It was in the edit I just saw. During the flashback of Joker escaping Arkham, you see Harley strapped to a gurney, and Joker does his, “I’m not going to kill you, I’m just going to hurt you a lot,” line from the commercials before he starts giving her electroshock treatment.
Anyway, I was surprised by how much this didn’t suck. It’s not a good movie, by any stretch, but it’s miles better than BvS, and the ways its awful aren’t nearly as aggravating. It’s biggest problem is that half the cast doesn’t need to be there. They could have cut Killer Croc, Katana, and Captain Boomerang entirely, and not changed the plot one bit.
You could tell that they cut a major action scene for Croc, at least - the part where he goes underwater with the SEALs to find the explosive Flagg left behind is clearly setting him up for something cool, but then we only get two quick flashes of him fighting some dudes underwater. Pretty obvious there’s a missing action set piece there that ended up on the editing room floor. They should have left the rest of the character there, too.
Diablo’s “I’m not losing a second family!” line was painful. How are any of these people his “family?” He’s known them for, what, maybe four hours? And the only interaction he’s had with any of them is them making fun of him for not setting things on fire, and Harley Quinn berating him for being ashamed of incinerating his own children. Why does he give a shit about any of these people? And then he turns into a giant fire skeleton. Sure. Okay. Why not? And did I blink, or did they actually not show him turn into the the skeleton? He’s like, “I’ll fight him,” they cut to a different camera angle, and now he’s a big CGI monster? Really weird, because the scene of June Moone turning into the Enchantress in front of the military guys was so cool. Also, his wife being totally surprised that her husband, who has tattooed his face to look like a skull, is a gangster. Jesus, lady, what did you think he was? An actuary?
Captain Boomerang should not have been seen again in the movie after he bolted from the bar. That scene alone would have justified his entire presence in the movie. Also, fifty bucks says that the pink unicorn stuff was added as a direct result of the similar scene in Deadpool. And speaking of that, there’s the bit where he gets stabbed in the chest, but he’s okay, because the knife stuck… a stack of hundred dollar bills? Where the hell did that come from, and what happened to the plushie unicorn they’d gone to considerable lengths to establish he kept in that exact spot in his coat?
Slipknot was never going to live to act two, but they maybe could have telegraphed it a little less?
Katana served absolutely no purpose in the movie. No reason for her to be there at all, and she’s a complete non-entity as a character.
Deadshot was good, though it felt a bit like they held back on making him too dark, because it’s Will Smith. Less jokey, more assholey, but over all I enjoyed him.
Harley Quinn was great. Margo Robbie nailed the character. I liked that they worked in a shot of her in her original costume, too.
The Joker was just terrible. The biggest problem with this film is that the entire franchise is now locked into this version of the Joker. I didn’t buy him and Harley together at all. I just don’t see the attraction there - not because of the psychopath stuff, but mostly because it looks like kissing that guy would be like kissing an oil slick. Too greasy, too tattooed, and not nearly manic enough. He does have an amazing sociopathic stare thing going, though. There’s a couple shots where he’s hugging Harley, and the expression on his face is very, “Measuring her for a skin suit.” Jared Leto was horrible as the Joker, but I think he could make a pretty convincing Victor Szasz.
Amanda Waller was so close to being well done. She’s tripped up by two things: the overall plot, and the scene where she guns down her underlings. By making the Enchantress as the big bad, it makes Waller look just incredibly incompetent. She puts together the squad, over multiple objections that it’s way too dangerous, and almost instantly one of her pet super villains breaks out of her control and nearly destroys the entire world. The scene where she suddenly goes murdery was, I think, the single most Zach Snyder moment in the movie, because I don’t think the film intended the audience to see Waller as a psychopath there. I think we were supposed to see that as an example of Waller being a hardass who does the difficult jobs that nobody else has the balls to undertake. Which is her usual characterization. But, this is the DC Murderverse. Normal human morals don’t apply here, so callously murdering five people who work for you, to cover up the fact that you almost accidentally destroyed the planet, is just being “tough.” Or maybe I’m reading it wrong, and she’s supposed to read as an actual villain, and not just an antagonist. Not sure if I’m any happier with that explanation, though. Oh, yeah, and it turns out she has the file full of data on people with genuine superpowers who aren’t convicted murderers, that she decided not to use on her government Super Squad. Because, clearly, “guy with a grappling hook,” is a better pick over, “Can run at nearly the speed of light,” or “Warrior demigod.”
Rick Flagg is so boring I kept forgetting he was in the movie when he wasn’t on screen. Which, to be fair, is accurate to his portrayal in the comics. The most notable thing about Rick Flagg is that he doesn’t know how flags work. There’s a good fifteen minutes in the film where he wears that hat. It’s kind of hilarious.
Enchantress had a surprising amount of characterization, for someone who didn’t need to be more than a big sfx generator. More depth than you see in a lot of Marvel movie villains. (coughMalekithcough) I wish she’d actually spent some time on the team before going rogue, though. Using her as the big bad was a mistake anyway, because the squad isn’t supposed to be, “How do we stop a rogue Superman?” it’s supposed to be, “How do we do the things Superman isn’t willing to do?”
Anyway, I give it a 6/10.
