Early reviews for Suicide Squad are awful. Is DC films doomed?

[Everlong]

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/suicide_squad_2016/

Looking like another absolute disaster for the DC Cinematic Universe. This one I thought at least had a slight amount more promise than Batman vs. Superman, but the reviews that are out so far are skewering it. Yiiiiiikes.

[Viazon]

Don't care. Still watching it.

I have a feeling DC movies have become something critics like to shit on. I mean, Man of Steel wasn't that bad. And I have yet to actually watch Batman vs Superman. And while most of the people I know who have seen it have said it is far from good, they all said it wasn't as bad as the reviews have made it seem.

I'm not expecting this to be an amazing movie. It looks fun and enjoyable and that's all I'm hoping for.

[Hanley!]

They're not doomed really. People are going to keep going to see them at least for the time being. Their films are consistently bad, but people are still forking out plenty of cash to go and see them. And one really big critical success could help turn things around for them. If Justice League sucks, then maybe the audience will really start to lose interest and their audience will start to decline, but I don't think we can write them off before then.

As much as I don't respond to what DC has been doing lately, and believe that they deserve most of the negative reactions they've been getting, I do think they're in a hard spot at the moment in some ways. For some reason people are holding superhero films that don't come from the MCU to higher and higher standards, while gushing over how amazing the MCU films are no matter how pedestrian or downright bad they might happen to be. The narrative the public is being fed by the media at the moment is that Disney/Marvel is the only company capable of making a decent superhero film. It's going to be hard to turn that perception around.

Can't say I've ever been interested in this one though. Leto's on set antics would have been enough to put me off this on their own, but it also looks unnecessarily grungy and shallow, the Joker looks horrible, and adding a fun song to the trailer never convinced me it was going to be a fun film. Fingers crossed the critics got it wrong with this one, because I think my brother might be dragging me to this next week, but I'm not feeling too hopeful.

[DBSoT]

I will be honest, it will legitimately bum me out if this film isn't good. The problem that BvS had was the pacing and storytelling of the movie. If that isn't better in Suicide Squad it will really be deflating. I have to agree with @Hanley!'s point that Marvel getting in early is really altering the perception of comic movies. I do think Marvel gets more of pass on their bad movies than DC, because they have very good ones to balance it out. For every crap tastic Age of Ultron, they had a Civil War to go with it. DC doesn't have that luxury and have to hit it big sooner rather than later. It also doesn't help that Christopher Nolan's films came out prior to DC designing the universe. Nolan's Dark Knight movies were not going to be matched in quality, especially with Zach Snyder at the helm of BvS. It is actually kind of odd that they are having such an issue with these movies considering the TV shows are doing pretty good. Arrow, The Flash, Gotham are all fairly popular shows. Maybe DC stories are just better told through a TV season and not 2/3 hour films.

[Hanley!]

I actually thought Civil War was shit. But I haven't seen Age of Ultron, so maybe that was worse.

I'm hearing that Robbie steals the show in this film, which is what you'd expect from trailers. But weirdly I haven't heard a lot of talk about Leto yet, which is weird considering he was the main thing people were talking about in the build up to the film.

[DBSoT]

[quote="Hanley!"]I actually thought Civil War was shit. But I haven't seen Age of Ultron, so maybe that was worse.

I'm hearing that Robbie steals the show in this film, which is what you'd expect from trailers. But weirdly I haven't heard a lot of talk about Leto yet, which is weird considering he was the main thing people were talking about in the build up to the film.[/quote] From what I have read, there is a reason for that.

Spoiler:

He is not in the movie that much.

[Circled Square]

>cape shit
>bad

Whoa, no way man how can that be possible

[KaiserGlider]

I think Suicide Squad tanking with critics surprises me even more than Batman v Superman. It seemed like a more fun and loose film that took itself less seriously than Batman v Superman. The marketing for it was definitely handled much better. Also David Ayer has directed some solid movies.

I haven't read any reviews yet, but if I had to guess what the problem was, I'd assume it was the pacing and too many characters being introduced at once. The trailers have shown that the film has flashbacks of Deadshot's backstory, Enchantress's origin story, Harley Quinn's origin story, and a Batman/Joker/Harley chase scene. That, along with having to introduce the rest of the Squad, Amanda Waller, and whoever the main villain is probably bogged the film down.

I don't believe that a large part of DC's struggles are due to people just being biased towards Marvel (though it was irritating how much skepticism there was towards DC's films before they were released compared to Marvel's). I think the reason the MCU films always get average-to-great reviews is because they're just safe and fun popcorn movies. Either they'll be really entertaining or pretty forgettable, but never really bad. The only one which really went outside this formula was Civil War, and they somehow managed to pull it off and have an awesome movie. On the other hand, the DC cinematic universe has been trying to go outside the box more and make movies that tackle heavier themes, are darker and grittier. Basically they've been trying to copy Nolan's trilogy to overtake Marvel, and it hasn't worked. Recently, DC has tried to shift to a lighter tone in response to the Man of Steel and Batman v Superman criticism, but judging by Suicide Squad reviews it looks like that hasn't worked either.

Another problem is that there's so many superhero movies coming out that it gets harder and harder to have good and original movies. What is DC going to do to make The Flash stand out when we've already seen two Quicksilvers in X-Men and Marvel? How is Justice League going to be better/more badass than the Avengers? How are Thanos and Darkseid going to stand apart from Apocalypse? Things like that are going to pile up more and more as these films continue to drop.

I don't know if I'm going to watch Suicide Squad in theaters. I was looking forward to Batman's scenes at least. It's probably better than the reviews say, and it sucks that people's opinions will be swayed by the negativity so much before they even see it, but that's the way it is. I'm honestly sad that DC can't get the ball rolling, because they have so many cool characters. The Wonder Woman trailer didn't get me very hyped, it looks like the first Captain America movie with better cinematography. I'll be surprised as fuck if Justice League doesn't get better reviews than Batman v Superman. There's been a lot of damage control with the marketing for it so far, but the hype train is still way down from where it was a year ago.

@Viazon, if you plan to watch Batman v Superman, I suggest you try the director's cut first. The consensus seems to be that it is definitely a better film than the theatrical version. I haven't seen the director's cut myself, but I'd be interested in seeing opinions of people who haven't seen the theatrical one.

[Ali]

I'm looking through the reviews, and even the "Fresh" ones are more along the lines of "it's okay" than "really good and worth seeing". Between Batman v. Superman, The Killing Joke, and now this, DC's film department has really s*it the bed this year.

I still want the Wonder Woman movie to be good, but when the best-looking product for DC movies is LEGO Batman, I don't know what they think they're doing.

[DBSoT]

**Warning Spoilers included**

So I saw this last night. Is it good? no. Is it as bad as its Rotten Tomato score? no. It is a decent action movie with a good premise, that fails in its story and editing. I did somehow find myself entertained by the movie. The first major issue is that there were way too many irrelevant characters. Slipknot, Katana, Generic army member (Scott Eastwood) and Tattooed Man (Common), all could have been cut from the movie and nothing would have changed. Slipknot and Common especially were just there to die. Seriously, they weren't in the movie for any other reason. They could have paid me $100 to do the same acting. Even Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang had limited backstories. Not exploring Killer Croc eating people kind of pissed me off. Captain Boomerang was there for comic relief and some action, but besides being a bank robber and using sharp boomerangs, you know nothing about him. It was even more pronounced when you consider how much they tried to give a backstory to Deadshot, Harley Quinn and El Diablo. That brings me to issue #2. The jump cuts between the main story and the flashbacks is just oddly done. The scenes themselves are actually pretty good. They give layed depth the characters they are presenting. However, they completely take you out of the main story. Harley Quinn's origin did seem a bit rushed and would have worked better as a stand alone movie. You don't necessarily get time to process the depth of Quinn/Jokers interaction in a few flashbacks. If they do end up making a Harley Quinn movie, then I am hopeful it is an origin story. Something that shows her interaction with the Joker in Arkham Asylum and her slow transition to her obsession with The Joker. This movie also missed one of the biggest aspects of the Joker/Quinn relationship, which is how abusive The Joker is to Harley (physically and Mentally). Deadshot's backstory was actually done the best and it almost pains me to say it, but Will Smith was actually pretty damn good overall. Yes, he does tend to play himself, but he added enough to the character that it worked. His origin about being a hitman for hire, just so he take care of his daughter, is compelling and his action scenes were the most well done. Finally, El Diablo at first was just kind of there in the movie until about halfway in when they explained his tragic story. Long story short, he let his anger get the best of him and burned his wife and kids to dust. He regretted it and chose not to use his power anymore. It was the first time in the movie that I understood why one of these "villains" would be ok with doing some good. It was a decent redemption story when he sacrificed himself at the end. That brings me to my last major issue. The climax of the movie was AWFUL. The final fight between Enchantress and the Squad was so cliche. This movie could have saved itself a lot of problems, if it just had a great villain. Instead it had Enchantress. She was nothing more than generic magic villain #1212424243242. It was the same issue I had with Apocalypse in the X-Men movie. If you have all this power and you want to destroy the world, then just do it. Enchantress just happens to get to full power, just as the Squad arrives. Also a bomb takes out her Brother, but no one thought to drop a bomb from one of the helicopters, AT A SAFE DISTANCE!!

The Good: The acting from the major characters was actually quite good. Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman and Jay Hernandez all did the best with what they were given. I will say that Leto's Joker takes some getting used to and would have been better served to be in the movie more. Is he Heath Ledger or Jack Nicholson, no, but thankfully he isn't try to be. As a stand alone character, he plays the part well and brings a different take. It won't be for everyone, but I liked it. Robbie did a great job with the Harley Quinn character. She nailed the accent, didn't try to be too much like the Joker and had some solid lines.

Score - 5/10 - It certainly has its flaws, but I went in with way lower expectations and was entertained. If you are looking for a great movie than stay far away. However, if you are a fan of the characters and can weed through the story a bit, there is enough to enjoy.

[prophet]

Just got back from this. Awful, just awful.

I don't read reviews so I've only myself to blame but yeah; there's too much to pick apart for me to even bother. Watch at your own peril folks, perhaps if you go into it knowing it's going to be shit it won't be as...well...shit.

Shout out Viola Davis for being the only thing about the film that wasn't shit.

[KaiserGlider]

Apparently a ton of scenes got cut for being too violent or dark. Perhaps DC should have scrambled to make Suicide Squad Rated-R after seeing the massive success of Deadpool.

[xgamr]

Blame Warner Brothers for the cut they sent to theaters. I believe its been confirmed they changed the movie up