Suicide Squad

Eine coole Gruppe von Badass-Individuen, die wegen dem Stil und den Grimassen interessant sind. Die "Geschichte“ gibt ihnen aber nicht die Möglichkeit, sich zu entwickeln oder in sie etwas hineinzubringen. Es ist insbesondere bei dem sich anstrengenden Jared Leto schade, dessen Joker nur eine ikonische Hauptfigur bleibt. Im Film sind fast keine witzigen Sprüche, von denen es dort aber viele geben sollte. Das Highlight von Suicide Squad sind die saftige Margot und die Soundtrack-Schlager. Beim ersten Mal ist man von ihnen begeistert. Beim zweiten Mal, wenn die Zuschauer*innen schon hinter die visuelle Seite blicken können, bleiben sie das Einzige, was den Film über Wasser hält. (09.08.2016)

I can’t say that a witch out of a 1980s fantasy B-movie is what I've been missing from current comic-book flicks. In fact, she is a completely interchangeable DC villain who wants to destroy the world simply because she can. Not even the (unintended) creation of the evil Enchantress by those who are supposed to protect the world is innovative by today’s standards (which immediately gives away the point of the film, which is that working with villains can backfire on you). Most of the film’s other elements are also interchangeable, as Ayer mixes them together willy-nilly, albeit with a certain sense of rhythm. The first hour comes across as a condensed recapitulation of a ten-part series – all exposition, no development. In terms of time and space, the second hour is a slightly more cohesive super-villain variation on war movies in the mould of The Dirty Dozen and westerns like The Wild Bunch (including fatalistic dialogue before the final conflict, but without any significant development of the relationships between the characters or their ability to work together). Though the prologue indicates that Deadshot and Harley will be the protagonists of the narrative, their private dramas (their relationship to the daughter/Joker) do not drive the narrative, but rather slow it down, as they have minimal impact on the direction of the plot. The Joker, who looks like a goth who’s off his meds and inspires more sympathy than unease, always just shows up, does a little damage and disappears, like the returning bosses in some computer games, which seemed to be a source of inspiration for Ayer when he was slapping the plot together on the fly (or at least it seems so). Nothing would change if the Joker wasn’t here. The whole film is still needless and half-assed and unpolished, and while it manages to get and hold your attention with its witty characters, driving soundtrack and slightly psychedelic visual stylisation, the end result is merely two hours of loud, colourful distractions without any serious points of interest. 55% (04.08.2016)

The DC Universe hasn't even had time to be born and it's already dead. The dramaturgically-incompatible group at Warner Brothers craves a more discerning audience, but with their results, they're looking at a target audience of 13-17, who (given the earnings) probably won't care that the plot makes no sense at all, that the team doesn't work as a team even once, and that the ass-kicking isn't a highlight for which to praise a character. I want to go to the alternate universe where Ayer made it in his own way, and it’s one hour longer and does away with the moronic humor. In many of its details (the clear action, a decent portion of darkness and suspense) it looks like a prelude to a major comic book film, but someone in the editing room screwed it up in an absolutely monstrous way. The most interesting character in the finale is Killer Croc. I want him to have a solo movie. (07.11.2016)

I probably don’t even have to mention that I was really looking forward to Suicide Squad. After the ghost town that the cinema has been these last few months, this movie was exactly the one standing out from the rest of the new releases. And the trailer’s made it look kickass. I’ll admit that my expectations were similar to Watchmen – a politically incorrect comic movie that swims against the tide. But it would have to be a completely different movie for that to be true. Let’s start with the upside which were definitely the actors. Suicide Squad is – as expected – an interesting gang and they’re hard not to love. Jared Leto is absolutely amazing as Joker, perhaps the scariest Joker in all of movie history. But the issue is that he’s barely in the movie at all. Now to get into the downsides, the movie doesn’t come up with a story that’s innovative in any way and it tells it very awkwardly. The first third is an episodic introduction of the individual characters. The second third is an introduction of an alien entity the Squad will be up against. And the last third is one big team fight. You won’t be able to find any deeper meaning there. However, the action shots are pretty solid. The director David Ayer has not filmed such scenes for the first time. But after watching this, I felt as if I’ve just finished watching another completely ordinary comic movie that are thick on the ground lately. Or maybe my expectations were too high. So that’s why I’m giving it three stars. Oh and the soundtrack may be nice, but it sounds so forced that it doesn’t even end up fitting in. (16.08.2016)

Erwartet hatte ich etwas Lebhaftes sowie Freches, doch ich bekam eine lustige Zusammenstellung von Elementen, die zwar in Marvel-Filmen funktionieren, doch nicht bei DC. Das hiesige neue Multiversum stellt eine unübersichtlich sowie verwirrende Mischung von etwas Zermahlenem dar, welche den Eindruck von etwas erweckt, das in den Köpfen der Schlipsträger am Tisch, jedoch nicht im Kopf einer Person entstehen wird, die in der Tat die Übersicht und Vision beibehält, wie das große Ganze auszusehen hat. Es fehlt hier eben an jemandem wie Kevin Feige (der Wächter der DC Sandbox Snyder ist noch nicht einmal in der Lage dazu, seine Filme beisammen zu behalten, geschweige ein gesamtes Universum). Ayer watet regie- und drehbuchtechnisch gesehen unsicher daher (die einzige Wendung in der fehlenden Geschichte ist die Szene, welche der Betrachter vor einer Stunde Aufnahme per Aufnahme gesehen hat, wtf?). Die Soziopathentypen wirken wiederum als zu einfach durchschaubar und als oftmals unbenutzt (Letos over-the-top Joker als romantische Einlage?). Der Soundtrack ist derart geschwollen und eklektisch, dass er verloren klingt. Besonderen Wumms haben insbesondere die Szenen mit Deadshot, welcher dank Will Smith auch pur zu genießen ist (also ***) und ein paar Abschnitt mit dem sexy Irrer Margot Robbie. Ansonsten ist diese Möchtegern-Radikalohrfeige an die Konkurrenz lediglich eine schweißtreibende Bestätigung des Superhelden-Status quo, welcher leider nicht einmal halb so amüsant ist wie im Guardians of the Galaxy. Na ja, und die Versuche, ein dunkles Bild der Welt zu kreieren, in der anstelle von Nick Fury die brutalen "Bitch“ Amanda Waller regiert ... Aber Entschuldigung, das ist doch bereits so krampfhaft, dass wir das nicht sehr ernst nehmen können. DC watet immer noch umher (und trotzdem macht das Ganze keinen Spaß). (03.08.2016)

It would like to be a comic book version of the Dirty Dozen, but it's more like the Devil's Brigade. I mean the unconcealed copy-cat of a more famous and better original, which is worse in everything (from motivations to action), worse but not so bad that it would force you to grab the remote and change the channel, even if you already know that you won't remember anything from this movie as soon as the final credential start. You will remember it only when you come across it in the TV program again. And that's exactly what the Suicide Squad is, characterization is one-dimensional at best (great cast did amazing job in saving the movie), there is no story line (and if there is one, it's full of lapses and illogicality), motivation and goals are barely implied, action is as intense as interchangeable and the style is so hectic as aerobatic flying. But it's not bad (especially thanks to the first half, pace and acting). Only incomplete in terms of that dirty antihero concept and, moreover, significantly shortened in a way that strikes even the layman. However, what is the worse part about it (apart from the poor final scene), is the existence of the animated movie Assault on Arkham, which did the same but much better with grace. (04.08.2016)

The universe is being built again, and this time where it is completely unnecessary. The intended original team is undermined from the first minutes because someone from the Justice League is inserted into all the major origin stories that no one wants to see at that moment. It distracts from the new characters, and the uniqueness that was so proclaimed in the trailers is suddenly gone. Even the song soundtrack doesn't really pull me in because with every other old-school hit, I can't shake off the impression that the Guardians of the Galaxy, who are so closely related in terms of genre, are being shamelessly plagiarized. At least Steven Price's orchestral accompaniment supports the action to dizzying levels and makes us forget that it's dark, raining, or dark and rainy in every shootout. Unfortunately, the most significant battle saved for the finale feels forced, with villain motivations that are laughable and, surprisingly, poorly executed in terms of special effects. It's with this battle it becomes most apparent how the second half of Suicide Squad has become weak, both in terms of its lines and its actions, which makes no sense given the supposedly psychopathic roots of the characters. However, the film does have one big positive surprise, and that is Harley Quinn, who is exactly as good as I thought she could never be in Margot Robbie's portrayal. She steals every scene, delivers the most self-assured dialogue, and, along with the charismatic Deadshot, they are the only ones who deserve to return in future adaptations. The biggest casting disappointment remains Jared Leto. Not that he didn't try, but while someone like Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight was able to frighten just by appearing on the screen, Leto has to rely on empty performances, makeup, or various props – and because of that, he is just a noisy attraction, leaving an aftertaste of wasted opportunity. Just like in the entire Suicide Squad, which sometimes offers up something good, but without exception, it is always followed by ay least two things that are bad. (04.08.2016)

I'm going to repeat myself, but just like in The Legend of Tarzan, Margot was the best thing about the whole movie. It's not that I didn't enjoy the others, but next to her everyone is just dead weight. The beginning is awesome, all very stylish and crazy, as the times demand. From the awesome music to the funny and cruel lines to the costumes, everything suggested this was going to be a total blast. It's a shame that the whole film is based purely on this. The plot unfortunately doesn't offer anything new, the characters don't go deep enough, and the final denouement is a bit off. A weaker 4 stars. (10.09.2016)

They put together a plethora of people dumb enough to be characters in their own stories, which means that not a single character was fleshed out enough for you to know more about them beyond what they like (their kid, the other nutcase, the unicorn, etc.). In truth, I wasn't entertained by the film, it just became a backdrop to keep the room from being quiet – it fulfilled this function perfectly, as it was well voiced. But that's the only great thing about this movie; otherwise it's pretty average, below average. Many heroes and anti-heroes were created, but it just doesn't reach any dizzying heights. It had a great advertisement that lit up the work and drove it to the heights of heaven, but the truth is otherwise... (15.11.2016)

Magic at last. DC has managed to pull ahead of Marvel with this movie. Suicidal editing sacrificed integrity for tempo. I see the diabolical hand of the producer in this. A forced, soundtrack of songs (I admit that they’re great songs, hats off) often clumsily accompanies the introduction of characters to give them greater “dynamism", but it drowns out what might have made those flashbacks interesting. Make the opening longer not shorter and give it a purpose in addition to the obligatory introductions. Ayer handled the interplay of the self-centered assholes extremely well, even though Will is still a good guy (so they’re killing people, so what?), all team scenes work flawlessly. Unsurprisingly, it’s Harley who steals the whole movie. Margot Robbie is perfect and her storyline with the Joker is romance of the highest caliber (even if it goes a little against the aim of the comic concerning domestic violence). This movie would have been great with an R-rating, particularly in the Joker torture scene. Suicide Squad suffers from New 52 syndrome (from klutzy Geoff Johns, who also oversees the movies), when DC lost its balls while trying to please the younger public. Ayer is fighting against this, and the characters presented are all super. Jai Courtney in a live role! The Enchantress/Flag storyline spoils the ending a little, whereas the creators shouldn’t have been afraid to bring it to an end, but I say that the magic separates Suicide Squad from the rest. Overall, quite content, but they could have done better. They had the team for that. I hope there will be a director’s cut that will return the missing scenes from the trailers and give it a stamp of originality. Trying to be like Guardians of the Galaxy just doesn’t suit this movie. (03.08.2016)

Der ursprüngliche Film Suicide Squad hatte es nicht leicht, denn er musste die Einführung eines Anti-Helden-Teams und die Ursprünge vieler, vieler Charaktere bewältigen und gleichzeitig an die zeitgleich veröffentlichten Superman- und Batman-Filme anschließen. Das hat dem Tempo des Films insgesamt nicht ganz entsprochen, aber ansonsten ist er auch bei mehrmaligem Anschauen ein ziemlicher Spaß. Allerdings sollt man zumindest die Comicserien aus "The New 52" (und jetzt auch aus "Rebirth") kennen, und von diesen Büchern gibt es nicht wenige. Auf jeden Fall war es ein Erfolg für Harley Quinn, gespielt von Margot Robbie, die die Gelegenheit hatte, ihre Interpretation dieser frischesten DC-Figur in den nächsten beiden Filmen fortzuführen. (02.10.2016)

Destroying the world with a giant something above a city that works with gravity and makes a big mess. It's the same thing over and over again, just in different tones and colours. The villains become good guys within 30 minutes and the only thing that leaves a mark is the ultra cute psycho Margot Robbie, who drops one-liners and steals most of the scenes for herself. A pointless comic adaptation that was supposed to balance out Marvel's dominance and to give DC what the competition can do very well: playfulness, interplay of characters, excess. But this is not the way to do it, Batman vs Superman set a good course, they need to work on it and brush it up. (07.08.2016)

An erster Stelle ist die Unterhaltung. Auf Suicide Squad habe ich mich seit dem Trailer mit "Bohemian Rhapsody" von Queen richtig gefreut – er war witzig, verspielt und gleichzeitig ein bisschen härter als die anderen Comic-Trailer. Und zum Glück sieht so auch der Film selbst aus. Diejenigen, die naiv erwartet haben, dass die "Helden“ Killer im Stil von Deadpool sind, werden enttäusch sein. Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Boomerang und die anderen sind aber auch keine Weicheier. Es hat mir gefallen, wie natürlich das Drehbuch alle vorgestellt und verbunden hat, wie die Figuren das gemacht haben, worauf sie Lust oder auch keine Lust hatten oder wie sie nicht das gemacht haben, was sie wollten. Der Plot hat dazu schön gepasst – er ist nicht besonders kompliziert, es geht um eine einfache Angelegenheit "geht dahin und macht dies und das“ mit einigen Überraschungen auf dem Weg. Die Schauspielbesetzung ist perfekt, die Actionszenen übersichtlich und einfallsreich, der Humor ist nicht zu übertrieben… Und jede Sekunde mit Joker oder Batman ist einfach toll. (04.08.2016)

The originality and imaginativeness of the opening act of Suicide Squad cannot be denied, as well as the whole story's tremendous narrative drive, spiced up with very cool stylisation and the coolest old-school soundtrack (Animals, Rolling Stones, Queen, Ozzy, Creedence.... a big bash). Unfortunately, the film runs into something similar to what bothered me about Avengers: an awful lot of characters that are for the most part poorly fleshed out, a completely unambiguous and unsurprising progression despite its intended defiance of the laws of genre, and humour that only works at first and gradually descends into cliché and spectacular superficiality, just like the narrative. And I can't forget the boring, characterless "villain", whose primary task is not to distract too much from the bickering of the title antiheroes. The action is not bad, but the biggest highlight is the amazing, ultra-brutally attractive and irresistibly extravagant Margot Robbie, whom I hereby definitively declare the Hollywood sex symbol of our time. Smith is okay, Leto as Joker is cool, but horribly underused and (so far) basically pointless. (12.08.2016)

David Ayer versprach, frischen Wind in die Segel von DC-Comics-Filmen zu bringen. Er hat es nicht geschafft. Verschwendetes Potenzial ist in diesem Fall der aussagekräftige Ausdruck. Nach dem kommerziellen Erfolg von Deadpool fragt man sich, warum Suicide Squad als PG-13 endet. Das künstliche Überladen mit Witzen war einfach nur nervig. Über die Schwäche des Drehbuchs könnte man lange schreiben, aber die größte Enttäuschung ist zweifellos die misslungene Darstellung der Charaktere. Statt der versprochenen dunklen Schurken erhalten wir eine Standardverpackung wohlwollender Helden, von denen zwar keiner ein Vorbild für Tugendhaftigkeit ist, aber von Antihelden kann man auf keinen Fall sprechen. Das Drehbuch versucht dies sehr unbeholfen zu vertuschen, indem es von Zeit zu Zeit einer der Hauptcharaktere Sätze sagen lässt wie: "Wir sind die Bösen" oder "Die Frau ist wirklich böse", damit der Zuschauer nicht vergisst, was er denken soll. Und last but not least ein paar Worte zur Besetzung: Cara Delevingne als Enchantress ist schrecklich (zur Verteidigung - die gesamte Figur Enchantress ist tragisch schlecht geschrieben, Cara hat es mit ihren Kreationen nur noch schlimmer gemacht), aber das größte Casting-Fiasko ist Jared Leto als Joker - es war fast unerträglich, ihm zuzusehen. Ayer sollte zu polizeilichen Dramen zurückkehren, das hat mich echt verärgert. (15.12.2018)

As a viewer, I found Suicide Squad to be similar to Batman vs Superman in terms of plot, as it was a weaker story compared to the Marvel films and it lacked more humorous scenes (Harley Quinn's function in the film was quite clear, but it still wasn't enough for me). Each of the characters had something to say, but they didn't get enough space in most cases – they went the furthest with Harley, and Deadshot, and Diablo had some good background as well – but I have to admit that the initial introduction to them was portrayed quite well. As with Guardians of the Galaxy, they relied on an oldies soundtrack, which definitely benefited the film. The presence of characters such as the Joker and Enchantress made me happy on the one hand, but I was disappointed that they were either outnumbered or purely for effect. All in all, after adding up all the pros and cons, Suicide Squad is slightly better than Batman vs Superman, but it still falls short of more than one piece of the Marvel Universe, which is a shame because the potential that was evident from the first trailers was there. (13.08.2016)

Anfangs war es wunderbar, dann lief das Drehbuch recht dumm ins Leere, doch das Ende war wieder gut. Vor allem stahlen den ganzen Streifen Margot Robbie und Jared Leto für sich - das war beispielhaft. Nach Heath die Rolle des Joker zu übernehmen ist eine so große Herausforderung, dass mir halb sechs am Morgen auch kein geeigneter Vergleich einfällt. Aber er hat das wirklich verdammt gut gemeistert, und zusammen mit Margot bildete er ein wahnsinniges Traumpaar. Die anderen im Team sind auch cool, und der Soundträck ist wirklich wunderbar gelungen. Insgesamt dreieinhalb Sterne, für Margot und Jared verschiebe ich sie nach oben. (04.12.2016)

I was originally going to give it two stars, but then I added one more for Margot Robbie and Jared Leto. Every time they appeared together or even separately in a scene, I started enjoying it. Otherwise, the film felt clichéd and dragged a bit regardless of the number of action scenes, or maybe because of them. The fact that the film and Will Smith were supposed to be so cool was just too obvious. One badass line after another and everyone was acting so tough and hardcore. Eventually, the only believable characters left were Harley Quinn and the Joker. Plus, I loved one of Harley’s superpowers which was to fire an unlimited number of shots from a six-shot revolver without reloading. That’s even more useful than invisibility sometimes. Not wishing anything bad on Will Smith, but I don't see him winning an Oscar this year either. (11.01.2017)

Exactly what I expected. It's an overburdened nonsense that tries to rely on characters, half of whom are in the movie just for the sake of being there, because fans might want it. One would prefer to remain silent about the fact that this team could never function without script gimmicks. What cannot be torn down is the great music. (07.08.2016)

On the surface it's actually quite likeable, but underneath all the wild hair shades, tattoos, and bizarre Harley Quinn costumes is a story that doesn't really click at all and whose "funny" moments are often not funny in the slightest. Nor can Ayer be particularly praised at the very least for the visuals because Suicide Squad is not even visually original and resembles again only a rather pretty digital coloring book. The entire concept is wrong from the start, because in a two-hour film you simply can't manage to introduce all the characters and still get them together for their "first group action" sequence. Or actually you can – but then it turns out exactly like this did. I feel pretty much the same way about this as I did about Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, where the potential of each character was also woefully underutilized. Right from the start, the Warners are going through the entire comic book universe with shortcuts and simplicity in a bad way. I'm more disappointed than angry, because the potential of the individual characters is huge in my opinion, and I have no choice but to hope for some brighter tomorrows. But I still can't quite discern whether the problem of the DC universe is that the studio doesn't know how to tap into that potential or simply doesn't want to. (13.01.2019)