Leigh Paatsch declares Warner Bros’ superheroes film Suicide Squad is good but not great

FILM writer Leigh Paatsch cuts through the marketing hype of the latest comic heroes’ blockbuster Suicide Squad and reviews the movie.

EXPECTATIONS for the movie Suicide Squad went right past sky-high some months ago.

With conventional comic-book action epics trending downwards in 2016 in the eyes of the general public — thanks a lot, Batman Vs Superman — the timing could not be better for a fresher, maverick take on the genre.

Just like the recent surprise smash hit Deadpool, Suicide Squad is not about to serve up the same old ‘serious’ superhero fare.

Both movies are all about the conflicted crime-fighting capabilities of the super-antihero: a rebel who can save the world without saying goodbye to a sense of humour.

Deadpool only had one super-antihero on its books. Suicide Squad has 10. So the maths stack up. What about the movie?

MARGOT ROBBIE ON CLAIMS HOTPANTS DIGITALLY ALTERED

The Suicide Squad cast hit the black carpet at the world premiere in New York City

VIEW GALLERY

Well, while Suicide Squad has been superbly hyped by its marketing handlers as a potential game-changer, a lot of that potential remains untapped by the end.

Really, it is just a good movie that never gets close to becoming great.

Nothing wrong with that. Just don’t jump on the Suicide Squad bandwagon thinking its going to take you on a wild, wired ride.

It is way too mild, and perhaps a little too mannered for that.

The plot centres on a mercurial band of lawless outsiders with certain talents and powers that have earned them all life sentences in prison.

With Superman no longer around to save the planet from a mysterious threat heading its way, the US government figures it might be a good idea to let the jailbirds loose on the problem.

The first act of the movie flatlines as it works through a long roll call of these colourful characters ... and some comparatively drab sidekicks.

There is a lot of names to get through, and though the process is efficient enough in bringing Suicide Squad newbies up to speed on who’s who, it does rob the movie of some vital early forward thrust.

Will Smith as notorious hitman Deadshot in a scene from the new film Suicide Squad. Picture: Clay Enos / Warner Bros. Pictures via AP

Will Smith stands out prominently as the notorious hitman Deadshot (”a lethal threat from a distance of 4000m”), as does Australian star Margot Robbie as the team’s baseball-bat-wielding cheerleader, Harley Quinn.

It is Smith’s job to convey what passes for a humanised heart in the Suicide Squad scheme of things.

Though his role is that of a man whose kills number in the thousands, it is his desire to reconnect with his young daughter that motivates him to do the dubious bidding of the shadowy feds controlling his destiny.

Deadshot is a slightly corny character, but Smith makes him matter.

Robbie has a tougher job nailing down the crucial part of Harley, the dementedly devoted girlfriend of The Joker (more about him later).

While it is clear throughout that Robbie is on the right, screw-loose wavelength that Harley’s edgily capricious nature demands, the film as a whole seems reluctant to join her there.

It is a committed performance that deserved better support from the filmmakers that it ultimately receives.

Margot Robbie gives a committed performance as baseball-bat wielding cheerleader Harley Quinn. Picture: Clay Enos / Warner Bros. Pictures via AP

Minor Squad members such as the conflicted human fireball Diablo (Jay Hernandez) and reptilian rogue Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) also come to the fore positively in a handful of scenes.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje impresses as Killer Croc in a scene from Suicide Squad. Picture: Clay Enos / Warner Bros. Pictures via AP

There is a lot for Australian actor Jai Courtney’s oh-so-Aussie-it-hurts character Boomerang to do in terms of comic relief, but there’s just one problem. He doesn’t get any funny lines to say.

A very generous amount of screen time is also directed towards an evil ancient spirit known as The Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), which soon becomes just another creative judgment call by writer-director David Ayer that does not quite pay off here.

Jared Leto gives an uneven and underwhelming portrayal of The Joker in Suicide Squad. Picture: Warner Bros Pictures via AP

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of Suicide Squad is the underwhelming return of the iconic DC Comics villain The Joker.

As played by Jared Leto, this uneven and uninteresting portrayal of The Joker is a far cry from the definitive reading of the role by the late, great Heath Ledger.

Naturally, the next actor game enough to take a crack at The Joker was always going to be under the hammer in terms of direct comparison with Ledger’s Oscar-winning work.

Nevertheless, Leto does not go close to nailing anything memorable about the part, and there are editing choices made during the picture that suggest the filmmakers were well aware of his wonky work.

One component of Suicide Squad that is definitely worth the price of admission is its tight collection of action sequences. These long, ornately constructed combat scenes often reveal more about the characters than the script’s bland lines of dialogue.

While the film is perfectly serviceable to a willing audience chasing disposable action entertainment, the feeling never quite goes away that an opportunity has been missed here.

Unlike Deadpool — which got so much tricky stuff right along parallel lines — there is no moment in Suicide Squad where you can feel the movie is going for broke.

The concept’s many featured characters have been given a basic introductory workout, instead of being pushed to their full capabilities immediately.

Overall, Suicide Squad will come to be remembered as a nice initial pass at building a franchise, when a nastier declaration of intent was what was really needed.

Suicide Squad opens in cinemas from tomorrow