Suicide Squad

Villains.

The expansion of the DC Extended Franchise.

Slowly approaching Marvel proportions, Suicide Squad introduces several fresh faces and forces them to apocalyptically annihilate.

The gods themselves.

Their insouciance is malevolently matched by their expertise and as ridiculous as it sounds, they're grouped together as an elite special task force to take on even more ruthless antagonists because government reps are worried the next Superman may be dictatorial in his humanistic approach.

It sounds counterintuitive but I like the idea, assemble a Deadpoolesque unit and send them forth to enforce the global security they once so contemptuously menaced.

But Deadpool has stolen Suicide Squad's thunder with its discombobulating array of hyperreactively loquacious lightning strikes.

I suppose it's easier to take one character and electrify his cheeky vitriol than it is to take a bunch and do the same as they're coerced into acting against their wills, but Deadpool's script still erratically eclipses Suicide Squad's and provides writers of its sequels with a tumultuous target to shoot for.

"For which to shoot" just doesn't work.

Suicide Squad also expands upon DC's encroachment into X-Men territory, the volatile vanguard, perhaps lacking in versatile prerequisites.

There's so much happening in Suicide Squad and so many new characters being written, that the story suffers from oversimplification, although the individuals within it make for some memorable malfeasance.

It's all about the particulars.

Which I loved, Dead Shot (Will Smith), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), and Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) each leaving lasting impressions, as do antipode Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), and I look forward to seeing them pop up again from time to time.

I'm assuming Diablo will return.

I love the im/mortal dimensions of fantasy/sci-fi/adventure/detective characters.

I'm even thinking Krycek might somehow return some day.

Almost forgot to mention the new Joker (Jared Leto) whose character diabolically diversifies the plot while heartbreakingly hustling truly romantic tragedies.

Leto has tough acts to follow and he macabrely makes the character his own.

The Joker's scenes add an unexpected dimension to the film as he keeps showing up in carnivalesquely chaotic flashbacks (and the present) which save it from mediocrity even if the narrative's still somewhat feeble.

The DC Extended Universe is in dire need of a Captain America: Civil War.

Something outstanding.

Lots of Joker.

Just how I see it.