A secret division the of the government recruits a band of dangerous misfits and imprisoned supervillains to carry out suicidal missions in exchange for shortened sentences…this was never going to end well. Sometimes it feels good to let out inner demons. Sometimes the darkness feels good when it snuffs out that light. To go a little crazy and lose your sanity for a while, is not that bad. It feels good to be bad.

Assemble a team of the world’s most wild, unpredictable and dangerous supervillains, provide them with government resources and then send them on a mission into god knows what. US intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) has concocted this corrosive cocktail of villains, who really have nothing to lose. Once they find out they weren’t picked to succeed but chosen because they’re expendable, things go awry. They’re the patsies. They’re some kind of suicide squad. Will they unite, or is it every member for themselves?

Predictably, Suicide Squad was another victim of not being a Marvel movie. Critics bashed Batman V Superman for its dark and grim atmosphere. Warner Bros tried to change things to accommodate for that, with Suicide Squad. But it seems DC can’t win. I guess critics don’t realise that not all comic book movies have to be consistently sparkly with a happy ending. When Justice League finally drops in cinemas next November, it’ll likely be destroyed by critics for not being a shot for shot take of Marvel’s Avengers Assemble (2012). Or when Wonder Woman releases is June 2017, if it’s not enough like Captain America: The First Avenger or Thor, it’ll get bashed. But if they succeed, it’ll be criticized of trying to replicate the Marvel method of making superhero movies. The soundtrack to Suicide Squad is ace and having a soundtrack isn’t exclusive to our alien friends in Guardians Of The Galaxy.

Suicide Squad is DC’s wildcard, much alike how Guardians Of The Galaxy was Marvel’s. Let’s do a headcount. We have Deadshot (Will Smith), he shoots people. Then there’s Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who eats people. We also have the new fan favourite El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), who burns people and Enchantress (Cara Delevigne) who is some kind voodoo witch as well as Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) who is just batshit crazy. Then there’s the leader Rick Flag, (Joel Kinnaman) and Aussie badass Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney). Not to forget to mention non-Squad member and Harley’s psychotic boyfriend, The Joker (Jared Leto). And the sword-wielding badass Katana, who uses a katana which takes in the souls of those she kills.

Suicide Squad is one of the best blockbusters of 2016 and in my opinion, one of the best comic book movies of all time. Having a plot narrative pushed along by society’s undesirables was a great move by Warner Bros and well put together by writer and director David Ayer, DC Entertainment and the whole cast. I really enjoyed the first half, especially the beginning. I loved the miniorigins stories with each member. I liked Boomerang’s encounter with The Flash (Ezra Miller) in addition to the Harley Quinn origins with The Joker and Ben Affleck’s cameo as the Batman. Seeing Harley and The Joker take on the Bat has me hyped for the solo Batman movie. Leto and Robbie killed it. Furthermore, Robbie in the court jester outfit was a throwback to the comics and Batman: The Animated Series. Things like that show you that this is a movie for fans and not sixty year old critics who know nothing about the source material.

I liked Cara Delevigne as archeologist Dr June Moone/Enchantress yet I think she could have been better. She was a weak villain in comparison to Lex Luthor in Batman V Superman and General Zod in Man Of Steel. I just wish that the movie had less studio involvement and that we, the fans, got the darker movie we deserved. The second half was also great, revealing Enchantress as the main villain, and not the Joker. This movie was lighter in tone as we know there’s a ton of deleted scenes. Note to Warner Bros: stop settling for less to appease the critics. People will still go to watch DC movies if they are darker. Let the writers, directors and creatives do their work without studios getting involved. Darker movies are still able to make $1bn+ in the box office. Stop changing things to please critics.

Jared Leto (Dallas Buyer Club) as The Joker was haunting. He was a psychotic gangster this time around, in contrast to Heath Ledger’s anarchist, and chaos-obsessed, clown prince of crime in Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Jared’s role was small and I’m okay with that. He didn’t have more than thirty minutes of screen time. The movie is called The Suicide Squad, not The Joker. I don’t see why people are getting annoyed because Joker wasn’t in it much. Margot Robbie was amazing as the New Yorker, Joker-ette, harlequin. Margot Robbie (Wolf Of Wall Street) is a great talent and Suicide Squad makes me want this Harley Quinn solo project to happen even more.

Will Smith’s rapport with Joel Kinnaman was masterclass. Deadshot and Rick Flagg were like Sam and Bucky in Civil War. It was that kind of relationship. The banter was great, especially that pep talk scene. I’m no fan of Will Smith. There’s only a handful of movies that I like with him in, and this is certainly one of them. He gave an excellent performance and I’d be okay with a solo Deadshot project in the future.

All in all, a great movie with some members of Batman’s Rogues Gallery. It was fun, bouncy and fiendishly entertaining. Plus it links in well with Justice League (2017), as anyone who stayed for the mid-credits sequence knows and that Amanda Waller is a dark horse. Seriously, don’t listen to the critics. See this movie. Support Warner Bros and DC. Pay the ticket price because it’s certainly worth it.

This is the gold standard of comic book movies; Watchmen, Man Of Steel, Dawn Of Justice and now Suicide Squad; DC Bitch!!