As someone who watches a lot of movies, I understand why a small group of people will like a film when most don’t. But…people saying the 2016 Suicide Squad film is better than James Gunn’s film? I can’t really comprehend that kind of thinking. So, I want to break down why I personally view the 2016 version a bad film:
-The reason given within the film for why the squad exists is stupid. If Superman (or a similar being) took the president right out of the White House, you would have other heroes go after him. You don’t send the villains that those other heroes easily beat!
-Only 3 characters from the film are worth remembering, for better or worse. The others - while you could argue are more well known compared to some from the James Gunn film - do nothing worth remembering and the film doesn’t explore why those characters are popular in the first place.
-The movie was obvious in showing which character was going to be killed right off the bat by not having a montage for Slipknot.
-Even though they are called the Suicide Squad, you never actually feel like they are in any real danger.
-The only other person from the squad that dies, El Diablo, claims he views them as his new family. But they literally all just met that day! And none of them had any real conversation to show they made any kind of connection.
-Going back to the bulls**t reason for why this squad supposedly exists, the only member of the team that has the ability to kill a Superman like being is The Enchantress. You don’t need any of the others.
-Waller may have Enchantress’s heart, but why didn’t she take precautions and implant a bomb in her head? To not have a backup plan to keep your most powerful villain in line is just dumb.
-Trying to keep June Moon/Enchantress under control by manipulating a relationship with Rick Flag doesn’t make much sense. Sooner or later, she will get out of control. It is best to have someone who feels no emotion for her going up against her. Being romantically involved will no doubt cause him to hesitate which would endanger everything.
-None of the events of the film would happen if Waller didn’t try to assert control over Enchantress.
-Another giant sky beam, another boring army that is created through the stupidest way. Does she literally kill every single person to turn them into her minion?
-Will Smith is just playing himself. While Bloodsport in the new film may be criticized by some for being a Deadshot stand-in, I at least believe Bloodsport was a fully fleshed out character.
-I liked Margot Robbie, but there is no doubt that the camera is focused on making her as sexually appealing as possible. Multiple shots from the film are ass shots, a clear indication that the film isn’t truly interested in doing justice by the character.
-Despite marketing itself as colorful, the movie is too dark. I can’t even make it most of the action in the film.
-Jared Leto’s Joker probably deserves his own breakdown. But let me simply put it like this. If you need your character to have the word “Damaged” tattooed on their forehead to show how psychologically damaged, edgy and cool they are - that’s a sign that your character is lame, boring, and annoying as all Hell.
-Their whole mission is to save Amanda Waller…that’s it. That’s not really a mission worthy of the Suicide Squad. At least, not in the way the movie presents it.
-Why did Waller kill her entire team once the Squad arrived? There really isn’t any reason to do so. It’s not like the government is unaware of the squad’s existence.
-You remember that part towards the end of the movie where Deadshot forces Flag to tell them what is really going on, getting him to tell them about how Enchantress is loose? This doesn’t work on two levels. First, we the audience are already aware that she got loose and is wrecking havoc in the city. So this doesn’t surprise us at all. Second, this so called revelation shouldn’t matter to the squad. Remember, these are super-villains. Arguably the most motivated kind of people that exists. It shouldn’t matter to them how the whole situation came about. If anything, they would just be annoyed about how they got forced into this and be impatient to get the mission over with. That whole scene at the bar shouldn’t exist. But it does, so I will also criticize about how the scene doesn’t actually deepen or flesh out any of the characters. All we get is El Diablo confirming he killed his family, which again, shouldn’t shock the squad at all. You know how many people those people must have killed?
That so called surprise ending where the Joker comes back fails. We all knew they didn’t actually kill him in the movie. The studio won’t let the movie kill one of their most famous villains, regardless of who is portraying him.
-And speaking of the studio, let’s talk about the reshoots. Following on the criticism of “Dawn of Justice” being too dark and serious, reshoots occurred for the film to reportedly interject more humor into the film. And thank God for that! I know that David Ayer was trying to create a soul-filled drama, which required a more serious approach. But you can do that and still make the movie fun! If we were to ever get an Ayer cut of the film, it would be too boring and uninteresting to hold my attention.
And that is more or less the gist of it. I can always give more detail, but I think that should clearly show why the 2016 Suicide Squad film isn’t as good as you remember it.