Suicide Squad finally opened in theatre this weekend , chartingimpressive box - office numbersbutless - than - stellarcritical response . A lot of io9 folks at went to see the movie over the weekend and , like lots of viewers , descend off with shrewish look that the picture could have been … well , better . Here are our thoughts on how we would have alter Suicide Squad .
No Military Support
The whole assumption of Suicide Squad was to assemble a full - deniability , metahuman - level task force-out to handle radical - powerful threats . So the fact that the Squad vagabond into Midway City with a ton of melodic phrase and ground backup feel like a bit of a promontory - scratcher as originative conclusion go . Thematically , the presence of a chummy detail of U.S. military scout group leave a foil for the group of non - hero ; their abilities look average compared to super - feats pull off by the villains . They also serve as a backdrop for the screwed - up moral and mental states of the Squad . But overtop officer Rick Flag does that all by himself . The Suicide Squad would ’ve matte a lot more formidable as just a six , seven - person squad without a bunch of G.I. Joe - a - like in the background .
A Better Villain/Threat
Once squad appendage - gone - speculative Enchantress gets power up by her formerly dormant brother , we get shown view of the sorceress destroying satellites and military infrastructure . What exactly was the flock here ? The Enchantress and her antediluvian transdimensional god - sibling wanted to , er , end modernness or something ? Outside of the consequences that it would have on some of the core cast ’s loved ones , the menace they presented to the creation at large was vague and tough to care about . A villain from Apokolips could ’ve work up on the aspiration sequence from Batman vs Superman and provided secure adumbration for the allege threat that the Justice League will be face .
Less Cannon Fodder
Yeah , those pustule - visaged grunt coming at Deadshot and crew sure as shooting were utter - look for the first few mo after they appear . But the engagement where the Squad and their armed force support engage with the necro - zombies mostly felt like filler . The exception being the episode where Deadshot mows down a whole wave by himself . By the time Harley ’s lift fighting with the Enchantress ’ stumblebum wheel around , the consultation is probably already in love with her . Every time the crustlike grunt showed up on screen , I acknowledge nothing of result was going to happen .
Throw Away Captain Boomerang
Played by Jai Courtney , the Aussie baddie was mostly buttery funny relief in the David Ayer film . But , in the Ostrander / Yale comics which comprise the most lovingly - remembered version of the Squad , Digger Harkness was a slimy , opportunistic creep - bro . He was n’t at all the loveable , derisory stealer portray in the movie ; choosing a more worrying interpretation could have given the pic the dark edge it seemed to be crying out for . This version of Boomerang was a waste ; the pocket-sized laughs his line got were n’t deserving the covert time spend on him .
More Batman
This was only Batman ’s second appearance in the DC Extended Universe and his conniption were almost surplus . It felt like the Dark Knight was in the motion-picture show only because Harley — and by extension , the Joker — was there . Suicide Squad should ’ve told TV audience more about Batman in this universe , especially since the movie refer that Harley helped Joker pop Robin . That factoid would ’ve been the perfect vector to pull the Dark Knight into a confrontation with Amanda Waller , who ’s using two bad guys that he put away as part of her squad . Is the Batman of the DCEU okay with his enemy running liberal , including a cleaning lady partially responsible for his pal ’s decease ? More screentime for the Bat would ’ve get the filmmaker do this question , provided they think of it in the first spot . But the post - credits view sort of make it seem like Ayer and work party did n’t get that far in their Bat - thought process .
Change the Mission
There was no need for the major dispute to be supernatural ; in fact , I think it made the story weaker . It doubled down on the “ report ” from BvS without adding anything new . It would ’ve been so much more interesting for DC to draw close how supernatural forces , particularly evil ones , palm human conflict . Have the SS be used for unique missions the government could n’t be officially involved in , i.e. their entire original intention . Have the final battle be , for object lesson , rescuing a valuable POW from behind enemy blood line . If they get catch , they take the fall . Since the freehanded foreign mission would be modest , you could devote more clip to establishing and training the team — you know , like most competent origin write up do . In this character , we ’d see their taunts , permit them get into antics . Watch them be freakin ’ bad guy .
Give Harley Quinn Longer Lines
Margot Robbie killed it as Harley . But she only address in wisecrack ; her line were typically 15 words or less each . While they were cute , they did n’t give us a luck to really identify with our so - called “ co - protagonist . ” I did n’t need her to be sympathetic , in fact , quite the opposite . I wanted to see her fustian and rave and just be crazy . Show us just how neat a Harley Quinn Robbie is . For cry out loudly , Will Smith got like five monologues , why could n’t he give one of them to her ?
Take Away Zack Snyder’s Rain Machine
If I have to see one more drop cloth of rain in a Snyder motion picture , I ’m going to lose my bullshit . It ’s lazy and contrived visual storytelling to block out the fact that you ’re not in reality doing any real storytelling . And no , I do n’t care that David Ayer channelize Suicide Squad , because it ’s still a Zack Snyder photographic film at heart . How do I know this ? Because there ’s still goddamned rain in a third of it .
Joker’s Mild
Cut the Joker . Or at least , cut most of the Joker . He ’s fine in the Harley flashback . And even his sudden appearance at the end might have knead . But he seemed to be in a all different movie to the rest of the cast . specially since , other than want to break Harley out , his plot was n’t related to the main threat — he ended up just pulling focal point and wasting metre that could have been spent with the actual Suicide Squad . Plus , the non - flashback clobber all had the Joker obsessed with getting Harley back , which is wildly out of character for the Joker , who is ordinarily portrayed as not really care about what happen to Harley as long as he gets what he needs from her . She ’s obsess with him , not the other way around . geld him , and practice Jared Leto ’s tears to water a plant .
A Little Backstory Could’ve Gone a Long Way
If they were run to make the master missionary work what it was , they should n’t have made it the first mission of that team . It would make a wad more sense , narratively , for it to be framed as “ carry through ” a member — which I bank , I thought they were doing until it turn out the somebody they were save was Waller — and then for it to be a perfidy . If the whole point had to be “ found family line and BFFs ” then they necessitate to lay that groundwork so Harley leaving , Rick Flag and Dr. Moon sleeping together , et cetera really made sense as shit to make the squad angry .
Samurai No-Down
Poor Katana . Just , misfortunate Katana . Her whole backstory was confined to Flag telling the others what bump in her past tense . If you ’re lead to add her to a team she never rolled with in the classic comics , do more with her presence .
Less Pop Songs
Yes , we live . The first full Suicide Squad trailer was universally praise for its usance of medicine and playfulness musical note . And yes , we know that Guardians of the Galaxy was a hit in early August a few years ago with a like use of pop music . But pop medicine is not this movie . It works on affair but , for the most part , it ’s very out of office . This is a drear picture about a squad of supervillains . Why not keep that tone consistent with a rousing yet ominous orchestral score ?
Make the Joker the Bad Guy
I thinkwe all agree the Joker was misusedin the film . And if you are n’t going to cut him like Katharine suggest , why not make him the baddie ? you’re able to have the same set - up , where Amanda Waller puts together the team to have in fount of a heavy threat . But then , just do n’t make the terror some mute secondary character like the Enchantress . Either make it the Joker the whole time , or make it a mystery story and discover it ’s him later . Not only does that give him more to do , but it leave Harley a moral dilemma when she ’s been combat all movie and then realizes the culprit was her puddin ’ .
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