The DC Cinematic Universe’s third entry ‘Suicide Squad’ is here and is it as fun as we were expecting? Is it as bad as many have let on? Or is it an utter disappointment? As one of the very few who has enjoyed the previous two entries with ‘Man of Steel’ and ‘Batman v Superman’ I was hotly anticipating this film. There was a lot to look forward to with Harley Quinn’s first big screen appearance, Jared Leto’s take on the Joker, and much more. Hot off the heels of ‘Batman v Superman’ many had come away disappointed and concerned for the universe heading forward even though ‘Suicide Squad’ looked to have all the right pieces in place. The response to this film has been as negative as ‘Batman v Superman’ and I was worried that this film would be the beginning of the end for DC films. While I was sitting in the theater tonight I felt this energy coming out of the audience members from beginning to end. The audience ate this film up and had a grand old time despite what many others had to say. On a personal level, ‘Suicide Squad’ thoroughly entertained me despite some problems scattered throughout. Right off the bat director David Ayer does an excellent job of establishing the tone for the rest of the film that follows. I’ve seen many contend that ‘Suicide Squad’ is full of tonal inconsistencies but that is not the case at all. In the opening moments we are shown what type of tone this film will be and it keeps with that all the way through. A film that takes itself seriously but also has fun. If you think for a second that ‘Suicide Squad’ has a tone problem then you simply do not know what tone is, just because we’re in a moment of intensity and a quip is thrown in is NOT tonal inconsistency. I also found that ‘Suicide Squad’ does a really good job with the characters that we will be spending the film with. Deadshot, Harley, El Diablo, and Amanda Waller steal the show scene in and scene out. Viola Davis’ portrayal of Waller might be one of the most awesome characters this year. What really makes ‘Suicide Squad’ a fun time is how well the characters interact. Periodically we’ll get moments of seemingly lazy writing between the characters but it is made up for throughout. The action sequences are also quite fun and each character gets his or her own shining moment. There were a few instances where it felt repetitive early on but the choreography of it all was handled fairly well. ‘Suicide Squad’ has such a fun vibe throughout and each character has such a unique personality exclusive to them. So when we get those moments of adding depth we understand what type of battles and demons some characters are facing. This provides us with well-rounded, layered characters; some are treated better than others but there isn’t anything negative about that. Although this film is quite fun it is littered with problems from beginning to end but nothing stands out more than the villain. I won’t spoil who the villain is as it may come as a surprise to some viewers but the villain is an atrocity. For a film chalked full of the bad guys you’d expect them to get the main antagonist right. Right? Wrong. The villain is everything wrong with villains in comic-book films these days. Lazy, one-dimensional, a boring plan, boring everything. Every time the villain was on screen I felt awkward and uneasy, and was really disappointed by this. Luckily our leads save the film with their charm and charisma. ‘Suicide Squad’ also feels muddled in its storytelling process and plot structure. While the premise and plot is short, sweet, and to the point the constant flashbacks really bogged the film down and hurt the pacing. The film only runs 130 minutes but it felt longer and it ultimately hurt the film as a whole. You’d expect a film like this to be able to hit simple plot beats in stride but it felt choppy and came across as messy and less coherent than we would like. While the film is littered with problems between the villain, writing, and plot beats ‘Suicide Squad’ does a good job of making a film about the bad guys fun. I’d go, as far to say it is an average film but nothing more, it isn’t nearly as bad as many claim and is certainly a very fun experience. The one thing that sat really well with me during ‘Suicide Squad’ was how it expanded on the DC Universe. Most other studios would have gone the route we’d expect by expanding the universe through the heroes. Warner Bros. took a risk in expanding the universe through the bad guys and it worked for the most part. It shows me that WB isn’t afraid to take risks in the long haul and although it doesn’t seem to be paying off in the short game it could in the long. ‘Suicide Squad’ gets a 7/10