Suicide Squad

And yet again, the critics just got it wrong when it comes to a DC movie.  Seriously, I'm starting to wonder if they are simply in Marvel's back pocket and just are trying to predispose people to not go see these films.  DC is not Marvel, to be honest I think a part of the confusion at this point is people may be trying to put these films into the MCU because they have decided that is what a comic book movie is; and they have no place there.  These films are intentionally more serious in tone and they also are a lot more intricately tied together than the MCU films.  The MCU could be viewed as a series of franchises that are all tied together with connecting threads.  On the contrary, the DCEU is one very large franchise with each chapter dependent on the others.  Suicide Squad is far from perfect, but it does a great job of being really entertaining.  I'd say it's a good blend of Deadpool and Guardians of the Galaxy, sorta like the A-Team if they had been villains perhaps.  So that said, if you don't want spoilers for Dawn of Justice then you need to see it before you see Suicide Squad.  And as this is a review, yes, spoilers are about to commence.

This film has a lot to love about it, starting with the soundtrack.  The soundtrack is almost another character in the movie, it's that enjoyable.  The squad is formed as a knee-jerk government reaction to the events of the prior two films, dealing with the devil to try and achieve security.  It shouldn't be any surprise when that winds up going badly for people.  The complaints about the antagonist seem a bit unfounded.  I cannot speak to how well Enchantress was adapted from the comics because I honestly don't know the character that well.  But an ancient witch that is able to break free of her imprisonment with the help of her unknown brother and decides to take it out on the people that imprisoned her by mystically eliminating the world...  I really don't understand why people have trouble with this being a credible threat.

The surprise star of the film for me was Viola Davis as Amanda Waller.  We've seen the character in other
places over the years.  I actually liked the way that C.C.H. Pounder has always portrayed the character in animation.  Davis brought that same cold calculating command to the screen and it worked fantastically.  She is ruthless and heartless and it is fantastic.  This is Amanda Waller, you hate her, but you sorta respect her at the same time.  At her core, she is simply trying to do what she believes is best for her country, and she is willing to go to any lengths to do so. 

Like Enchantress, El Diablo is another character that I didn't know much about going into the film.  I found I really loved the character a lot.  I liked seeing the character unleashed, and I hope we might get to see some more of the lesser known characters explored like this.  Captain Boomerang I thought was more true to his comic character than he had been on Arrow.  Digger was a little too bright in that portrayal and was always just a little bit on the scummy side which was thankfully brought back for this film.  Katana was another character that was seen in Arrow.  I'm a little bit torn here.  Both portrayals were very well done.  This one tapped a bit more into the mystical aspects of her sword, but I loved what Rila Fukushima did with her.  Honestly, I felt that Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was under utilized as Killer Croc.  He's a fantastic actor and I would have liked to have seen more of him.

Margot Robbie's character was every bit the fantastic version of Harley Quinn that I was hoping to get.  This is Harley, she brought the character to life perfectly.  Harley was brought to us in Batman: The Animated Series and this was like seeing the cartoon come to life.  She nailed the voice and the mannerisms.  Honestly, she was such a brilliantly chaotic character that she shouldn't have been believable at any point.  That's why Robbie's portrayal is so ingenius, I completely bought her character through the entire film.  There are some great easter eggs for her, from a moment recreating a rather classic picture to getting to see her original costume.  And things like yelling "you're ruining date night" while pulling out a gun were just so spot on that there is no room to complain about the character.

Now let's talk about Deadshot.  I'm torn here.  On the one hand, there was a lot to love about Will Smith's take on the character.  On the other hand, I find I really preferred the way that Michael Rowe portrayed him Arrow.  Smith was every bit the marksman, and the costume was far superior.  They also kept true to the core motivation of the character.  Everything he did was for his daughter.  But it felt like they changed his honor code a little bit. Smith did a better job of showing how cocky Floyd was, but his code was the code of a criminal and not a soldier. I also felt like I was watching a performance, for some reason he just didn't become the character for me in the way that Robbie and Davis did.  I believe that part of the problem is that the character was able to be much more fleshed out on television than in the film.  And that I loved what Rowe did with the character had me going in expecting something different than what I got.

There were a couple other issues with the film.  The first two character introductions seem a bit needless.  Because seriously, they are reintroduced to us at least once, sometimes twice.  I'm not certain why that was the case, but it seemed a bit unnecessary.  I understand that part of this was to show what sort of sleeze was running the prison they had been kept in, but it just felt a bit disjointed with the rest of the film.
on

Affleck's cameo's were nicely done.  We see Batman having come back from the edge that he was pushed Dawn of Justice.  He isn't nearly as brutal here as he had become, and while extremely subtle I found it a great bit of character development.  We also got to see Ezra Miller show up in the Flash uniform, and I am beginning to make peace with his portrayal.  Though a part of me still wishes that we could have seen Grant Gustin given the roll as he has done wonders on The Flash series over the last two years.

Finally, let's talk the Joker.  Leto's performance is understandably not going to be for everyone.  I personally wish they had gone a different direction with some of the costume design.  However, he does bring to life a completely different Joker than one we have seen in a long time.  The Joker is the underbelly of Gotham in this take.  Nothing happens that he doesn't know about and allow.  Though Hush Returns is a poor sequel to Hush in the comics, this was a take on the Joker that I enjoyed seeing return to the story and one I am glad we got to see a little bit here.  I was thrilled with how driven the Joker was to save Harley in this movie.  He wasn't the hero at any point, but he was her hero.  In the comics, the relationship between the two has become increasingly abusive.  This is something I have never been comfortable with, and while I wouldn't even come close to calling this a healthy relationship I was glad to see him fight for her throughout the film.

So I encourage you to go see this movie.  It's a good action flick, and it does a nice job of showing us what the world does after Superman dies.  There is also a lesson to be learned from this film, very similar to the lesson taken from Civil War.  Do not make rash decisions out of fear when something bad happens, you may create the very monster you were concerned with. 

Star Trek Beyond: So close and yet ....

Alright, so this is going to be a brief review.  But I don't want everyone thinking I just love whatever pop culture summer popcorn flick comes out by default.  So with that said, let's look at the latest entry in the Star Trek franchise. 

I actually enjoyed Into Darkness, though there are a lot of people out there that do not share that sentiment.  However, this story certainly felt more like Star Trek than its predecessor.  Some of this I can attribute to subtle things like the changes to the uniforms.  But the core of this assertion is in the story itself.  Simon Pegg is a fan of the series, and it shows in the story.  While this is indeed an action adventure flick, wrapped within it is the stories of discovery and the human condition that made the series what it was.  It also feels like a proper sequel to the reboot from 2009.  Some of that might be the soundtrack, which was honestly the best of the three most recent films. 

Overall, I liked the story tremendously.  The character development was tremendous in this film.  We got to see them expanded and utilized like we haven't before.  Like Karl Urban who was criminally underused in Into Darkness.  However, across the board there were great moments for all of the characters and they all seemed to be advanced throughout the film.  From the nod to Leonard Nimoy to the the "controversial" decision to make the character of Sulu homosexual, there were a lot of good nods in the film.  I was really glad to see Demora getting included to be honest.

However, I do agree with George Takei, it would be better to create a new character that is gay than to make a character that was never meant to be homosexual a homosexual.  This is a problem rampant in comics and film right now.  The solution to increased diversity has been to change a character.  I agree very much with what people like Michelle Rodriguez have said, even though she needlessly caught flak for saying it.  Changing a secondary characteristic of a previously male, straight, or white character doesn't really make that character representative of the group they now share a characteristic with because they still came from the same creator and have the same history.  It's harder to make a new character, but I ultimately do agree that it is much more worthwhile.  And the same problem goes for whitewashing characters like what has been done with the Ancient One in Dr. Strange, just a bad idea to ignore a characters history folks. 

Well, this means my blog will probably get read at least because there is sure to be plenty of vitriolic hate mail headed my way.  Okay, back on track.  Seriously, the movie did a lot of really great things for the franchise.  It told a wonderfully enjoyable story and it grew the characters and their relationships.  It fleshed out the world pretty nicely.  So why then did I start this off like I didn't enjoy the film?

Because while this is a wonderful story, it is a story that in my opinion is very badly told.  The overwhelming majority of this film was shot far too close.  I've enjoyed a number of films by Justin Lin in the past.  Honestly Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Furious 6 were all great films I thought.   But this time, and I don't entirely know why, he just shot way too much of the film close up.  At a few points I was waiting on the cast to break the fourth wall and point out the personal space bubble that was being invaded.  If the audience had been where the camera was putting us the characters would have been wondering if they were about to get jumped.  They built grand set pieces and then it was like they were afraid to let us take them in.  

There is a second issue that I take with this presentation.  There was an effect that was so ridiculously and needlessly over used that I was becoming nauseous watching the film.  They continued to do tracking shots throughout the film that spun.  I love tracking shots.  They are my favorite moments in the Avengers films.  Honestly, I love a well done tracking shot.  But these were horribly done.  You're keeping me in the moment, you're not supposed to spin me around and make me motion sick.  Many of these shots were very similar to one of the deleted scenes from Star Trek: Nemesis and that scene was rejected specifically because of how dizzying it was for the audience.

This was further compounded by the first issue.  Had they zoomed out, if they had stepped back a little bit it would have helped make these much more bearable.  If it had been one or two scenes that were shot this way it would be one thing, but we are talking about multiple scenes all shot the same way.  If I am honest, it felt like they got a new toy but didn't read the directions on the proper way to use it.  By not zooming out at all they failed to grant us the chance to, as the viewer, get context for the tracking shots and for what was happening in general.

Now, a lot of this movie does indeed involve the idea of feeling lost, of being directionless and anchorless.   And if the intention was to create a feeling of physical disorientation for the viewer in order to simulate the experience of the characters I can understand why that might have seemed like a good idea.  But, at least for me, it was a horrid idea.  And had this been the idea, when they got their grounding then these techniques should have stopped. 

So for me, on a scale of 5, this was a 4.5 film that is reduced to a 3 star film because of how unenjoyable this great story was to watch.  Back the camera up about 10 feet for the entire film and this would've been a great movie.