8 Ways Suicide Squad Improved On Batman V Superman
Hey, baby steps are still steps.
It’s fair to say DC’s Cinematic Universe has gotten off to a shaky start. Both Man Of Steel and Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice suffered mediocre reviews, and inspired a million articles decrying everything from the violence to the terminal lack of humour.
Suicide Squad was positioned as the movie that would help change perceptions after Dawn Of Justice, and would be a fresh, inventive adventure that would introduce lesser known heroes. Unfortunately, the critical reaction thus far hasn’t been much better, with everything from the story to Jared Leto’s self-indulgent take on the Joker coming in for complaints.
Still, Suicide Squad has a lot of staunch defenders and there’s no denying it’s a marked improvement on the glib Batman V Superman. David Ayer is too unique a filmmaker to make something with no redeeming qualities, and while the movie isn’t perfect there’s still a lot to like. The cast is solid, Margot Robbie kills it as Harley Quinn and it’s nice to see a comic book film where the heroes aren’t squeaky clean.
So let’s take a look at some of the ways Suicide Squad improved on Dawn Of Justice, and why that’s worth celebrating.
8. It Has A Sense Of Humour
Zack Snyder seems to really love directing movies, but that joy doesn’t come across in a lot of his recent output. Even Sucker Punch – a movie about scantily clad ladies fighting dragons and giant Samurai’s – takes itself quite seriously. Batman V Superman was a similarly po-faced affair, with a brooding Batman facing a depressed Superman while the colourless world around them cowered in fear.
Only Jesse Eisenberg was having any fun, if only because he thought he was guest starring on the Adam West TV show. Suicide Squad is serious when it needs to be, but it remembers to have some fun too. Will Smith has a steady stream of cynical one-liners, Margot Robbie is having a blast playing Harley and who knew Jai Courtney could be funny on purpose?
The humour helps flesh out the human side of the gang, so when events get serious the audience feels for them a lot more. They do mess up one gag, though; when Captain Boomerang flees from the bar, he really should have stayed gone for the rest of the movie.