out with so many villains in these films.

   In the end it seems what DC is trying to do is less create a series of great films, then establish a brand of films. Which, and I know it has been said before is the opposite of the approach Marvel took with their line of films over the last decade.  I really just wish they would consider if not a reboot, but a reexamination of what they are doing with their films, and begin to slowly start a DC universe. You don't get an Avengers without an Iron Man.

Audio/Video (5/5)

    Suicide Squad is presented by Warner in a 2:40:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer. The Blu-ray looks and sound excellent with detail being excellent, blacks being deep, and colors truly popping. The audio is presented with a DTS-HD MA 5.1 track in English. Everything here sounds excellent, dialogue and score are crystal clear and crisp.

Extras (3.5/5)

   There's the history of Suicide Squad in the comics, interviews with the cast, and other members of the crew. There are also gag reels trailers, and more.

Overall

   I actually had hopes that Suicide Squad would turn out to be a fun and entertaining ride. It wasn't, but it does have some decent production design aspects to recommend it on. The Blu-ray looks and sounds excellent, and has a decent extras slate. RECOMMENDED.