Writer: Naseem Randhawa

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Watch this if you liked: "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice", "Deadpool"

The Good, the Bad and the Puddin':

First things first, the question on everyone's mind: "Is "Suicide Squad" able to balance out the overly serious tone set by DC Comics through this year's "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice"?"

Yes, "Suicide Squad" injects the much-needed entertainment factor to the DC slate, an element seriously lacking in the DC universe thus far.

When the first teaser for "Suicide Squad" was released a year ago, it was very much similar in style to the dark tone of "Batman v Superman". The following trailers then took on a noticeably 'fun' approach, introducing the quirkiness of the supervillains via catchy one-liners and antics amplified by Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody".

This similar effect is also embedded throughout the movie, which seems to have gotten its much needed boost thanks to its loud, catchy, and well picked out tunes to set the right mood.

Like a series of vignettes, more time is spent on introducing the squad in the beginning of the movie - mainly Will Smith's expert marksman Deadshot, Margot Robbie's transformation from sane psychiatrist to the deranged Harley Quinn, and to a certain extent; Jay Hernandez's El Diablo, an Los Angeles gang member with pyro abilities.

With each character getting their introductory background song, the movie is affectively and continuously injected with adrenaline thanks to tunes from Queen, The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, Black Sabbath and also Eminem, among others.

In between all the character introductions, we have scenes of Viola Davis as the ambitious Amanda Waller, a government official who assembles the baddies for her bidding.

Then there's Jared Leto's Joker, who like a crazy knight out of castle Arkham Asylum is out to rescue Harley while she is out from prison.

And yes, as promised in the trailer, there is also Batman a.k.a. Batfleck.

As expected, Will Smith's well-casted Deadshot provides much of the laughs in the film, and his no-nonsense smooth demeanour dominates more screen time over the other supervillains.

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is the best choice DC could've made, as she adds a lot of sizzle to screen with her sexiness and deranged lovelorn personality described as 'more psychotic than Joker and with no fear'. It would be so interesting to see the loony Harley Quinn and regal Wonder Woman face off in the upcoming "Justice League" movie if the opportunity presents itself!

Where Harley is crazy, Viola Davis has all her gears glued in place as the tough boss of the squad. Not afraid to call the shots, her character would definitely appease feminists (where Harley's might not). She is fearless and also trigger-happy at times, which makes her not too far off from the members of the squad themselves.

One of the more unexpected things about the movie is Cara Delevingne's Enchantress. Her transformation from Rick Flag's archaeologist girlfriend, June Moone, to an ancient evil force is quite unsettling and scary. Her famous model features; her eyes, really do stand out and help carry the weight of her possessed character. A particular early scene in the movie focusing on her hand as she transforms from June to Enchantress is quite fascinating to see.

Admit it, Jared Leto's Joker is why many of us were waiting to see "Suicide Squad". He is not as flamboyant as Jack Nicholson's Joker and is not as vindictively calculating as Heath Ledger's portrayal. What we have with this method-man is a loud tacky shirt, gold grill, rings and chains wearing maniacal junkie gangster. This (dare we say, fashion conscious) Joker is quite fun to watch and his crazy is definitely off the charts. Although, it is still hard to say if we like him as much as we do Ledger's Joker, seeing that Leto's Joker only got around 15 minutes of screen time in this movie and most of it was of him plotting to save Harley like a psychotic romantic. Perhaps the best bits are saved for the standalone Batman movie?

With that said, the plot isn't completely without its flaws. One of the more notable ones is the villain, er, the MAIN villain the Suicide Squad are up against, who wouldn't even be around if someone hadn't tried to form the Suicide Squad in the first place! I mean, why form a team of supervillains and let them loose into the world when the superheroes tried so hard to capture them in the first place? Why not just call upon the superheroes to save the world once again? Yes, the death of Superman from "Batman v Superman" is addressed here, so there may be a lack of superhero manpower, so to speak, but to take that unwarranted step when there is no justified risk at the beginning of the movie gives one something to think about.

Sure the villains under David Ayer direction ("Fury" "End of Watch") are presented as quirky yet fun bad guys, but they are also shown to have redeeming qualities like Deadshot who struggles with his villainy as he pines for his young daughter, Harley who acts deranged out of her undying love for Joker, and El Diablo who wants to quit using his abilities over his tragic past. Although this makes the characters somewhat more human and relatable to audiences, it also puts the damper on the 'super' in supervillain.

"Suicide Squad" is set up as good introductory movie and leaves us wanting to see more of the characters especially, Joker, Deadshot and Harley. Hopefully this premise allows the squad to explore their full villainous extent in the next one.

Yeah, yeah... we know there'll be a next one.

Cinema Online, 03 August 2016