Let me make something clear, it’s between Rogue One and Suicide Squad for movie of the year. There are no other contenders.

I go into every comic book movie hoping for the best but preparing for the worst. See Game of Thrones and X-Men for further clarification. If you come from the original source of work you know how disappointing translations can be. While that’s fine for 90 percent of moviegoers, the 10 percent of readers lived with these characters long before a camera came along and should be respected.

The comic book movie to beat is Watchmen. There’s no better translation and when it came to keeping gritty. Sorry Margot Robbie you just couldn’t compete with Malin Akerman. Not overtaking Watchmen doesn’t hurt Suicide Squad’s overall appeal.

DC needed a win. Batman vs Superman wasn’t terrible but the writing relied way too much on fight scenes. You’ve got two of the most interesting people in the universe and you need CGI to carry a movie. Suicide doesn’t fall for that cheap mistake.

Ninety percent of the movie is Harley Quinn (Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith), and Joker (Jared Leto). Ninety percent of the movie between those three is Quinn. This hurts the movie. Not because Robbie can’t act because she’s a stellar Clown Princess, the problem is where is Enchantress? Her role not only gets stunted, it’s depleted. You forget she’s there. Katana’s role isn’t a complete afterthought, but even most of her scenes get thrown to Deadshot.

Will Smith can act. This is not a movie for beginners. Thankfully Smith can bring it, some of the writing in this movie between him and Harley sets up for things later to come. (Cough cough).

You’re either going to love or hate The Joker. Honestly, I think most of you are going to hate him. Not because he can’t act- but be honest, you want Heath Ledger. Which is fine, I get it, but penalizing Leto isn’t right. Joker has to be unpredictable and psychotic. Master those two things and you can build upon him. Leto did that. Plus he gave great face in the movie. Classic Joker.

I have no intention of watching How To Get Away With Murder, but Viola Davis makes me a believer. She was a strong without being nasty component to the movie. Her character is unlikable. Her screen time limited. She along with Joel Kinnaman pulled off being backbones to the movie.

There was the villain? Are you sure because I know there were fighting against someone and it could have been the wide receiver for the Patriots and I’d be none the wiser. That’s where the biggest fail of this movie is. Our anti-heros become our good guys so now you need to write someone annoying that I want eliminated. Good writing could have solved this in minutes. Good shooting could have made me felt something. Honestly, I left the movie forgetting they were fighting against someone. It felt like fighting for the sake of explosions.

The big three take care of that. Deadshot, Harley Quinn, and Joker, overtake Killer Croc plot so you’re absorbed with their action scenes. It works but Captain America does a better job at plot structure.

Forget all that. This movie is still a wild, upside down ride! The first twenty minutes you get the character’s backstory and then hold on because it’s go time.

Duffies out of 5: 4.5. Fun. Well acted. Glorious fight scenes.
Viewer Demo: Comic Book fans and everyone in-between. Look for readers to be more critical which they should be.