Suicide Squad is a 2016 American superhero film based on the DC Comics antihero team of the same name that was written & directed by David Ayer, starring Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood & Cara Delevigne.
Plot
| Spoiler Warning: The following contains important plot details of the entire film. |
In the aftermath of Superman's tragic death (which was depicted in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), intelligence operative Amanda Waller assembles Task Force X, a team of dangerous criminals imprisoned at Belle Reve Prison consisting of elite hitman Deadshot, former psychiatrist Harley Quinn, pyrokinetic ex-gangster El Diablo, opportunistic thief Captain Boomerang, genetic mutation Killer Croc & specialized assassin Slipknot.
They are placed under command of Colonel Rick Flag to be used as disposable assets in high-risk missions for the United States government. Each member has a nano bomb implanted in their neck which is designed to detonate if any member rebels or tries to escape.
One of Waller's intended recruits is Flag's girlfriend Dr. June Moone, an archaeologist possessed by a witch-goddess known as the "Enchantress". Enchantress quickly turns on Waller & decides to eradicate humankind with a mystical weapon as a punishment for imprisoning her. She besieges Midway City with a horde of monsters & summons her brother to assist her.
Then, Waller deploys the squad to extract a high-profile mark from Midway, which is reported to be under a terrorist attack. Ahead of their departure, they are joined by Katana, a warrior who wields a mystical sword and acts as Flag's bodyguard.
Harley's lover, the Joker, finds out about her predicament and tortures Belle Reve Security Officer Griggs into leading him to the facility where the nano bombs are made. There, he blackmails one of the scientists involved in the program into disabling Harley's bomb.
On approach, the squad's helicopter is shot down, forcing them to proceed on foot to their target. Boomerang convinces Slipknot that the bombs are a ruse to keep them in check. Slipknot tries to escape and is killed via his nano bomb while the squad is attacked by Enchantress' minions. They are eventually able to fight their way through to a safe room where they learn that their mark is Waller herself, who is attempting to cover up her involvement in Enchantress' siege.
The squad escorts Waller to a rooftop for extraction, but the arriving helicopter has been hijacked by the Joker and his men, who opens fire on the squad while Harley climbs aboard. However, the helicopter is shot down by Waller's men & Harley jumps out while the Joker seemingly perishes in the explosion & Harley later rejoins the squad.
After being alerted to Waller's whereabouts, Enchantress' minions arrive and kidnap Harley. Deadshot finds Waller's confidential files and learns the truth about Enchantress. Deadshot confronts Flag, who confesses the truth which causes the squad members & Katana to abandon Flag.
With Waller compromised, Flag relieves the squad of the mission, but they chooses to continue. Realizing they have an opportunity to prove themselves, they soon rejoin him and locate Enchantress at a partially-flooded subway station.
Killer Croc and a group of Navy SEALs (led by Lieutenant GQ Edwards) go underwater to plant a bomb underneath her brother. El Diablo embraces his abilities and manages to hold Incubus down long enough for the bomb to detonate underneath, killing them both as well as Edwards. The remaining squad members battle Enchantress together, but are ultimately defeated. Enchantress offers to fulfill their deepest desires in exchange for their allegiance and Harley feigns interest in order to get close enough to cut out Enchantress's heart.
Then, Killer Croc throws explosives into Enchantress' weapon and Deadshot shoots them, destroying the device. Flag takes Enchantress's heart & crushes it, which finally frees June from the curse. Still alive, Waller emerges and the squad members are returned to Belle Reve with ten years off their sentences. All of them (except for Captain Boomerang) are allowed special privileges. The Joker (who survived the explosion) breaks into the prison and reunites with Harley.
In a mid-credits scene, Waller meets with Bruce Wayne, who agrees to protect her from the backlash of Enchantress's rampage in exchange for access to the government's files on the expanding metahuman community.
Cast
- Will Smith as Floyd Lawton / Deadshot
- Jared Leto as Joker
- Margot Robbie as Dr. Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn
- Joel Kinnaman as Colonel Rick Flag
- Viola Davis as Amanda Waller
- Jai Courtney as George "Digger" Harkness / Captain Boomerang
- Jay Hernandez as Chato Santana / El Diablo
- Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Waylon Jones / Killer Croc
- Cara Delevingne as Dr. June Moone / Enchantress
- Karen Fukuhara as Tatsu Yamashiro / Katana
- Ike Barinholtz as Griggs
- Scott Eastwood as GQ Edwards
- Adam Beach as Christopher Weiss / Slipknot
Other Cast Members
Ben Affleck and Ezra Miller reprised their roles from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice as Bruce Wayne/Batman & Barry Allen/Flash respectively in cameo roles while Jason Momoa makes a brief photographic appearance as Arthur Curry /Aquaman.
Alain Chanoine portrayed the role of Incubus, the brother of Enchantress.
Jim Parrack and Common appear as Joker's henchmen Jonny Frost and Monster T. Shailyn Pierre-Dixon and Corina Calderon portray Zoe Lawton and Grace Santana, Deadshot's daughter and Diablo's wife, respectively.
David Harbour and Alex Meraz portray a government official named Dexter Tolliver & a Navy Seal named Gomez, respectively.
Production
Development
In February 2009, Warner Bros. was developing a film based on the Suicide Squad group, with Dan Lin, Colin Wilson, and Charles Roven producing, and Justin Marks writing the script. David Ayer signed on to direct and write the film in September 2014. On October 20, 2014, director Ayer talked to Empire Online about the film, saying "that it's a Dirty Dozen with supervillains", as he based the screenplay on various Suicide Squad comics and material. He stated that "The DC Universe is too rich to go very far astray." Ayer had six weeks to write his script, given the release date was already set.
Casting
In October of 2014, Warner Bros. had initially offered Ryan Gosling, Tom Hardy, Margot Robbie & Will Smith roles in the film and in November, TheWrap revealed that Jared Leto was in talks for the role of Joker which Gosling was originally sought for.
The main cast was announced by Warner Brothers in December 2014 with Smith, Hardy, Leto, Robbie, Jai Courtney & Cara Delevingne for the roles of Deadshot, Rick Flag, Joker, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang & Enchantress respectively.
The studio was also considering Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer & Oprah Winfrey for the role of Amanda Waller.
Following the announcement of the cast, comic book writer John Ostrander (creator of the modern incarnation of the Suicide Squad) talked with Comic Book Resources about the casting, saying, "I have no problem with the casting... what I am really impressed by with all of the casting is that they are getting some very good actors to play these parts."
In January 2015, Viola Davis expressed interest in playing Amanda Waller during an interview, saying "I'm fascinated by her (Waller)."
Meanwhile, Tom Hardy had to drop out as Rick Flag due to scheduling issues with his film The Revenant. Jake Gyllenhaal was then given an offer to replace Hardy as Flag, but he declined the role. The studio was then looking at Joel Edgerton, Jon Bernthal and Joel Kinnaman to play the role.
In February 2015, Jay Hernandez joined the cast and Kinnaman was also confirmed to play Flag. At the 87th Academy Awards, Viola Davis confirmed that she had been cast as Amanda Waller.
In March 2015, boxer Raymond Olubawale was reported to have an unspecified role in the film & Scott Eastwood announced that he had been cast in the film on Twitter. Later that month, it was confirmed that Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje & Karen Fukuhara had been cast as Killer Croc and Katana respectively.
Adam Beach, Ike Barinholtz, and Jim Parrack were added to the cast in April 2015.
In January of 2016, Ben Affleck was confirmed to reprise his role as Batman from "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."
Filming
The filming began on April 13, 2015. On April 26 and 27, filming was to take place at the Hy's Steakhouse. A "snowstorm" scene was filmed on April 29 on the Adelaide St. and in Ching Lane. On May 5, 2015, a few major scenes were filmed in downtown Toronto next to Yonge and Dundas Square.
The principal photography wrapped in August 2015 after additional filming took place in Chicago, Illinois.
Additional filming ensued in 2016 following Warner's desire to make a more lighthearted and comedic tone akin to the trailers, specially as "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" was criticized for being too somber.
It was also confirmed that Zack Snyder filmed the Flash scene. Ayer confirmed that the film was completed on June 24, 2016. Despite the involvement of multiple editors into the process, only John Gilroy is credited for it.
In August 2016, Jared Leto revealed that many of his scenes were cut from the film.
Music
Academy Award-winning composer Steven Price, who previously worked with Ayer on Fury, composed the score for Suicide Squad. Suicide Squad: Original Motion Picture Score was announced for a release date of August 8, 2016.
The soundtrack album "Suicide Squad: The Album" was announced in June 2016 & was released on August 5, 2016.
The album's first single, "Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots, was released on June 20, 2016. A music video for the song, set in a prison and featuring footage from the film, was released on June 21.
The song "Sucker for Pain" was released as the second single on June 24 and album's third single, "Purple Lamborghini" by Skrillex and Rick Ross was released on July 22.
The tracks "Gangsta" by Kehlani, "Standing in the Rain" by Action Bronson, Mark Ronson and Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys, "Medieval Warfare" by Grimes & "Bohemian Rhapsody", covered by Panic! at the Disco were released as four promotional singles on August 2, August 3, and 4, 2016, respectively with "Medieval Warfare" and "Bohemian Rhapsody" being released on the same day.
Marketing
At the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con International convention, the stars of "Suicide Squad" (consisting of Smith, Robbie, Courtney, Davis, and Kinnaman) appeared at a panel.
A trailer that was to be exclusive to the event premiered, but it was leaked online with Warner Bros. responding by stating they would not release an official version.
However, the following day, Warner Bros. released an official version, stating: "Warner Bros. Pictures and our anti-piracy team have worked tirelessly over the last 48 hours to contain the Suicide Squad footage that was pirated from Hall H on Saturday. We have been unable to achieve that goal. Today we will release the same footage that has been illegally circulating on the web, in the form it was created and high quality with which it was intended to be enjoyed. We regret this decision as it was our intention to keep the footage as a unique experience for the Comic-Con crowd, but we cannot continue to allow the film to be represented by the poor quality of the pirated footage stolen from our presentation."
Film Release
"Suicide Squad" first premiered at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on August 1, 2016 and was theatrically released in the United States on August 5, 2016, in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D.
Box Office
"Suicide Squad" opened at #1 at the box office, grossing $133,682,248 during its opening weekend.
As of September 8, 2016, the movie has grossed $307.4 million in North America and $392 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $699.4 million against a budget of $175 million and $325 million including advertising & promotion costs.
The movie was highly anticipated by audiences worldwide, despite the negative critical reception and lower-than-expected box office performance of "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" in March.
"Suicide Squad" recorded a worldwide opening of $267.1 million from 59 countries and IMAX global debut of $18.2 million (which both set new records for the month of August). That is also the second-best debut worldwide for a DC property after Dawn of Justice ($422.5 million) and the seventh best for a superhero title.
The Hollywood Reporter highlighted that "Dawn of Justice" had an advantage of receiving a coveted day-and-date release with China while "Suicide Squad" might not secure a release date in the country.
International Box Office
Internationally "Suicide Squad" was released in 57 countries (70% of the marketplace) including France, South Korea, Australia, Russia and the CIS, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Spain and Mexico beginning from Wednesday, August 3rd.
According to trackings, the film was projected to have an opening anywhere between $85 million to $120 million, which would be a new August international debut record.
Deadline.com pointed out that although the film is a lesser known property, similar to Guardians of the Galaxy stars such as Will Smith are better known internationally, which could potentially aid the film's performance.
The movie opened on Wednesday, August 3, 2016, in 7 countries, earning $8.1 million. It opened in 50 more countries on August 4 and 5, earning $53.8 million for a three day total of $64.6 million from 57 countries.
Until Sunday, August 7th, the movie delivered a five day opening of $133.3 million from 57 countries on 17,630 screens, nearly double the previous August record held by "Guardians of the Galaxy" and it also set IMAX opening record with $7 million.
The movie added $58.7 million on its second weekend, a drop of 57% on 15,600 screens in 62 territories. After two straight wins, it was overtaken by the animated film The Secret Life of Pets in its third weekend.
"Suicide Squad" recorded the biggest opening day of all time for Warner Bros. in Russia ($3.9 million), the biggest August opening day in the United Kingdom and Ireland ($6.2 million), Brazil ($3 million), South Korea ($2.9 million, also the second biggest Warner Bros. opening day), France ($2.7 million), Sweden ($564,000) & Holland ($517,000, also the biggest opening of the year).
Mexico and Spain opened with $3.9 million and $1.4 million respectively. In terms of opening weekend which recorded the biggest Warner Bros. opening film of all time in Russia ($11.4 million).
In Brazil (despite playing amidst the 2016 Summer Olympics), "Suicide Squad" managed to open with $11.75 million, marking the biggest August opening weekend of all time, the biggest Will Smith opening, and the fourth biggest opening for a superhero film. Its opening numbers alone made it the second biggest film for the studio there.
In South Korea, although the film was off to a strong start, however, it was eventually overtaken by "The Last Princess" and "Operation Chromite" debuting at #3 and made $10.8 million in five days (Wednesday to Sunday).
The U.K. and Ireland posted the biggest opening market for the film with £11.25 million ($14.8 million) from 573 theaters.
Discounting previews, "Suicide Squad" delivered the third-biggest UK opening of the year, behind "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (£14.62 million) and Captain America: Civil War (£14.47 million). It also became the first new released film of August since 2014 to debut above £3 million.
Elsewhere, it scored the biggest August opening in Australia ($10.5 million), Mexico ($10.4 million) and Argentina ($2.5 million) while in Spain, it recorded the biggest DC opening with $3.4 million, where it was behind "The Secret Life of Pets" for the weekend and France a $7.9 million opening. It opened in first place in India for a non-local film with $1.8 million from 462 screens, despite facing competition from Jason Bourne ($1.1 million from 1,027 screens) which also opened on the same weekend.
Despite the later film occupying twice the screen number of the former, Suicide Squad managed to take the top spot. Italy opened with an estimated $2.2 million in two days, that's the biggest opening for Smith there. It opened in first place in Germany with $6.9 million.
The movie opened in Japan (their last market) on September 9 where it debuted with $3.8 million there. It finished in second spot (and first among new releases) behind local anime "Your Name". With such a robust opening, Variety projects that the movie will end it's run there around $20 million.
In terms of total earnings, the movie's biggest market outside of North America are the U.K. and Ireland ($43.3 million), followed by Brazil ($35.1 million) and Mexico ($27.1 million). In just two weeks, it became the second highest-grossing Warner Bros. film of all time in Brazil behind "Dawn of Justice."
Critical Reception
"Suicide Squad" received generally negative reviews from critics.
On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a rating of 26%, based on 289 reviews, with a weighted average score of 4.7/10.
According to the website's critical consensus: "Suicide Squad boasts a talented cast and a little more humor than previous DCEU efforts, but they aren't enough to save the disappointing end result from a muddled plot, thinly written characters, and choppy directing."
On Metacritic, it has a normalized score of 40 out of 100, based on 53 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews" & audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.
Rolling Stone's Peter Travers wrote, "DC Comics tries something different with Suicide Squad, an all-star collection of crime fighting villains—and the result is anything but super."
Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair said that "Suicide Squad is just bad. It's ugly and boring, a toxic combination that means the film's highly fetishized violence doesn't even have the exciting tingle of the wicked or the taboo."
Joe Morgenstern of the Wall Street Journal heavily criticized the film saying, "In a word, Suicide Squad is trash. In two words, it's ugly trash." He further said, it "amounts to an all-out attack on the whole idea of entertainment" and called the film a product of "shameless pandering".
Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave the film B− saying, "Suicide Squad kicks off with fizzy, punk-rock ferocity before turning flat and spiraling into familiar formulas," and called Jared Leto's "scene-stealing" Joker "wasted" and "stranded in the periphery". He concluded the review by saying, "For DC, Suicide Squad is a small step forward. But it could have been a giant leap."
IGN gave the film 5.9/10, saying: "Suicide Squad is a decidedly different flavor than Batman v Superman. It goes for subversive, funny and stylish, and it succeeds wildly during the first act. But then the movie turns into something predictable and unexciting."
Drew McWeeny from HitFix gave it a positive review, writing: "Suicide Squad is not the darkest mainstream superhero comic book movie ever made, nor is it even the darkest live-action film featuring Batman ever made. However, it is gleefully nihilistic, and it takes a different approach to what has become a fairly familiar story form at this point, right at the moment when it feels like superhero movies either have to evolve or die."
Brian Truitt from USA Today wrote, "Compared to its ilk, Suicide Squad is an excellently quirky, proudly raised middle finger to the staid superhero-movie establishment."
Margot Robbie's performance of Harley Quinn was better received and she was considered a star-making performance, with many critics eager to see more of her character in future films. Paul Dini (the creator of Harley Quinn) said that Robbie "nailed" the character.
David Fear of Rolling Stone wrote that the "biggest letdown is the way the movie underserves both Harley and the actor playing her",and that one "can't forgive nearly ruining a complex, iconic character who deserves way better than this".
Top ten lists
- 10th - Caillou Pettis, TwistedFalcon
Accolades
The movie received multiple 2016 Teen Choice Awards nominations, including "Choice AnTEENcipated Movie", "Choice Movie Actor: AnTEENcipated" for Will Smith & Scott Eastwood and "Choice Movie Actress: AnTEENcipated" for Margot Robbie & Cara Delevingne & won in both the former and latter categories.
Sequel
In March of 2016, it was announced that Warner Bros. would bring David Ayer and Will Smith back for a sequel of "Suicide Squad" to be shot in 2017. The following month, Ayer expressed an interest in making the sequel R-rated & Fukuhara has stated that she wants to explore Katana's backstory in the sequel.
Trailers
Photos
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