⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Excellent)

Director: Scott Derrickson
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Michael Stuhlbarg, Benjamin Bratt, Scott Adkins, Mads Mikkelsen, Tilda Swinton
Certificate: 12A
Run Time: 115 mins

‘Doctor Strange’ is the second of two offerings this year in the ever-expanding yet lucrative Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film is an origin story of the titular character who learns the mystic arts in Kamar-Taj in Nepal under the tutelage of the Ancient One after a car accident that destroys the use of his hand and ends his career as an esteemed neurosurgeon. The film is directed by horror director Scott Derrickson who I really like (other than 2009’s abysmal remake, ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’) and he has repeatedly stated how much of a fan he is of the material. His horror films have generally received a pretty mixed reception (‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’ and ‘Deliver Us From Evil’) but ‘Sinister’ received good reviews and is one of the best horror films of the decade so far. Along with a strong director, the film also has perhaps one of the best casts assembled for a comic-book film ever with Benedict Cumberbatch playing the titular character and being supported by Chiwetel Ejiofor,  Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen and Tilda Swinton.  The film would seem like it should be in pretty safe hands with the circumstances considered and especially as this is the last of six comic book offerings this year, it would be nice if the genre went out on a bang for this year.

‘Doctor Strange’ is a delight from start to finish – it is thoroughly entertaining, extremely well-paced and has perhaps the best visual effects that I have seen in a film for a while. The film is bolstered by its excellent cast who are all wonderful and Scott Derrickson is a clear fit for the material –  you can really tell the passion that has gone into this film behind the camera. It’s a lot more stripped down than this Summer’s ‘Captain America: Civil War‘ which was effectively an ‘Avengers 2.5’ team-up and by having less characters to juggle around, it really means the film can get a chance to breathe and develop these characters.

The performances are what really drive the film along and Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular character is wonderful, he’s very arrogant and snarky and will make for a great match when he hopefully meets Robert Downey Jr’s ‘Iron Man’ in the upcoming two-part ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. Tilda Swinton is very nuanced as the Ancient One, Doctor Strange’s mentor and Chiwetel Ejiofor makes for a conflicted Baron Mordor who we will hopefully see be further developed in future films. Rachel McAdams’ love interest is a little underdeveloped but she’s a good match for the material and Benedict Wong handles a lot of the comic relief as Wong who protects many of the relics housed in Kamar-Taj. Mads Mikkelsen makes for a strong villain who is a good match to Strange but it’s a bit of a shame that he isn’t in the film a little more to flesh out his character especially as Mikkelsen being the very talented actor that he is. Michael Stuhlbarg and Benjamin Bratt are both good here too but their roles are very small unfortunately.

The narrative, although a little familiar, works as we are introduced to this world and these characters and although a lot of superhero films often result in an action-packed and derivative third act, ‘Doctor Strange’ has a lot of fun in its action sequences and the film is never a chore to watch. It’s paced pretty much perfectly, slightly under the 2 hour mark and although it would be nice if we had a few more scenes with Mikkelsen, Stuhlbarg and Bratt as mentioned to fully flesh out their characters, the film feels far less than its run time as it is just so entertaining. Derrickson is able to balance the real world and magic very well and this film could have very easily gone straight over the heads of most audiences if he had chosen a story to do with more of the wackier elements of this comic book hero, it’s a pretty safe story that does manage to deviate so it never feels overly familiar although it can’t quite shake off the origin story cliche as it does fall into a few traps here and there.

The visuals in this film are absolutely stunning and the best visuals ever in a Marvel Cinematic Universe film. There have been a lot of complaints that the film’s visual aesthetic mirrors that of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Inception’ which I would say does bear a couple of similarities in a few sequences but this is a completely different film and there are many scenes where the characters explore different dimensions and worlds that have its own signature aesthetic. This is a film to definitely see in IMAX 3D if possible.

Michael Giacchino’s score is also one of the best in the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far and crafts a very memorable theme for the characters and is equally as wacky and distant as the material – only Giacchino would think to use a harpsichord! The cinematography by Ben Davis is very assured and the film looks fantastic – this is a career-best for him thus far.

Overall, ‘Doctor Strange’ is a great success that is thoroughly entertaining from start to finish and is one of the best entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The cast are wonderful here and Derrickson’s direction is very assured My only concern with the film is that going forward, the ability to incorporate this new world of magic and mysticism into the other Marvel Cinematic Universe franchises could be a difficult one to pull off. It’s already been confirmed that Benedict Cumberbatch will reprise the role of Doctor Strange in the upcoming two-part ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ so here’s hoping he can seamlessly mesh in with the current line-up of superheroes that inhibit this world. For now though, Derrickson has done a very good job here and it will be interesting to see where this world gets taken in a sequel now that the origin story has happened.

 (Excellent)

⭐⭐⭐ (Good)

Director: Tate Taylor
Starring: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Alison Janney, Édgar Ramírez, Lisa Kudrow
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 112 mins

‘The Girl On The Train’ is the adaptation of the novel of the same name penned by Paula Hawkins that was released last year and held the top spot of the Uk Hardback Book Chart for 20 weeks, breaking records. Rightfully so, it’s a cracking book and it’s extremely well-written and develops its characters really well. Less than 2 years later, a film adaptation has already been made and has a star-studded cast comprising of Emily Blunt, who has always seemed like a perfect fit for Rachel, an alcoholic individual who has divorced from her husband, Tom, after he cheated on her and now has a child with his new wife, Anna. Rachel has lost her job and rides the trains all day to try and find something to do and in the mean time idolises a young couple, Megan and Scott, who she passes by on the train every single day. However, when Megan disappears and Rachel was on the scene and blacked out, a deep mystery and investigation into her disappearance ensues and the narrative is filled with twists and turns. I must say in the run-up to the film’s release, I was a little apprehensive as the film has changed location to America which is a bit of a shame as the book is quintessentially British and I would have loved to have seen this narrative take place in Oxfordshire as opposed to the luxurious houses that these characters now live in and it now taking place in New York City. I also have some reservations on some of the film’s cast, in particular Rebecca Ferguson as Anna and Luke Evans as Scott, both decent actors in their own right but I just can’t see them playing these multi-dimensional, conflicted characters. Finally,  the choice of director Tate Taylor is an unnatural fit to the material but that said, he is very respectable and generally reliable. Many comparisons have been made to the Gillian Flynn novel and the subsequent 2014 film adaptation of ‘Gone Girl’ which was a brilliant film and was directed by David Fincher, an auteur in his own right and judging from the trailers, it seems as if Taylor has tried to emulate Fincher’s style but Tate Taylor is certainly by no means in the same league as David Fincher. So does the film manage to stand out on its own and offer a faithful, thrilling adaptation of the novel or it this just a cheap knock-off off an exemplary novel?

The answer lies somewhere in between and I have to say I am somewhat conflicted on my judgements on ‘The Girl On The Train’. On the one hand, it is very faithful to the novel and always fairly entertaining (but never gripping) and features a couple of great performances, both Emily Blunt and Haley Bennett who manage to just about hold the film together. On the other hand, it is lazily directed and scripted, features some pretty awful performances, has numerous goofs despite being a fairly big film, develops most of its characters pretty poorly and the cinematography isn’t particularly refined. It is a middling adaptation of a great novel – an always watchable film but crushingly disappointing in parts.

What made the novel really work was its carefully constructed and developed characters and how that has translated onto the screen with the performances is as mentioned, a mixed bag. Both Emily Blunt and Haley Bennett are wonderful here – Emily Blunt in particular was in my opinion, always a great pick for Rachel and despite being pregnant during filming, portrays a convincing alcoholic and is a character of multiple layers. Although Bennett’s character, Megan is fairly one-dimensional, she also is brilliant here and is both slimy and seductive and makes an interesting juxtaposition to Blunt’s Rachel. The final unreliable narrator in the novel, Anna, is portrayed here by Rebecca Ferguson and my initial reservations were correct as she is downright unwatchable here – she is not convincing at all and for goodness sake, if you’re going to be in a film, dedicate yourself to it and don’t wear a terrible wig! Ferguson is one-note, has no chemistry with any of the film’s characters and feels aggressively out of place in the film. I also had reservations on Luke Evans’ casting as Scott and initially Jared Leto was supposed to play this role before he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts and although Evans is still not a perfect match, his performance is serviceable. Justin Theroux also is serviceable as Tom and Édgar Ramírez just plays himself as Dr Kamal Abdic which is fine. Allison Janney also gives a very poor performance as the detective in charge of the investigation in an expanded role from the novel and there is a scene where I kid you not, interrogates Rachel in a toilet which is extremely unprofessional and really threw me out momentarily from the film and made me question what I had just seen.

Another big problem the film has is its poor script and lazy direction. The script, penned by Erin Cressida Wilson who was responsible for the atrocity that was ‘Men, Women and Children’, doesn’t gel together and is quite clichéd and overbearing. I mentioned that Tate Taylor was an awkward fit to this material and this has resulted to be the case. At times, it seems he is channeling David Fincher’s seductive, heavily stylised direction of ‘Gone Girl’ and at other times, it does feel like his own work and does have a couple of flashes back to his previous work. It just all feels a bit sloppy and doesn’t feel like he has put his own stamp on the material. The film is never gripping or particularly intelligent and it’s quite short as well for what is quite a meaty book in terms of narrative – the beginning is a bit of a slog and the final reveal comes way too early. Also as a director, surely you check over your film before releasing it – there are numerous goofs here that are blindingly obvious and threw me out of the film.

Danny Elfman’s score is quite interesting and feels very uncharacteristic of him – if I hadn’t have known beforehand he had scored it and I was asked to have a guess, he wouldn’t be someone who comes to mind. The cinematography by Charlotte Bruus Christensen, someone who is normally pretty good, is quite tacky here and the film has quite a cheap look to it in places.

Now although this review may seem rather damning of the film, ‘The Girl On The Train’ is always watchable and I was never bored by it and Blunt and Bennett really do help to carry the film. For a film that has this many issues to it, it is testament to these two actresses performances and the strength of Hawkins’ novel. But this film should have been so much more – it should have been more thoughtfully casted, it needs a better crew and script. These are all issues, particularly the script, that should have been noticed early on but somehow the script got given the ok and it has resulted in a middling adaptation. Although this will almost certainly never happen, wouldn’t it be great if there was a more carefully constructed remake with a different director more suited to the material, a stronger scriptwriter. Keep Blunt, Bennett and even Ramirez but then pick out a better cast for the rest of the characters. That is something I would really like to see and would supplement Paula Hawkins’ gripping novel rather than this mixed bag. Overall, by no means a bad film but not a particularly memorable one either with a whole host of issues.

 (Good)

⭐⭐⭐ (Good)

Director: John Michael McDonagh
Starring: Michael Peña, Alexander Skarsgård, Theo James, Tessa Thompson, Caleb Landry Jones, Paul Reiser, David Wilmot, Malcolm Barrett
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 97 mins

‘War On Everyone’ is the third directorial effort from writer-director John Michael McDonagh, of whom I really respect as both ‘The Guard’ and ‘Calvary’ were very strong films. Both of those films worked because they had extremely clever scripts, explored many different themes that question audience’s ideas and both had a winning performance from Brendan Gleeson, ‘Calvary’, in my opinion being a career-best performance. Here McDonagh ditches Gleeson as this is his first film set in America, in this case Alberqueque. ‘War On Everyone’ is a black comedy detailing two corrupt policemen played by Michael Peña and Alexander Skarsgård who blackmail people and twist evidence to their advantage and constantly get suspended from the force. However, things take a dark turn when they try to intimidate a rather important individual. Although Michael Peña and Alexander Skarsgård aren’t really a match for the heights of Brendan Gleeson, Peña is always very solid in whatever he is in but Skarsgård always is quite bland so it’s very important for them to have a good script to work with to be a good match and based on McDonagh’s normally exceptional scripts, this shouldn’t be too much to ask for.  To me, ‘War On Everyone’ looks like John Michael McDonagh’s response to his even better brother, Martin McDonagh’s ‘Seven Psychopaths’ – a similarly offbeat comedy that tried to propel him to an American audience. Although I have great respect for ‘Seven Psychopaths’, it didn’t particularly do much to Martin McDonagh’s career so here’s hoping that ‘War on Everyone’ is able to be the film it needs to be to elevate John Michael McDonagh’s career.

Unfortunately, ‘War On Everyone’ is the definite worst of John Michael McDonagh’s three directorial efforts – it’s thinly plotted, poorly edited, suffers in its casting and ends up being rather conventional in places. Even though from about 20 minutes in it was quite apparent that this wasn’t going to be great, the film is still entertaining enough and benefits from McDonagh’s black humour that is peppered into the film. There are some individual sequences that really work on their own and McDonagh still poses some thoughtful questions to the viewer but the film never really gels together and feels very disjointed. I think part of this is McDonagh wanting this to be a 70’s buddy cop film throwback which the film does feel like one with its many swipe transitions but the flipside to this is that the film inevitably feels rather trashy which I never got the feeling whilst watching both ‘The Guard’ or ‘Calvary’.

Although Brendan Gleeson is sorely missed in its casting, Michael Peña is very solid in the main role as expected and is able to carry the film along but Alexander Skarsgård is also as expected, very bland and is a big problem for this film as this means that there is a lack of chemistry between the two leads which the film needs to be successful in to make us care for the characters. Whilst the script does give both actors several great moments, if one actor is severely lacking, the film isn’t going to work and this is not the first time Skarsgård has ruined a film and looking to the future, probably won’t be the last. Of the supporting cast, Theo James as the main villain gives a very middling performance and is too young and immature for the role – I have a feeling that this part was originally written for an older actor as he seemed very out of place. Conversely, Caleb Landry Jones as the henchman is a bit of an oddball and looks like he’s having a lot of fun in the role. Tessa Thompson as the love interest is just fine, nothing to write home about though. However along with Peña, McDonagh-regular David Wilmot and Malcom Barrett are both wonderful and are sophisticated but philosophically flawed characters which is what McDonagh normally excels in so at least the cast isn’t all bad.

The story is also one of the film’s biggest problems – it does almost nothing to stand itself apart from any other films of this genre other than include some of McDonagh’s signature black humour. The plot is paper thin and the film jumps across awkwardly from location to location and there isn’t a great deal of character development which is alarming as McDonagh normally excels in creating memorable characters and exploring their lives. The thin story then leads to the poor editing as there are many scenes that are too long and go nowhere or are too short and the awkward location jumping (you’ll recognise this instantly when you see it) really defies belief. Of course with any film as a medium, one must suspend belief for a few hours but there is a sequence mid-way through the film that although is played for laughs, really threw me out of the film for a bit.

Now although this review may seem as if the film is bad, it isn’t. There are a couple of sequences which deal with subjects of ethnicity and religion which in typical McDonagh fashion are quite funny and I never once got bored of the film even though I consciously knew as the film went on that this wasn’t going to be the best.

Although ‘War On Everyone’ isn’t particularly great and is a disappointment considering how good a director John Michael McDonagh is. But it’s still a good-enough disappointment that is always fairly entertaining and does have a couple of good performances and is fairly funny sometimes. However this is not the film that perhaps McDonagh envisaged as I can pretty confidently say that this will not get him particularly well recognised in America and even though his brother’s film, ‘Seven Psychopaths’ wasn’t particularly successful in America either, quality-wise it is leaps-and-bounds above this. Now hopefully for the audience, this means that John Michael McDonagh actually completes his trilogy that started with ‘The Guard’ and ‘Calvary’ with ‘The Lame Shall Enter First’ which should hopefully see him re-team with Brendan Gleeson as a paraplegic ex-policeman. That sounds like it could be another knockout and a return to form for this accomplished director! But back to this film, I wouldn’t rush to go and see it but if it turns up on television, it’s worth a watch as it’s entertaining enough.

 (Good)

⭐⭐⭐ (Good)

Director: Greg Tiernan & Conrad Vernon
Starring: (voices of) Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Bill Hader, Michael Cera, James Franco, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd, Nick Kroll, David Krumholtz, Edward Norton, Salma Hayek
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 89 mins

‘Sausage Party’ is an adult-animated comedy produced by and starring Seth Rogen and a whole host of his usual collaborators including Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill and Edward Norton to name a few and looks set to be another film to add to the wealth of stellar animated features that have been released this year. Ever since the first trailer was released, it has looked very promising and original –  it is essentially a parody of a Pixar animation film with added strong language and sex and drugs to push the film up to the 15  boundary. The film follows the journey of Frank, a sausage, voiced by Rogen who goes on a journey trying to discover what the meaning of life is and tries to stop his friends from going to ‘The Great Beyond’ where they believe that humans will care for them but this is far from the truth. The whole idea of food being anthropomorphic is not too dissimilar from Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’ for example but how this film stands out is its appeal to an adult audience by adding in adult themes.

‘Sausage Party’ has always had an excellent premise and the trailers have indicated that this has the potential to be a very, very funny and wild affair.  The actual film itself is very different to the one that was marketed. It’s still absurdly funny in places but surprisingly poses some intelligent, philosophical ideas and has some emotional heft. However it’s a wildly uneven film that doesn’t feel like it’s quite gelled together (its pacing is all over the place) and it is rather silly in places, as one would expect. It cannot be stressed enough that this is not a film that children could watch at all – this is adults only and it’s cemented itself right at the upper limit of what constitutes a 15 rating. Seriously do not take your kids for this one!

The film has multiple standout scenes that are wildly funny especially in the film’s final act that this film will definitely be remembered for – I don’t want to give too many spoilers but they do leave out some very funny scenes out of the trailers. It’s also rather intelligent – Rogen’s characterisations of different characters in food form is both very clever but also hilarious and there are many questions posed regarding religion and philosophical ideas that mean the film isn’t just a straight-up comedy and actually has something to say. However, Rogen’s answers to these questions are rather controversial and this film will alienate and offend certain audiences.

But it’s the pacing that ultimately mars the film – it’s just all over the place until it manages to click in the pace for the final third. The first two thirds though are all over the place and the film ranges from being extremely funny to rather long conversations on life and religion. Now whilst these aspects are separately suitable, the film is very haphazardly edited together and whilst you would expect the fact that the film is only 89 minutes, a relatively short run time where you would expect the film is fairly short, sharp and to the point, the film can surprisingly be a bit of a slog in places. This shouldn’t be the case and this is down to the fact that the film just sometimes does not come together.

Aside from all the film’s controversy and pacing issues, the voice cast here are absolutely stunning with the standouts being Seth Rogen, Bill Hader and Edward Norton with Hader being the standout of them all. Hader voices multiple characters in the film and I didn’t recognise him until seeing his name in the credits which is testament to his voice work – he is so talented and not just in this film, he has lent his voice to many different characters in different films over the past couple of years and this film continues this trend. Rogen and Norton are also great here, as expected and this is a totally different character for Norton than what he has played before, here playing a Jewish Woody Allen-esque bagel. Although the film doesn’t have that much character development, the characters do bear some emotional connection with the audience and it is heartbreaking to see how the characters are treated once they leave the store and borrows many codes and conventions from Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’ for example which the film riffs.

The music in this film by Alan Menken and Christopher Lennertz is also rather fitting and the musical number that the food start their day singing across the store is well-scripted and orchestrated and has laughs-galore.

‘Sausage Party’ isn’t exactly the film that was promised in the film’s marketing as it is very intelligent in places and poses some interesting ideas and questions surrounding the themes of religion and life for example but the film suffers in its pacing. It’s disjointed and narratively a little jumbled but luckily a strong ending manage to save the film and pick it up on its feet. This film is perhaps most important in proving that there is an audience for an adult animated film and whilst perhaps the film may not be remembered as well for what it is, it has opened new possibilities in cinema which is very exciting. Still, ‘Sausage Party’ is an interesting film and surprises with its intelligence but it’s just not funny enough and haphazardly paced.

⭐⭐⭐ (Good)

⭐⭐⭐ (Good)

Director: David Ayer
Starring: Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, Cara Delevingne, Karen Fukuhara, Adam Beach, David Harbour
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 123 mins

(POTENTIAL SPOILERS AHEAD)

‘Suicide Squad’ is one of the most hotly anticipated films of the year and is the third film in the DCEU. Although the comic book genre continues to become more convoluted, ‘Suicide Squad’ looks to breathe new life as this time, the film is from the villain’s perspective. In the director’s chair is David Ayer, who is a perfectly suitable director and has done some very good work in the past, particularly with 2014’s ‘Fury’ and the film has comprised a brilliant cast featuring Will Smith as Deadshot, Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn to name a few, but most interestingly, Jared Leto as the Joker who is under a lot of pressure following Heath Ledger’s posthumous Oscar win for his performance in Christopher Nolan’s, ‘The Dark Knight’.  After ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ received rather negative reviews earlier on this year (I quite liked it), ‘Suicide Squad’ underwent reshoots to try to add more humour to the film due to the very serious tone that ‘Batman v Superman’ had. This is not the first time and most certainly not the last time a film undergoes a reshoot process and just by having reshoots, it doesn’t automatically mean that the film is doomed.  In good cases, we have ‘World War Z’ for example which reshot its entire ending but reshoots can also notoriously go horrifically wrong as was the case with 2015’s ‘Fantastic Four’. However despite being one of the most hotly anticipated films of the year and after all the promises made by DC to the fans that ‘Suicide Squad’ would right the wrongs that ‘Batman v Superman’ has caused, the film opened to negative reviews, again, with many citing the reshoots ruining the film and the film that David Ayer originally set out to make had drastically changed.

‘Suicide Squad’ is unfortunately, a disappointment compared to the promise of the trailers that have preceded the film for the past year and half. It is quite noticeable that this film has been tampered with by the studio – the film often feels like a music video in its editing and the whole film feels incredibly disjointed and its humour feels very forced at times. The story is virtually non-existent – it is paper thin and the characters are solely put first. Now whilst this all may seem very negative, there are large portions of the film that David Ayer seems to have made that are left in the film and there are some outstanding sequences buried in this middling adaptation and Ayer does well in developing the characters enough for audiences to care about them and warrant a sequel. The cast assembled here have clearly put in a lot of effort into their roles and the performances clearly pay off. However, ‘Suicide Squad’ is ultimately nowhere near good enough as it should have been and is further evidence of a director’s vision being compromised by the studio.

The story is one of the main reasons why the film cannot hold up – there is absolutely no narrative here and instead Ayer chooses to focus on the characters. After setting up these characters, they literally spend the second hour walking through the streets and fighting enemies and it dawned on me half-way through that virtually nothing of importance was happening. What also aggressively holds the film down is the choice of villain, which I won’t spoil, but surely when a big-budget film is being made by a big corporate company it must have clicked that this wasn’t the right choice. The famous saying states that a film is only as good as its villain and whilst in this case, due to the strong characters it is better than that, the film’s villain severely lets the film down.

The film’s tone also has a lot of problems due to the studio’s tampering with the film. There are many sequences where you can tell that this is what Ayer originally shot and these sequences are generally outstanding with his signature gritty, violent and character-driven scenes. If you watch the trailers in the order that they were released, it’s very noticeable that there is a clear shift between the first trailer which promises an adaptation of these characters in a David Ayer film and the subsequent trailers that promise a more humorous, pop song-driven film bearing similarities to Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, a similarly oddball film within their brand. What is in the finished product is an awkward mix between the two and whilst at times, it works, ultimately the film that David Ayer made is the film that should have been released into cinemas and would probably have been a film still with narrative issues, but a film that would have been better received.

What anchors the film and allows it to ultimately be worthwhile is the cast, who most seem to have really delved into their characters and have created interesting and engaging interpretations of these beloved characters. Will Smith is excellent here and although his characters is never as bad as he should be (he makes a good-hearted villain a lot of the time),  he is good fun and has great chemistry with the rest of the cast. Margot Robbie also stands out and really makes the character of Harley Quinn her own, as does Viola Davis who makes an icy and calculative Amanda Waller. Surprisingly normally poison for a film, Jai Courtney is actually really good here as Captain Boomerang and Ike Barinholtz also gives a career best performance and interacts with the cast very well. Although Jared Leto’s Joker has been scrutinised for not having enough screen time, where he is in the film is excellent but this is a very different interpretation of the Joker than what has been on-screen before and his performance has received mixed reviews. Jay Hernandez as El Diablo and Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje are unfortunately underused but what is here is promising from them and hopefully their characters will be developed in a sequel. Of the cast who don’t gel, Joel Kinnaman’s performance is sometimes great but sometimes he feels out of place in the film and his character never really gels but it’s Cara Delevingne who surprise, surprise, gives a dreadful performance – please everyone stop giving her roles in film, she cannot act!

The music plays a big part in this film and unfortunately, the constant use of predictable, cliched pop songs used in the film aggressively detract from the film and do not compliment the film well – it’s a major problem and one that I hope will be addressed in a sequel. This was such a big issue in the film and this is displayed by the fact that by the first ten minutes are up, the film has already been through five songs. Conversely, the score by Steven Price is wonderful and is exactly why he was always a good choice for this film. The cinematography by David Ayer-regular, Roman Vasyanov is great and there are some creative shots in this film that are stunning.

It’s a real shame that ‘Suicide Squad’ isn’t exactly the pick-me-up that the DCEU needed after the mixed reviews of ‘Man of Steel’ and the negative reviews for ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’. However, the important lesson to be learned here is when a film is tampered with to this extent by a studio, you know you’re in trouble and this isn’t the first time that this has happened. Look at last year’s ‘Fantastic Four’ for example – a film that similarly got reshot and re-edited by the studio however the key difference is how the director’s have reacted to this – Josh Trank famously trashed his own film but David Ayer seems to be supporting the studio which I would suspect would be because he wants to return for a sequel and also wouldn’t want to harm his career. However, an individual that has been vocal about this film is Jared Leto, who has warned viewers that there is a lot of footage missing (which you can tell from the trailers) and that he was duped into taking the role. I just hope that this hasn’t cost him this role in future DCEU films as he is excellent here and he has the potential to continue this excellence perhaps in a solo Batman outing. Although ‘Suicide Squad’ has a number of problems in its paper-thin plot, villain, muddled tone and its incorporation of pop music, the performances and character development mean that this film is ultimately worthwhile and there are some outstanding sequences in it, but the film is never as good as it should have been and I hope this is the last time a studio try and compromise a director’s vision – sadly with the way the film industry is, I suspect there will be many more films that will suffer this same problem.

⭐⭐⭐ (Good)