The First Batch of Suicide Squad Reviews Are In! The Consensus?

Well….the first batch of Suicide Squad reviews are, apparently, kind of a mixed bag. With the review embargo lifted as of 43 minutes ago, movie critics who viewed the recent premiere of DC’s latest stab at a cinematic universe were legally allowed to publish their thoughts on David Ayer’s villain-focused film. What did they have to say?

Hold on a damn second here. As a fan of DC characters, I’m really, REALLY hoping for a win here. And when I mean “win,” I mean something that I truly enjoy; something 90% of the fan-base can give a collective thumbs-up to, and something the critics and non-comic fans can rally behind. These initial reviews are not bad, but they aren’t presenting that unified front of universal enjoyment I was hoping for. Now, I rarely adhere to the critics, but sometimes…sometimes they’re right (e.g., Batman V Superman Theatrical Cut). Anyway, let’s see what some of the critics have to say.

Movie Nation was the first review in; to do that, they broke the embargo. FOR SHAME!

“…They made that movie by fanboy request, to fanboy-dictated parameters. Keep it dark, because, you know, this is a comic book — serious stuff. “Suicide Squad” is part of that whole dystopian DC comic universe, where Superman’s dead and The Joker (Jared Leto) isn’t. And Batman is Ben Affleck. So the studio was hemmed in there, as well. And what they’ve given us is a formulaic, blood and bullet-riddled David Ayer (“Training Day/Fury”) superhero thriller starring a high-mileage Will Smith and Margot Robbie’s butt-cheeks.”

Hmmm. Not too bad, but Groucho Reviews chimed in with a bit more negativity (but again, not too much, and I could still “lap it up”).

“The result is a novel but muddled supervillain action movie, decidedly not for kids, and not very fun for adults. The decades-spanning anthology of tough-guy (and gal) songs on the soundtrack is another sign of a filmmaking team that knows its film needed some artificial respiration. Some comic-book fans will lap it up, but Suicide Squad is all sauce and no meat.”

The Hollywood Reporter? Wellll….

“The action of the film’s middle and latter stages is largely set in a gloomy murk that recalls far too many previous dour sci-fi/fantasy films, and by that point, vestiges of the opening stretch’s humor and snap long have fallen by the wayside. Suicide Squad may not quite commit harakiri, but it certainly feels like it’s taken far too many sleeping pills.”

And here’s an excerpt from one of the worst I’ve seen so far today, compliments of ScreenCrush.

“After one of the crummiest summer movie seasons in recent memory, asking one film to redeem four months of tepid blockbusters might have been a suicide mission in and of itself. But Suicide Squad doesn’t even come close. From the first scene to the last, it’s an absolute mess, one whose harried pacing, jumbled narrative, and blaring soundtrack of radio hits suggests a desperate post-production attempt to reconfigure what Ayer got on set into something palatable and poppy. The movie opens with a shot of the logo for Belle Reve Prison, which serves as the Suicide Squad’s home base; the facility’s slogan is “’Til Death Do Us Part.” The direness of this movie, along with the staggering number of films yet to come in the DC cinematic universe, makes these words feel like the ultimate threat.” 3/10 Stars.

As previously mentioned, the reviews are very much a mixed bag. On to the positives, starting with Comicbook.

“Suicide Squad is the fun, action-packed movie DC Comics fans have been waiting for, delivering two hours of great quips, crazy action sequences, a pitch-perfect Harley Quinn, and other actors stepping swiftly and easily into their roles. Its flaws will bother some more than others – comicbook fans? You won’t have to worry.”

Now THAT’S what I want to hear! And USA Today brought more of the same.

“Like The Dirty Dozen for the Hot Topic generation, the team gets in-your-face introductions and things just grow more mental from there. But compared to its ilk, Suicide Squad is an excellently quirky, proudly raised middle finger to the staid superhero-movie establishment.”

YES! And Empire brought more of the same-same!

“Like Avengers Assemble forced through a Deadpool mangle, Suicide Squad gives new life to DC’s big-screen universe. So bad-to-the-bone it’s good.”

And ComingSoon.net was also a fan, summing it up thusly:

“Suicide Squad is a great step in the right direction for the DC film universe.  It is well worth checking out on the big screen and is right up there as one of my favorite movies for the whole year so far.”

So, we’ll probably update this post later and present more reviews, but…what do you think about the opening salvo of critical reactions? Personally, I’m not beholden to critics (like, EVER), but sometimes….sometimes they offer truths I’m not always willing to accept. At least, not initially.