Directed by David Ayer
Written by David Ayer
This is a film that honestly should not have been made yet. People will argue that point due to their drooling over Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Harley Quinn (yes I liked those scenes also). I can easily say this film is a direct result of Guardians of the Galaxy’s success. Yet this film suffers from the easy storyline of destroying New York. I for one and sick and tired of watching film after film with a plot line of destroying New York (aka the world according to Hollywood).
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Avengers, Ghostbusters, etc. David Ayer does a rush job introducing us to some fleeting past scenes of each character of the Suicide Squad and forces them together quickly with hardly any montage of them training together. Just stick a tiny bomb in their necks and force them to team up. No Segway, no much needed montages, just cram them in a helo and crash land it and wing it. That makes this film with so much potential to be great and just as the helo crashes this film crashes also. No backstory on the villains and who they were in the past and what tragedy befell them to want to enslave the world. Nothing. Just they are powerful bad guys and the less than bad guys must band up and take them on. Poor writing and hasty execution.
I feel Ayer’s may have benefited if there had been a second writer on this screenplay. Will Smith had more to give this film in emotional depth that what was captured on film. Harley Quinn did the right thing for her character and clearly most people enjoyed Jared Leto’s take on the joker which pays homage to the classic character which many movie goers find hard to rid themselves of the excellent take of Joker done by the late Heath Ledger in the Dark Knight film by Christopher Nolan.
Aside from the Joker and Quinn in this film, Ayer’s did not give enough composition and setup for our band of misfits to come together before they actually have to come together. Maybe this was his premise to force them to work together, but I personally would have liked to seen them rub each other the wrong way more often when the world isn’t yet at stake. Maybe setup an earlier mission with lower stakes than the world to display this. Plus why again go to the typical ‘destroy the world’ (aka New York) plot point? Can we have a bad guy who doesn’t want to destroy or enslave us all? Perhaps a bad guy who was wronged, and in their way are trying to set a wrong right?
The makes for a tragic character the audience can actually feel for. That is how you raise the stakes. Stop destroying New York or the world. Start destroying the world within the characters and show their flaws more. That is where you can dive into from a writer’s perspective and give the movie going public something more than what you offer currently. How to write this movies wrongs? Expand the squad’s backstory, add montages, remove the ‘destroy the world’ premise, and develop the villain’s backstory more so the audience feels for them and their fight.
Last but not least…no more New York…please.
Thanks for reading Writing Movie “WRONGS.”
Writing Movie Wrongs (MovieWrongs.com) was created by Author Jim West to show how great storytelling is built on strong writing. In each review, he aims to highlight points in film that capture what the medium is capable of, or provide feedback on small improvements that would make a huge difference to the story’s plot. Read more about Jim West at JimWestAuthor.com.