Suicide Squad's Extended Cut: 8 Problems The Movie Needs To Fix

6. The Choppy Editing

Suicide Squad Deadshot Hero Shot
Warner Bros.

Here's another issue with Suicide Squad's structure and pacing, but one that permeated the entire movie. Even though the film was over two hours long, it constantly felt like it was zipping along at a lightning pace, trying to cram in as much as it possibly could and failing to leave scenes the breathing room they desperately needed.

The movie jumps from flashbacks to exposition to action and dream sequences in a breathless fashion, appearing as though it's trying to mask its shortcomings behind a flurry of quick edits and montages. Adding more fuel to the fire, the finished film was apparently stitched together by a company that specialises in producing film trailers, which explains Suicide Squad's overly kinetic feel.

Subsequently, at least one or two of those 13 extra minutes should be used to just slow things down a bit. They don't need to add any extra footage here - just make the action less choppy by holding those shots a bit longer, and make the film's overall editing less tight. This makes it easier for audiences to follow along and understand what's going on, which works wonders in a movie that's as chock-full of characters and plot threads as this one is.

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Danny has been with WhatCulture for over ten years, and is currently Doctor Who Editor and WhoCulture Channel Manager, overseeing all of WhatCulture's Whoniverse coverage. In 2022, he took charge of WhoCulture and has grown it into the biggest Doctor Who channel on YouTube, and one of the biggest Doctor Who communities on the web full-stop. He has been writing and video editing since his early teens, and first got a taste for content creation after making his own Doctor Who trailers, off the back of a burning obsession with the Matt Smith era of the show. Like many his age, he first got into Doctor Who with the 2005 revival, but has since gone back and fallen in love with the classic years too. If you need someone to recite every Doctor Who episode in order, or to give you a random factoid about the making of Gridlock, Danny is the person to ask!