A jumbled mess of editing and pacing, Suicide Squad has roughly as many issues as its characters but manages to be a lot of fun anyway.

After the events of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the US government starts to get anxious about what will happen now with metahumans popping up more regularly. To answer the growing concern, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) proposes putting together a team of super villains with explosives in their necks and forcing them to carry out missions against metahumans that will probably get them all killed. Taskforce X is initially a difficult sell given the proposed roster includes prolific hitman Deadshot (Will Smith) who never misses, psychopath Harley Quinn (Margo Robbie) who is the Joker’s (Jared Leto) main squeeze, Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) who robs banks and throws sharp metal boomerangs, Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) who is a huge reptile man, Diablo (Jay Hernandez) who can produce fire from his hands, and Slipknot (Adam Beach) who can apparently climb anything. After demonstrating that she can control the ancient Enchantress who has possessed archeologist June Moon (Cara Delevingne) through possession of the Enchantress’s heart and team leader Rick Flag’s(Joel Kinnaman) love for Moon, Waller gets the go ahead to activate Taskforce X. Then everything goes completely to shit. Who would have guessed?

Right out of the gate it has to be said that Suicide Squad is a narrative nightmare. There is a ridiculous number of characters to introduce and manage and while the flashbacks to how some of the members were caught helps to get the audience up to speed on them, the title cards announcing their names and vital stats feels a little out of sync with the tone. New character introductions keep coming in to about halfway through the movie and it feels really jarring. Having major characters just hop on a chopper when the team is about to leave and have her identity handwaved by Flag (I am looking at you Katana) feels really sloppy. In the same way it is obvious who the sacrificial member of the team who proves there really are bombs in their necks by how much of the short shrift that character gets by way of introductions.

For all of the flashbacks and character wrangling the film does early on it becomes pretty straight forward from there with the team fighting against bizarre enemies that seem to be mutated humans and that is pretty much that. The villain they are fighting against is trying to take over the world because that is what the villain is doing. There is very little by way of motivation or fleshing out of who that character is so there isn’t much investment in that part of the narrative beyond just wanting the main characters to succeed. While there are emotional beats that don’t feel completely earned, this is where the movie shines.

As a character piece Suicide Squad is a great success. We are offered compelling characters here who are all very well acted and there is good chemistry between the majority of them. The movie spends a lot of time bringing the audience up to speed on who everyone is and that is paid off. Further, when dealing with the more iconic characters amongst them the movie acquits itself very well. I found myself really enjoying the time spent with them and had a lot of fun watching them try to be a team while naturally drifting in more selfish directions.

Will Smith turns in what I feel is his most fun performance since Independence Day. This is the old-school blockbuster Will Smith and he looks like he is having a lot of fun. The Deadshot we are given here is conflicted between what he does for a living and not wanting his daughter to see him as a monster. This baseline humanity is a real grounding force in the film and makes him much more compelling while his acceptance of some of the other characters helps get the audience there too.

Margo Robbie is pretty fantastic as our first live action Harley Quinn and manages to show inner strength while still being invested in a relationship that is a product of torture and continued co-dependence. This is a difficult balance to strike because she is many things all at once. She is batshit crazy, independent and confident, and completely beholden to her abuser. There is a scene that shows what she wants most in the world and it is heartbreaking considering what she is and has been left with. That Harley is such a fun character even with all of the torment and pathos inside her is a testament to the writing but also to Robbie. I will say that if you are a parent taking your kid to see this, please have a talk with them about how dangerous and destructive abusive, co-dependent relationships are.

Jared Leto’s Joker was a real question mark heading into this movie with questionable decisions like on the nose tattoos and grilled teeth but I really enjoyed this take on the character. The Joker is more of a gangster type than we have really seen him in the past. He is just as crazy and unhinged as previous versions but he feels like he is controlling the chaos inside him much more effectively. The common question is how his take fares next Heath Ledger’s and the answer is that the roles are so different that it would be really difficult to compare them aside from saying that Leto commits fully to the character and brings in his own distinct flavor to the character while still feeling very much like the Joker.

As for the rest of the standouts in the cast,Viola Davis is spot on as Amanda Waller and she is a lot of fun to hate. This is not a soft and sugar coated version of the character by any means and she is just as ruthless as her character has always been. Joel Kinnaman is great as Flag and he is becoming an actor I will go out of my way to watch. Jai Courtney was a lot of fun as Captain Boomerang even if he doesn’t get a ton to do. Jay Hernandez is excellent as Diablo and brings more emotional resonance to the party while still being a fun character.

Aside from the character work and performances, there is a fair amount of fan service here not just in terms of Taskforce X itself but nods to other DC heroes and the universe in general. Some of these moments were subtle, some not as much but they were all pretty cool and it made the movie even more fun for me.

The action also delivers as far as the team fighting faceless zombie things go. I really enjoyed seeing how each of their various talents were utilized and the ways in which they complimented each other in a fight. The special effects were equally impressive even if some of the elements of the final confrontation have become fairly tired given how often we have seen that sort of thing.

[Conclusion 8.0 out of 10]

Suicide Squad is a tricky movie as it is at once a lot of fun and a complete narrative mess. For every good thing it does it completely bungles something else. What we are left with is a bunch of good character moments and cool action set pieces that feel like they were just thrown together haphazardly. I have gone back and forth with myself on how much I liked it given how jarring the editing can be and how fun I still think it is and what I have landed on is that there are a lot of problems but it was still a lot of fun. This is not the savior DC was looking for and comparisons to Guardians of the Galaxy are ridiculous, but it is easily the best of the DCEU films to date and it gives me hope for the future. If you want to see a DC movie that is way more fun than Batman v Superman and you can put up with a messy narrative and lame villain then check this out for sure. If that kind of thing drives you crazy then it is probably not the movie for you. For my part I liked it more than I didn’t and I am looking forward to seeing it again. Your mileage may vary.