'Suicide Squad': Characters are promisingly introduced, fizzle fast
鈥淪uicide Squad,鈥� which comes on the heels of 鈥淏atman v. Superman: Dawn of聽Justice,鈥� is the latest failed attempt to lift up DC Comics-based characters聽into the mega-franchise stratosphere. Writer-director David Ayer doesn鈥檛聽have the right graphic technique for a comic-book-style jamboree 鈥� he鈥檚 strictly聽a noirish-pulp guy 鈥� and the characters, all of whom are promisingly聽introduced, fizzle fast.聽
Best is Jared Leto as the green-haired, metal-mouthed Joker, although he鈥檚聽not quite on par with Heath Ledger鈥檚 definitive portrayal. As Joker鈥檚聽girlfriend, Harley Quinn, Margot Robbie tries hard 鈥� too hard 鈥� to act聽flagrantly bonkers.聽
Will Smith, as ace sniper Deadshot, is manfully聽effective but underused; the same, and then some, could be said for Jay聽Hernandez鈥檚 pyromaniac Diablo. It鈥檚 nice to see Viola Davis as a聽government bigwig who assembles a dream team of baddies to vanquish聽an even bigger baddie, but it would be even nicer to see her in a role that聽does more than boost her asking price.
In the Marvel v. DC matchup, there鈥檚 still no contest. Grade:聽C- (Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout, disturbing behavior, suggestive content and language.)
