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The Most Shocking Deaths In Suicide Squad Aren't Ones You Expect… (SEMI-SPOILER REVIEW)

Internet, what is your problem? Seriously.

I've just come out of seeing Suicide Squad. We had a nice surprise as the cast and director came out at the beginning of the London screening to try and win our love. The director even acknowledged the poor reviews the movie has received and asked us if we hated it to be creative, and overblown in our hating.

He really shouldn't have anything to worry about. They laid on free food and an open bar, which is always a sign of fear, they want the reviewers mildly sizzled and forgiving.

I had an apple juice. What you are seeing now is not affected by alcohol or flattery or any other nonsense. I sat in an auditorium and watched Suicide Squad and really enjoyed myself. I laughed, I rooted for one member, then another, I felt challenged, I reflected on my own life, and I saw lots of cool stuff blow up in spectacular ways.

It is a shame that this film came after Deadpool, I think it was have been more of a shocking surprise without that masterclass. Of course the reshoots may well have been because of Deadpool.

But it was a lot of fun – here are some first thoughts. I am sure I will have others. There are some semi-spoilers, and there's one scene which for me the movie pivots around which I am going to spoil the hell out of. But I'll keep most of them away. Honest.

This is a film about sex and death. It begins with a dead Superman and the world that exists in its wake, darker, sadder – but also madder, with the laughs that accompany it.

Sometimes that's blatantly obvious with the sexualisation of Harley Quinn, who weaponises it into a deadly killer machine. The character will be both criticised and celebrated for that, and it is a gripping screen performance. The bar scene where she commands the other squanders to own their misdeeds will be a pivotal one. Her shouting "Own It" is this film's meme waiting to happen. She is very much Jimmy and Amanda's Harley.. With just a touch of the rabbit policeman from Zootopia/Zootropolis.

Captain Boomerang – who really does nothing of use to the whole mission except for a little unnecessary reconnaissance – steals it with his pink unicorn toy fetish. Does rather smack of Deadpool reshoot yes? But it's his lack of care, preferring to get drunk, and willingness to push what's acceptable for his own self interest that provides the heart of much of the film. Even if he had been capped at the beginning of the movie, nothing much would have affected the plot.

There is a John Ostrander skyscraper. Nice. Lots of comic book credits at the end as well, everyone from John Byrne to Jerry Robinson to Lee Bermejo to Paul Dini to Carmine Infantino. Lots of characters, lots of people to thank. And is the smiley face in the department window a nod to producer Zack Snyder? It would make sense.

Deadshot I am less convinced by or interested in. Will Smith plays it great, takes all the good lines that Harley Quinn will let him and he looks fantastic, but for a dehumanised killer who cannot love, he spends an awful lot of this film concentrating on his feels rather than on his firearms. It fights the impression of the character and not in a conflicted, pointed way. I'd have preferred K to J on this one.

This Joker has a far stronger physicality than before, yes, even more than Heath Ledger. That was a man who would do the worst thing with a gun, a nail, a hammer. This joker will use his teeth and fingernails. But for all that there is a madcap quality which brings back Cesar Romero. The exquisite joy of finding yourself in the moment with nothing else to do but laugh…

And that madness does burst out in pockets across the film, sometimes very visually as colour schemes twist and turn, addressing the inner mind of each character, on the screen. To be fair there should have been more of this, the film fails when it starts to become more military procedural, when it's about soldiers talking building floor by floor, and less about Captain Boomerang trying to find his toy unicorn or Harley Quinn getting kicked hard in a sensitive place and imagining her ideal world with The Joker – in fact that's far more disturbing that anything else in this film. Okay maybe one or two things.

Enchantress looks like The Twilight Princess in Zelda mixed with The Ring, and once you get past some of the XBox graphics she and her brother work as the badder of the bad guys, reminiscent of Hellboy. There's also a touch of the Zuul and the Keymaster about it all, giving us a feel of the original Ghostbusters movie that the remake didn't. But it does justify the idea of having to deal with the next Superman, but one who doesn't want to play nice.

Killer Croc is simple but effective. Katana is haunted but brings it. Diablo has his demons which have to be redeemed. Everyone is there for a different reason, a different attitude, a different game plan. It just so happens that, for one beautiful moment, they align like the planets.

And the finale does bring everyone together, justifying everyone's presence to, possibly save the day. Aside from Captain Boomerang as we said, he's just happy with his lager.

Talking of drinks, as everyone gets their tipple, Deadshot has a shot, Harley Quinn has a ludicrous neon cocktail, we lose El Diablo's trailer line about water. Awwww…

But remember that but in BVS that you liked, where Wonder Woman has fun fighting, the smile on her face contrasting with the grimace of Superman and Batman? That is this whole film. People getting into the zone and then doing what they do worst. And you revel in it alongside them. Even when….

Oh yes, that big death spoiler scene I talked about? Okay, it is revealed that the reason the Suicide Squad are heading into the mayhem of Midway City is to rescue Amanda Waller. Which they do. It's as much a surprise to the characters as it is to us. And don't worry, she lives. And other Suicide Squadders die. It's kind of set up right from the beginning. But the big death surprise.

It's on the way out, extracting Waller and getting out of the control room that she's holed up in that she takes her gun and murders everyone else in that room who is not the team come to rescue her. That's military, that's computer tech, that's the intern fetching the coffee. Dead, in cold blood, for nothing other than they weren't cleared to know about this situation they have all found themselves in. It's a shock, it's a surprise and it sets up Amanda Waller as someone who will do anything on a whim, and is no different – or worse – than Deadshot. She is a cold blooded ruthless killer and suffers no consequences for this act. If anything it's her knowledge about what's going on that becomes a liability and sees others killed in their hundreds. There is also the very real fact that none of what happened in the story would have happened if Amanda Waller had left well alone. She has created her own nemesis and has to clear up her own mess, by sacrificing everyone else. Katana may have a sword that steals the should of those she kills, but Amanda Waller lost hers a very long time ago.

So there's that. It's one of many moments that slap you around the face in this movie and you don't get to laugh at it like you did Batman and Superman having a mother with the same name. If you like Amanda Waller being a badass strong black woman in control… well, this certainly is control.

Like I said, this film is about sex and about death – and the freedom that lies between the two and the consequences of your actions within that. But when it comes to Amanda, there are no consequences for her, and you're going to get f-cked. Everyone says that they are the bad guys, repeatedly, the only one who truly deserves that term is Amanda.

So, go in, have fun, be careful and use protection from other people's reviews. If you like the comics and you want a fun Suicide Squad film, here it is. What more do you want?

Well you do get a sliver of Flash. A mention of others. More Batfleck than you might have expected. And a mid-credit scene. But stay to the end to see all the comic book writers and artists names, you owe them that…

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