DC Comics Cinematic Universe

[HawkLord]

I was really pulling for Suicide Squad. I thought it could be a good entry into the "ground-level" superhero genre. I still plan to see it and from what I've seen, it appears pretty good (with the exception being the over sexualized Harley).

Personally, I feel like Wonder Woman will be the hardest to pull off, since past female superheroes have not been all that successful. And there's so much girl-bashing lately, I don't want it to end being trashed before it started like Ghostbusters.

[Actor Builder]

I saw Suicide Squad today, so a quick personal review.

It was okay.

Of the ten main characters, only two had fleshed out (And well done) backstories, and three had sloppy, incoherent backstories, leaving half the main cast as unknown weirdos, really.

The ones with strong backstories were

Deadshot (No surprise there, it's Will Smith.) and Diablo.

And the ones with muddled stories were

Flag, Enchantress, and Harley.

The other five really weren't given coherent stories or motives, really. They were just there.

The best actor, in my opinion, was actually Killer Croc.

He didn't do a lot, but he never broke character. He was consistently crocodile-like in the background or foreground or wherever. He had subtle yet effective Crocodileness to his movements, and I really appreciated it.

I didn't really appreciate the main villain...

REALLY BIG SPOILER! DON'T OPEN. IT'S LIKE THE ONLY REAL SPOILER FOR THIS FILM.

Enchantress was the villain, which was weird. The pacing was good, until all of the sudden they were like "Enchantress is evil and has a huge brother and they're taking over the world with a swirly portal 'machine' that makes no sense!"

It was a lot like Batman V. Superman, when Lex made Doomsday out of Zod. It was just a sudden "Wait, what?" moment that raised the stakes in a completely illogical, plot-hole filled way.

In my opinion, of course.

About the Joker...

He was wholly unnecessary and really a crutch for Harley Quinn's character.

I didn't like Leto as The Joker at all. He tried hard, but it just didn't feel like the Joker to me.

I wasn't entertained at all. Not even in a dark disturbing way, I was just like "So...What?" whenever he was on, which was not very long.

And it's not like I'm just going to bash whoever tries to top Ledger's performance, I'm certain it can be done. Ledger was great, but so was Nicholson. The Joker is open for interpretation, and I just didn't like Leto's interpretation. It just wasn't entertaining. In my opinion.

But it was fun. The film was fun. I didn't have grand expectations, so I wasn't disappointed.

It was just fun.

There IS an end-credits scene, so stick around, if you care. It's not crucial, but DC fans will want to see it.

[Zilcho]

Is the end credits scene right at the end, or a mid credits one like in most marvel films?

[Ceroknight]

Thanks actor builder!

Sounds like a fun movie! How long is Batman in the movie for?

[Actor Builder]

Is the end credits scene right at the end, or a mid credits one like in most marvel films?

Mid-Credits, now that I think about it. They did the main cast, then had a scene, then they did the production crew. I didn't stick around to see if there was a second scene after that.

Thanks actor builder!

Sounds like a fun movie! How long is Batman in the movie for?

I would approximate around six minutes, in and out, but almost exclusively at the beginning.

In flashbacks for the main characters.

[Krulis]

Saw the movie and loved it. The best DC live action movie in a long time.

Harley, Deadsot and El Diablo were propably my favourite characters, Croc and Boomerang were also great and to be honest all of the casting choises were perfect.

Action was fun, plot wasn't as convoluted as in BvS, there were some nice cameos and comedy was good.

I'd give it a solid 9/10.

About the Joker, I think Leto nailed it. Yeah, he had little screen time but he was great. I liked the mob boss vibe he had and he was just good representation of character. His relationship with Harley was also well done.

Moment when he makes Harley jump into the chemicals and is about to leave her to die but suddenly has a change of heart and saves her was propably my favourite. It was nice to see Joker show some fragment of humanity and caring about someone.

He may be my favourite live action Joker. Nicholson takes second place. I've never liked Ledger's version. His appearence and his behaviour just didn't click with me. He always behaved more like Anarky in my opinion.

But hey, Mark Hamill will always be best Joker. I think we may all agree on that.

Edited August 4, 2016 by Krulis

[Actor Builder]

Okay, Krulis liked it.

I guess this will be another split crowd film.

I didn't hate it, but if I had been more hyped up for it to begin with, I think I'd feel let down.

For me, it was more like a 5/10 than Krulis' 9/10.

[Krulis]

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

But yeah, from what I've seen the movie is going to split the audience. It seems to be a common occurrence this year.

[Ultron]

It wasn't a bad movie. There was some good stuff in there. For one, Viola Davis was awesome. Joker was crappy, didn't like him at all. They should've cut him and worked on the actual antagonist more. Harley was generally good. I liked Killer Croc a lot, Diablo and deadshot weren't bad either. They should've cut Captain Boomerang, he was lame and added nothing. A slimed down squad definitely would've benefited the movie.

[PicnicBasketSam]

I'm seeing so many conflicting reviews of this movie... probably going to get it from my local library when it comes out on dvd.

[Actor Builder]

A slimed down squad definitely would've benefited the movie.

This pretty much sums it up. It was crowded with useless characters.

The characters that they actually took time to develop well are obviously going to be the crowd favorites, and the others are just unnecessary.

But again, I didn't hate it. I just didn't love it.

Oh, I just remembered one of my gripes about it:

the accents some characters used were atrocious.

Boomerang was hard to understand and had more of an exaggerated cartoony cockney accent than an Australian accent.

I know they're similar, yes, but there is a difference. Maybe that wouldn't bother most people, but it bothered me.

Edited August 5, 2016 by Actor Builder

[Im a brickmaster.]

Going to see squad tomorrow, pretty excited. One of the last movies I planned on seeing till probably December *robotic breathing*

[Amazing Bricks]

Saw Suicide Squad yesterday, and it's not as bad as the critics are saying it is. There were great scenes and some characters did stand out more than others. However, the story was a mess. The characters save the movie for me. Of course, as you would expect, deadshot and Harley get the most screen time. They were great, they nailed their roles. Then there were characters who didn't get too much time and it's sad. Killer croc, katana, and boomerang suffer from that. They didn't do anything memorable and it's a shame. El Diablo is surprisingly a stand out of the film, I would explain why, but it's best you go see it for yourself. The villains were garbage, you won't rember anything they did after you've seen the film. I won't go into much detail with the villains, but they ruined the film for me. Amanda Waller was phenomenal, she got her character right and made for a great stand out of the movie. Joker.... I just wish he had more screen time. I mean he was good in the scenes he was in, but i wish we could've seen more of him. The good thing about this movie, is it makes you want to see these characters again.

Batman is only in the beginning dealing with deadshot and Harley. While his scenes are short, it was cool seeing batman dealing with joker, Harley, and deadshot. The scene with batman, deadshot, and his daughter is a memorable scene.

Then there's flash, who had a very pointless cameo in my opinion. He was in the movie for like 3 seconds. He's the reason boomerang is in jail. He's dressed in his own flash outfit and it looked good.

Slipknot... He dies, enough said. Who didn't expect that?

El diablo takes a sacrifice for the team and doesn't make it to the end credits sadly.

Overall, I liked the movie. It's not the best movie, but not as bad as critics are saying. There is a mid credits scene, so stay for that. I would recommend the movie, go watch it for yourself and see what you think about it.

Edited August 7, 2016 by amazingbricks

[Zilcho]

Saw Suicide Squad yesterday, and it's not as bad as the critics are saying it is. There were great scenes and some characters did stand out more than others. However, the story was a mess. The characters save the movie for me. Of course, as you would expect, deadshot and Harley get the most screen time. They were great, they nailed their roles. Then there were characters who didn't get too much time and it's sad. Killer croc, katana, and boomerang suffer from that. They didn't do anything memorable and it's a shame. El Diablo is surprisingly a stand out of the film, I would explain why, but it's best you go see it for yourself. The villains were garbage, you won't rember anything they did after you've seen the film. I won't go into much detail with the villains, but they ruined the film for me. Amanda Waller was phenomenal, she got her character right and made for a great stand out of the movie. Joker.... I just wish he had more screen time. I mean he was good in the scenes he was in, but i wish we could've seen more of him. The good thing about this movie, is it makes you want to see these characters again.

Overall, I liked the movie. It's not the best movie, but not as bad as critics are saying. There is a mid credits scene, so stay for that. I would recommend the movie, go watch it for yourself and see what you think about it.

Totally agree. The movie is flawed but definitely worth watching. Lots of good character moments, and fun throughout.

[x105Black]

I've been hearing a lot of bad reviews of Suicide Squad, which is refreshing to me because it just didn't look all that good. I'm glad that this movie and Batman v Superman were both poorly received, maybe it will convince DC to go back to the drawing board with their franchise.

For the record, I do prefer Marvel to DC, but I am a fan of DC. I just don't think it's being represented very well.

Also, what's up with Harley? I miss the old jester outfit.

[Actor Builder]

Also, what's up with Harley? I miss the old jester outfit.

It appears briefly in Suicide Squad, so that's something.

[Vindicare]

Finally saw it today. I thought it was pretty great. I felt the introductions were handled fairly well, especially for those who are causal fans. the fight scenes were cool. The first trip out was a good one. I don't understand why Ayer switched Deadshots eyepiece...stupid change. I thought Harley was played brilliantly. Joker as well. Wardrobe was a little odd at times, but I thought the delivery was spot on. Oh, I didn't care for Lawton being comic relief either...that was strange. I know that's sort of Smith's thing, but it's not Lawtons thing.. Davis...oh my, she handled Waller fantastically.

[Khscarymovie4]

I saw Sucide Squad, overall thought it was ok. Better then BVS, worse then Man Of Steel.

My main problem is the movie is way too overcrowded. Harley Quinn, Deadshot, El Diablo, Enchantress, and Rick Flag are the only characters that belong in the movie. Captain Boomerang, Katana, Killer Croc, Slipknot, and even The Joker are just thrown in. Lets talk about Slipknot, he has 30 seconds of screen time before being killed off. Now lets talk about The Joker, I don't like Jered Leto's performance as him, I mean it's not Jessie Eisenberg in BVS bad but it's not good. I feel if they cut Joker out of this movie it would almost be the exact same movie (But with less money at the box office.). I was really hoping for this movie to be good. I am now less anticipated for every DC movie now.

[Leo604]

Non spoiler remark about SS that's probably already been mentioned but I'll say it anyways:

It's like DC watched the rise of Iron Man+all the other Phase 1 movies then conglomerate into the super successful first Avengers movie, then decided a year later 'okay we'll make a backstory for a Superman reboot'. After that DC then decided to try and replicate Marvel's (still ongoing) success and just giving us these giant blockbusters with all the classic heroes and big stars, expecting all the big praise to come from said conglomerate; somehow they didn't realize it was the Avengers' backstories in their standalone movies that drew audiences to the characters before making Avengers 1.

I mean, on the surface it looks cool and makes them money, but BvS and SS don't appeal to anyone looking for a deeper and substantial story. I also don't see them being able to carry on this farce again if they botch JL 1 - the Suicide Squad box office drop this weekend alone is starting to show people are running out of patience with these shallow films.

Movie-wise it was fun and somewhat enjoyable, outside of the corny moments and weak story.

[NXS7]

Non spoiler remark about SS that's probably already been mentioned but I'll say it anyways:

It's like DC watched the rise of Iron Man+all the other Phase 1 movies then conglomerate into the super successful first Avengers movie, then decided a year later 'okay we'll make a backstory for a Superman reboot'. After that DC then decided to try and replicate Marvel's (still ongoing) success and just giving us these giant blockbusters with all the classic heroes and big stars, expecting all the big praise to come from said conglomerate; somehow they didn't realize it was the Avengers' backstories in their standalone movies that drew audiences to the characters before making Avengers 1.

I mean, on the surface it looks cool and makes them money, but BvS and SS don't appeal to anyone looking for a deeper and substantial story. I also don't see them being able to carry on this farce again if they botch JL 1 - the Suicide Squad box office drop this weekend alone is starting to show people are running out of patience with these shallow films.

Movie-wise it was fun and somewhat enjoyable, outside of the corny moments and weak story.

I agree. If Wonder Woman and Justice League go AWOL, I'm staying out of DC movies, and I say this whilst being a fan of both DC and Marvel (mainly Marvel but that doesn't cloud my judgment towards DC)

[x105Black]

I'm glad these last 2 movies were poorly received, as they didn't look very good.

I'm also glad that this happened before the Wonder Woman movie, as I know some were fearing that a poorly received Wonder Woman movie could convince the studio that a female led movie can't be successful. And I want female led movies in general to be successful, especially movies built on iconic and historical characters like Wonder Woman.

[HawkLord]

DC seems to want to make gritty realistic superhero movies and make Marvel-level money. The problem is Marvel movies aren't gritty realistic and are this more widely appreciated.

DC can't do gritty well enough and shouldn't just copy Marvel, so what are they left with? They need to accept a specific level of success and plan accordingly.

[PicnicBasketSam]

Yes, and this is the problem. I really want to like these newer DC movies, but a mix of studio interference and bad filmmaking does not a good movie make. They ought to stop trying to play catch-up to Marvel and do their own thing, which is actually what they were doing up to Batman v Superman...

[YellowCorvette]

My main problem with the newer DC movies are with the bizarre tone the movie has.

If seems like the studio through that the dark tone of the Dark Knight movies is what makes the movies successful, and throught that the same thing can be apply to the other DC characters. This is totally wrong. The Dark Knight movies can be dark and gritty because Batman himself is dark and gritty. The same thing can't be apply to Superman, Cyborg and Green Lantern because they aren't that kind of character.

[xboxtravis7992]

I saw Suicide Squad a few days ago, my first time watching a film in the DCU (I have not seen BvS or Man of Steel). It was a fun movie to watch, and far better than the critics are making it out to be (seriously some critics are calling it worse than than Fan4astic which is a serious exaggeration). With that said, it was not a great movie and while I was entertained by it, I could still agree it was a bad film. I loved Will Smith's acting and portrayal of Deadshot, he was awesome and could have sported a stand alone film. A few of the characters in the Squad where meaningless and I really had a hard time connecting to a lot of them:

I mean seriously who was that guy who died in the first few minutes of the Squad's mission? I have no clue who he was, he was dead faster than he appeared.

The villains where stupid. Enough said. "Building a machine?" WHAT?

I think Jared Leto's Joker wasn't to bad, but the writing and editing of the film really made him meaningless. He either should have had a larger role and been a more central character, or he should have had a smaller cameo type of role only appearing in Harley's flashbacks and at the end as he busted her out of prison. As it stands his character is very useless in the film and just serves to muddle the plot further.

I think DC needs to do a few things to help their films be better:

• Don't make films dark for no reason. As many of you have stated above while darkness works for Batman for example, some characters need to be in a more lighthearted tone.
  
• Make us care about characters, no more 10 minute montages, show us who they are and help us latch to them.
  
• Don't try and rush your films to 'beat Marvel.' Take time to make them right. I have no interest in seeing Justice League because I don't feel like I have had a proper introduction to the characters yet. I'd rather have a great Justice League film in 2019 or 2020, than the current rushing to a film in 2017 that is the current plan. I fear it will ruin the final product.