Review: Suicide Squad (2016)

I have been looking forward to seeing this for so long, maybe too long.  However the combination of super hyped up excited for an age and the rumours of bad reviews put me on some sort of middle ground in terms of expectations.  I wasn't expecting the best film ever but I was still excited for what it was going to be.

Doesn't it just feel like we've building up to this movie for years now?! I don't know how I managed it but I watched the first trailer and stayed away from the rest, I didn't want to watch the entire movie after about a million trailers and 'TV spots' were released.

Does everyone already know the back story to Suicide Squad, who can have possibly not heard about it in the thousands of trailers floating around.  Anyway, short version is Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) assigns group of criminals to do the tasks that the Government cant be seen to be involved with.  With that shes pulls together Deadshot (Will Smith), El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Boomerang (Jay Courtney), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) lead by Rick Flag (Joel Kinneman) to take down their latest enemy.  Funnily enough, that being someone they released into the world as part of their programme (but that's none of my business!)

The intro to the Squad was probably my favourite part, I liked how each character had their own theme song of sorts, and the graphic overlays were cool, especially in 3D. I'll stick up a spoiler alert now, but I did find it funny that the only Squad member to not have an introduction got killed off within seconds. Um. Way to make it obvious and not shocking in any way at all.

I do have issues with this so lets get them out of the way first, it was a little bit flat.  I was expecting something (a bad guy or plot line) to really peak my interest and it never happened, it never quite reached its peak in terms of story.  Also, does anyone understand why they all became friends, initially I got the idea that they came together to try to escape, then they bonded over having to save Waller or they would all die.  Why didn't Deadshot kill Harley Quin? Why did Boomerang come back after he had the chance to walk away? Why do they care when they are supposedly cold bloodied killers?!

That is all my rants for today, because with all it's faults I still loved it.  I actually liked the fact that they had all bonded and become friends (even if it didn't make sense).  I really liked all the characters particularly Harley Quinn, I cannot wait to see her in her own movie.  She absolutely stole every scene she was in even with Jared Leto's Joker on the loose. The story had its faults but it was entertaining, I didn't fidget at all and forgot all about my ice cream and let it melt :( RIP ice cream...

It was entertaining, but it was bloody exhausting at the same time. Why we had such little time introducing these characters and their backstories just to fill the rest with what felt like the longest finale ever is beyond me. Margot Robbie and Will Smith were amazing, sadly Jared Leto didn't have nearly enough screen time for me to have a proper opinion, and I honestly couldn't give a rats ass about the other characters. Captain Boomerang only gift was his never-ending coat pockets, Killer Croc was 'gangsta' and Diablo was just too busy feeling sorry for himself. Oh and who's side was the katana-wielding girl on?!They were pointless to the story! No, story is the wrong word here, because that was all over the place.

Shouldn't Suicide Squad have been all about trying to get these 'bad guys' to work together? They just fell into line and chummed up within an instant. Sorry for drawing comparisons but the Avengers had a harder time working together than these guys. Also, they're meant to be the worst of the worst, but Deadshot is an absolute sweetheart.

I loved the back stories for each of them as well, which is usually the bit I dislike but as I didn't know these characters as well as some others it was interesting to see where they had come from.  Plus with there being so many, they were short and sweet not half the bloody film showing one person being bitten by a bloody spider! (I thought you liked Spiderman! Sad face.) I did the first time I saw the origin story and then they just kept them coming!!

It was fun to watch, it was better than Batman V Superman, and it wasn't anywhere near as terrible as I had feared it would be, but dang it Warner Bros, you were given enough time to get this right! A popcorn flick at best, sadly.

All in all, I really did enjoy it despite its faults which is all that matters really.  Now I have written my review I can finally read some of these 'terrible' reviews, I have heard so much about!! You er, don't need to look far I'm afraid. I think we're the nice guys :)

Review: Mr. Nobody (2009)

This might be the hardest review I’ve ever tried to write. Let me introduce this post with sentences that make sense before I spiral into confusion. My Grampy is an avid reader of our blog (or so he tells me) and I love catching up with him on a Sunday and discussing films we’ve both watched. He recommended Mr. Nobody to me ages ago now, and reminds me every week that he hasn’t seen a review for it on our blog yet.

Not that I’d purposely put it off or anything, but it’s taken me a long time to finally sit down and watch it. I knew it would be a mind-bender, but that’s actually my favourite kind of film. There have been a great number of films I’ve had to read into (Inception, Enemy, Donnie Darko) before I fully understand them, but Mr Nobody is still playing on my mind now, and so you’ll have to excuse me if this review makes little sense!

IMDB describes the film’s plot as the main character, Nemo (Jared Leto) as a young boy, stood on a train station platform trying to decide whether he should stay with his Father or get onto the train and leave with his Mother. The film then shows a series of possible outcomes of that decision. It’s extremely hard to work out what part of the film is the ‘current’ timeframe, as although it seems to be the elderly Nemo telling his story to a reporter, it’s made very clear that Nemo can ‘remember the future’.

I love the premise of the film. It’s a perfect cross between the Butterfly Effect and Chaos Theory. As a child I used to overthink the tiniest things and think about what would happen depending on my choices (I was an odd child) and so this film is just perfect for me. It was just that little bit too confusing. I’m still wondering if there’s a Sci-Fi element there, what with the journey to Mars and the future that elderly Nemo is living in.

Tying the whole film together is a trio of girls that Nemo knows as a child. Depending on his choices at the train station, in each of his ‘lives’ he ends up getting married to each of them, although it’s clear which his true love really is. Some of the stories are actually quite heart-breaking. The colours of their dresses when they are young remain with them as they grow older, the colour schemes are very clear.

By the time you’re reading this I’ll have met up with my Grampy, and maybe he’ll be able to shed some light on my confusions. That, or the whole reason he wanted me to watch it is because he didn’t understand it and hoped I would!

Mr. Nobody will now be known as the most confusing film I’ve ever watched, but it was thoroughly enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone who doesn’t mind taking paracetamol with their popcorn.