Which Suicide Squad Movie Is Better?
5. Pacing
Pacing is an important part of any movie, to ensure the audience is consistently engaged with the story and not frequently checking their watch.
Though Ayer's film clocks in at a seemingly reasonable 123 minutes, Warner Bros.' final cut of the movie is a frantic, hyperactive mess, with the first act in particular trying to cram in a frankly obscene number of expository character introductions.
The whiplash-inducing editing makes the 2016 movie feel too hurried for its own good, though ironically the third act is conversely an interminable slog as the Squad takes on Enchantress.
Despite being almost 10 minutes longer, Gunn's film barely feels like it's 100 minutes long, let alone 132.
This is a great example of a movie that never sticks in one place any longer than it needs to in order to get the point across - no doubt aided by slick editing from veteran cutters Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner.
WINNER: This is one of the most egregious aspects of the 2016 version, while an absolute technical high-point of the 2021 film.