Suicide Squad Review: 3 Ups And 7 Downs

1. Joker Is A Simpering Love Interest

So much of Suicide Squad's hype has centred on Jared Leto's take on the Joker. Tales of his on-set antics became legend and rumours abounded it that he was going to be so psychotic there was no way the film could even get an R-rating. It was going to be an unnerving, character-redefining performance that dominated the DC Extended Universe going forward.

Well, he's a bit of a lame duck in the film itself. Ignoring the limited screen-time (that's not really much of a problem in a Task Force X movie by itself, although an awful lot has been reportedly cut) his characterisation is just a clusterf*ck. This "Puddin" is a career criminal with extensive resources and a minor predilection for the theatrical, with any psychological issues downplayed by a complete lacking of scientific grounding.

Who we spend most of the time with, though, is Joker The Star-Crossed Lover. His entire motivation in the film is to get Harley Quinn back, which he executes by cashing in on a range of debts with meticulous foresight. Maybe those deleted scenes gave him much more to do, but that's the extent of his role here. And when we're seeing most of this through Harley's eyes, that makes him little more than a love interest, a side-character to her arc.

Leto's performance is so erratic and nonsensical he can't push anything more through either, leaving us with the limpest Clown Prince of Crime yet.

Have you seen Suicide Squad? What did you think? Have your say down in the comments.