Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Suicide Squad (2016)

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-07-2016, 10:05 PM:

I had high hopes for this one, because I liked Batman V. Superman muc more than I thought I would.

I also thought the trailers for this movie were some of the most inventive and best-edited I'd seen in a long time.

So, I was kind of disappointed in the fact that it's just another one of the same kind of boring, no-holds-barred, gazillion plot threads and side-stories, quick-edited, bombastic endless-overblown-fight-scene movies with an "indestructible" villain and a "save the world" story. (Why can't they get back to just saving a few people, or a city?) The clever editing from the trailers was not in the movie at all, although some of the music from the trailers was there.

I will admit that I liked it better than the recent Captain America movie, but mainly because it was shorter than that one. Margot Robbie's character was the most interesting thing in the movie (in more ways than one). But there was just nothing to care about in this flick, at least not for me. The sound mix was very good, I thought.

My friend who loves these kind of movies thought it was "fantastic," so whatever floats your boat, I guess. But for me -- 2 out of 5 stars.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 08-08-2016, 12:50 AM:

Sooo... that was pretty terrible...

It's been a while since I walked out of a movie, at least out of one I decided to watch that is. I would've stayed for the two that joined me, but it seemed that we quickly reached consensus it wasn't worth it anymore, even though we had already more than an hour invested into it.

If you need an example of what happens when a bunch of studio execs look at Deadpool, see that it was pretty successful and decide: I want one like these! Hey, we've got this thing in the pipeline. Apply your magic on that one please... This one right here, is your new reference.

This movie has so many characters, it needs the better part of 40 minutes to introduce them all. Luckily, you won't care about any of them. They're as disposable as a match, not as in a box of matches, but as in a warehouse full of crates, full of boxes, full of matches.

Suspension of disbelief is hanging by a threat after just a few minutes. Once the abysmal, over the top acting of otherwise respectable actors kicks in, it's out of the window and run over by a bunch of road rollers.

Maybe I don't have any right to speak, because I'm judging only half of the movie, but then again, it's a little bit like toast that's burned on one side. Even though it's the most perfectly roasted piece of loaf ever on the other side, it's still totally unpalatable and not worth the effort, cutting it down the middle.

Somehow, I feel sorry for all the people that put in their efforts to create all those special effects for such movies. It's like all the creativity and efforts are nowadays focused there. If only 10% of all those efforts would be put into the actual story writing... Man, who knows what could happen...

Posted by Jonathan Goeldner (Member # 4854) on 08-12-2016, 12:27 AM:

I have to say this was the reverse of what I expect from seeing "crappy trailers to the movie was actually much better" but wound up being "great trailers, lousy movie"

I don't even know where to begin as to why I didn't like it, but there's one character that literally has no function and well ... I won't go there. The script felt patch worked together and personally I thought could have used a second writer. The editing feels way off and technically the Dolby Atmos mix was mediocre at best. 3D was actually much better than the Marvel conversions, but ultimately didn't help out the other flaws.

C- in my book. (and I have no plan on buying this on bluray or UHD).

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 08-12-2016, 01:15 AM:

There's an article in the Hollywood Reporter about this movie - very interesting. I can't find it online yet, but it basically said that David Ayer's final cut of the movie was tested alongside a "studio version." The "studio version" was more lighthearted than Ayer's version, and it tested better, so they ordered a lot of changes to make the movie be more like the trailers...which they weren't successful at, I don't think. The trailers were exciting, the movie was boring.

I've seen that comment about the trailers being better than the movie in several reviews now.

However we're getting good crowds to it and people generally seem to be liking it, so who am I to judge?

Posted by Frederick Lanoy (Member # 5416) on 08-12-2016, 06:30 AM:

Like most critics, I thought the movie is an absolute mess. Also, it's hard to believe that these guys are actually bad... a loving father, a monster who makes jokes, a nice psychopath in love with the joker... Well...

The real bad guy (a witch) is really one of the most pathetic vilain of the recent cinema movie industry.

Saw it on a hudge screen (Barco Laser 4K-60L) in 2D and Dolby Atmos. A rather good presentation but I didn't feel an Atmos effect (maybe one or two scenes but not enough).

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 08-12-2016, 06:42 PM:

Lots of fun getting this one. No movie at the bus depot yesterday morning when I went to check, though the trailer drive and a poster tube were there.

My wife went to the bus depot last night while the show was on to check again. Since the waybill was attached to the trailer drive, there wouldn't be a waybill with the movie drive; the only way to find out if the movie showed up is to go and look on the freight shelf at the bus depot since the workers there wouldn't know a movie hard drive from a box of flowers or parts for a tractor without a waybill.

She gets back and tells me, nothing there.

I zip out there again this morning and wait for the bus to show up; it does. No movie, again. Called the film warehouse and the guy there tells me that Greyhound just brought it back to him.

Another theatre down the road still has their drive sitting in their projection room, though, so... road trip!

Picked it up, got it back here and ingested, and discovered that while they sent me keys for six different versions, the one that I actually wanted (3d 5.1) isn't there. Back on the phone with Deluxe, they send me another key right away, and now I'm good to go.

After all that... The best thing about this movie is the music. Maybe people who know more abut the characters understand what's going on.

I wonder what happened to the hammer, though. When the crazy girl first gets suited up she had a big hammer, then in the next scene she has a baseball bat and the hammer is never seen again.

The trailer was great, the movie... not my thing. The fellow that I picked the drive up from said that he was packing 'em in and tamping 'em down all week, so hopefully I'll see the same thing here.