"Kubo and the Two Strings" Movie Review

"If you must blink, do it now." 

These are the words that greet the audience before the movie even begins and let me tell you; you should follow that advice. 

Kubo and the Two Strings is the newest stop-motion animation film from Laika; the same powerhouse studio that has created other animated classics such as Coraline,  ParaNorman, and The Boxtrolls. All films have been critical successes, and Kubo is joining their ranks as the most ambitious film Laika has created to date. 

Kubo's mother defends her son with her shamisen.
[Found on Google Images]

The story follows Kubo, the son of a famous samurai and a loving mother who has taught him how to use magic. After tragedy befalls his home and loved ones, Kubo must go on a journey with companions Monkey and the cursed samurai Beetle to find his deceased father's armor, as it's the only thing that can protect him from vengeful spirits who are bent on his destruction. 

I honestly don't even know where to start with this film; so I'll start by saying this is the most beautifully animated movie I have seen to date. I've always been a huge fan of stop motion animation- from watching The California Raisins animated movie as a child (yes, that was a thing), to The Nightmare Before Christmas, Chicken Run, all of the Rankin/Bass holiday specials, James and the Giant Peach- and the fascination has carried on into adulthood. I loved The Fantastic Mr. Fox, Max and Mary and even movies like Monkeybone which are pretty bad, but still impressive to see with their use of stop-motion. 

Kubo and the Moon King
[Found on Google Images]

When Laika's first film Coraline came out in 2009, I was immediately smitten with not only the story telling and the top-notch voice acting, but the world and characters that were created were astounding. And with every Laika film, the characters and worlds just keep getting better and better. The art in Kubo is very stylized as it draws a lot of inspiration from traditional Japanese art. The animation in this film was probably some of the smoothest stop-motion animation I've seen to date. I was so lost in the art on screen that I kept forgetting that what I was seeing was all done by hand. Each of the characters' movements and facial features were absolutely spot on with the dialog and if you consider the fact that each character must have had hundreds if not thousands of different faces that had to be removed, applied, shaped to fit the emotion and lines- it's just astounding to think of. In every scene I was just blown away but the amount of attention to detail that has become a part of Laika films, and has set them apart from all other animation studios. 

Monkey, Beetle and Kubo
[Found on Google Images]

The voice cast also was impressive- Charlize Theron who plays Monkey was amazing; she added not only a hard, cold and concise attitude for this character but there was so much power, strength and love in her performace as well. Matthew McConaughey was hugely entertaining as Beetle, as he has a bad case of amnesia and is constantly adding humor to his scenes. Art Parkinson (Kubo) gave a great performance, as to be expected from anyone working on Game of Thrones. There are also some big names in the supporting cast, like George Takei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as a few of the colorful villagers, and Ralph Fiennes as The Moon King.

While the art is basically flawless and attentive to Japanese art and culture, you can also hear it throughout the soundtrack, which features a lot of traditional Japanese instruments like the koto, taiko drums, fue and of course, the shamisen as a shamisen is an integral part of the story. And can I just say I feel like western culture needs more shamisen music? There's just something so elegant and simple yet so complex about the shamisen- it's really amazing to hear it used so frequently and masterfully in the soundtrack to this film. It's even featured in the title song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by Regina Spektor. 

There is constant danger for Kubo on his journey.
[Found on Google Images]

I was blown away by stunning art and beautiful music for sure, but what really impressed me was the story and the emotion put into this film. Kubo's story is one of courage, family, loyalty, as well as loss and grief. While many animated films that attract younger audiences do have themes of death and grief, they do have a tendency to not focus on the grieving, but rather the healing. That is fine, but for anyone who has ever loved and lost you will know how strong and strange grief can be, and how not only does it take strength to move forward from it, but it takes just as much strength if not more to fully feel and accept the pain we all feel with loss. A big theme in Kubo is that memories are the strongest form of magic, and our hero draws from that in order to defend himself from his enemies, which is an important lesson for not only younger viewers, but also adults, as I said.

One of the evil Sisters.
[Found on Google Images]

Kubo and the Two Strings is being promoted and marketed as a main stream animated family feature, when the film as a whole felt like a much more artsy venture. While the film is thoroughly enjoyable, younger children may find some of the more somber and quite moments boring so that should be something to keep in mind if you want to go see this movie with your kids. Other than that though, I'm having a really hard time finding anything in this movie to dislike. This film is definitely one of the better movies I've seen this year- so far it's in my Top 10, as well as other critics as they are giving the movie raving praise. Kubo is a movie well worth the price of a ticket, as well as a copy on Blue Ray (I can only imagine what that movie will look like in high definition). This film has earned it's place among the other great animated masterpieces that Laika has given us, but will also likely be counted in among other animated masterpieces for years to come. 

Kubo and his magic will live on in cinematic history for years to come.
[Found on Google Images]

"Hillary's America: The Secret of the Democratic Party" Movie Review

Of course this movie comes to Payson. We couldn't get Sausage Party- oooh no. We got convicted felon Dinesh D'souza's newest partisan conspiracy flick Hillary's America: The Secret of the Democratic Party. But to be fair, I can only imagine this film was just as raunchy as Sausage Party is, what with all of it's on-screen self-righteous ego masturbation. 

The beauty of film is that it's for everyone- anyone can find something they like. The cinematic arts appeal to so many people with so many tastes and ideals, a movie like this coming out during one of the most divisive elections our country has seen is no surprise. Also, one of the beautiful things about our country is our freedom of speech- while I may not agree with what one person says or thinks, I feel they have a right to say it and think it. Having said that, I am definitely not one of D'souza's intended demographic, and I am also not completely sold on which side is the better option this election. I, like many Americans, am not happy with our current options for who should be the leader of our nation. I am by no means a Trump supporter, but I am also not fully on Hillary's side. But after sitting through Hillary's America I am no more supportive of Hillary than I was before, but I am also no where near convinced that I should be supportive of the GOP. 

For those who aren't familiar with Mr. D'Souza's work, he has written and directed such films as America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014) and his biggest "hit", 2016: Obama's America (2012), which garnered an astonishing $33,349,949 during it's time in theaters, making it one of the highest grossing conservative films of all time. These films were created for a very specific audience, so of course said audiences ate these films up, but the same can be said for documentaries such as Fahrenheit 9/11 and Blackfish; both of which were huge hits with a more liberal audience. However, even some of the best documentaries are pretty biased toward the position the creators of the film take toward the topic they are talking about in the film but they present their argument for their position, generally, through the use of statistics, well-documented and sited quotes, and facts. Not all documentaries do so, and this is one such 'documentary.' I also use the term documentary loosely as this film was made up of wooden reenactments versus doing much else.. 

The film starts out with showing Mr. D'souza receiving his sentencing from a judge after he had been found guilty of violating campaign finance laws. Of course, he blames Obama for his sentence, as he had just created 2016: Obama's America before he was tried and found guilty. So the judge sentences Dinesh (being played by himself) to spend time in a halfway house, be

Dinesh D'souza is living the thug life in a halfway house
[Found on Google Images]

on probation, and have to go to mandatory psychological evaluations during that time. While he's at the halfway house, he makes friends with the criminals including a man named Roc who was thrown into jail because he started a life insurance scam where a few of his cronies would go out on the street, offer people life insurance policies with no down payments and a check for $5,000 just for signing up, and then a few days later go and kill them to collect the money. Of course, this Roc fellow isn't a real person- I mean, he could be, but Dinesh never clarifies if the character of Roc is being used to protect the name of someone who didn't want to be mentioned in the film or what. So for all I know, he's not a real guy. Anyway, so after talking about the finer points of con artistry with Roc, Dinesh starts to put together this idea that the Democratic party is part of the biggest con in history, and is wanting to steal America. 

Dinesh visits some Democratic history museum and manages to sneak into a room for "Employees only" and uncovers the truth about how the Democratic party was started. And here we learn that when the Democratic party first created it was lead by Andrew Jackson who was pro-slavery and drove Native Americans from their homelands to reservations, that the founder of the KKK was a member of the Democratic party as well as a lot of racists who supported the same ideology, Woodrow Wilson who was pro-segregation,

A KKK clansman leaps off the screen during the White House's
screening of Birth of a Nation. You know, cuz stuff like that happens
all the time.
[Found on Google Images]

and even brought up that Margaret Sanger, a Democrat and founder of Planned Parenthood, supported eugenics as a means to cleanse the country of racial impurity. 

All of these factors, to some extent or another, are true and many of today's Democrats don't argue that, as all of those things are historically valid. But the problem is D'souza seems to forget that both the Democratic and the Republican parties have changed drastically over the past 100 or so years. He does mention "The Big Switch" that took place when Democrats and Republicans switched their party platforms, but only once and without much explanation, which if you want to know more about this important historical tid-bit, you're SOL; you'll be needing to hit up Google to get some answers. 

D'souza touts the glory of the Republican party by focusing on President Lincoln, who was the first Republican to be elected to the presidency and all the good that he did in regards to the Emancipation Proclamation, but that's really the only Republican president he focuses on. He briefly mentions Reagan during the course of the film, but he never delves into his politics or platform as a president. Also, while the film is called Hillary's America, he does a poor job of showing what that America would look like, as he waits until the final 20 minutes of the movie to start talking about it. He finds his way to Hillary's campaign headquarters, and again lets himself into an "Employees Only" room where he is met with reenactments of Hillary as a young woman, and how dastardly and power hungry she is by nature, as he seems to heavily imply. From there, we are met with footage of victims of Bill Clinton's sexual scandals and Hillary's defense of her husband. This information translates into Hillary and Bill being a political "Bonnie and Clyde" who want to bend America to their will for profit. While I do accept that Bill Clinton has a pretty nasty history when it comes to sex scandals, let's not forget that the current Republican nominee has his own list of mysogeny and sexual assault against women, but D'souza never touches on that, of course. 

The film then wraps up with Dinesh telling the audience that while he can't vote thanks to his conviction, he hopes the audience will go out and make the right choice. He walks off screen and the audience is met with a full scale band, an adorable girl-child in a white dress, and a large choir performing "The Star Spangled Banner" accompanied by stock footage of cowboys, children running with American flags, The Blue Angels, cannon fire, fireworks, mountain ranges and everything else that screams Americana for the last 3 minutes of the film. 

Margaret Sanger hangin' with the Clan and talking
about eugenics.
[Found on Google Images]

Honestly, thanks to poor editing, ridiculous moments of acting, and a lack of a solid argument as to why Clinton would be a bad candidate, this film is nothing but conspiracy-theorist garbage. While there could be a solid argument as to why Hillary would be a bad option for President and why she could clearly be considered a criminal, D'souza never provides any hard evidence to sway his audience, but rather just plays news footage and audio recordings that the Fox News crowd has seen and posted on Facebook at least a million times by now. 

While a lot of people are really fired up over this election, myself included, Hillary's America follows the same formula for bullshit that the rest of Dinesh's films follow; surprise, surprise. If you are the type of person who just can't stand Hillary no matter what the reason, you may enjoy this movie. But for anyone looking for a logical argument based on current and relevant facts to help form an educated opinion of who you should consider for president- do yourself a favor and look elsewhere. 

"Nine Lives" Movie Review

Well... This movie certainly did not land on it's feet. 

"Nine Lives" is a family film that unluckily hit theaters the same weekend as "Suicide Squad", which is undeniably one of the most anticipated movies of the summer if not the year. And while critics and some fans have not been kind to "Suicide Squad" in their reviews and ratings, they have definitely been harder on this film. But is "Nine Lives" really deserving of such low ratings? In a way, yes. 

"Nine Lives" tells the story of Tom Brand (played by Kevin Spacey), the billionaire businessman who owns "FireBrand"- some nondescript company that buys things, and builds things, but that's all we really know about it. And FireBrand's big schtick all through the movie is they want to build the world's largest building. Which is one heck of a goal, because apparently people want to throw money at the business that has the biggest building. However, some

Mr. Brand and his daughter Rebecca discussing
birthday gifts. [Found on Google Images]

company in Chicago is constructing a building that is 60 feet taller than the FireBrand building, and that is just the worst thing ever I guess. So, Brand's sleazy right-hand-man Ian (Mark Consuelos) refuses to tell Brand about the height differential, which is "no big deal" to him. 

Then, we are introduced to Tom's wife Lara (Jennifer Garner) and his daughter Rebecca (Malina Weissman) who are moping around the house about how Tom is never home. Actually, Lara is the only one moping over it. Rebecca is just the most optimistic and cheerful Mary-Sue character I've seen since the original film version of "Annie". Anyway, it's the day before Rebecca's 11th birthday, so Lara is pressing Tom to get her something nice, but all Rebecca wants is a cat. Tom hates cats, so he tries really hard not to get one for her, but finally concedes. He goes to this random hole-in-the-wall pet shop called "Purrkins Petshop" run by the eccentric Christopher Walken. Actually, the character's name is Felix Perkins, but really, it's just Christopher Walken in a pet shop. So, Christopher Walken gets Tom to take a fluffy cat named "Mister FuzzyPants" (because of course that's his name), and as Tom is leaving the shop, Walken turns to his horde of cats and says "Let's do this," suggesting that he and the cats have something magical up their sleeves. Boy, are we on the road to disappointment. 

So before he goes back to his home with Mister FuzzyPants for his daughter's birthday, he swings back by the FireBrand building because while at "Purrkin's", he caught a glimpse of a news anchor doing a story about how the Chicago tower is taller than his, so he pulls Ian up on the roof of the building with him and the cat in a rain storm and proceeds to yell at Ian about how he's a failure, and how he's fired, and blah blah blah. Then lightning hits the roof, blowing Tom and Mister Fuzzypants off the side of the building, and Ian just watches Tom and the cat dangle from the side of the building but doesn't want to help them, since he was about to get fired and all. It's amazing how getting fired can change people's minds about letting people fall off buildings. When they eventually fall, however, they crash through a window before they hit the ground.  When Tom wakes up, he sees his body being loaded up on a stretcher, but then he

Perkins (Christopher Walken) talking to
Mister Fuzzypants [Found on Google Images]

realizes he's trapped in Fuzzypants' body, to which his response is, "...Really?". Christopher Walken tracks him down and tells him that in order to be a man again, he has one week to reconnect with his family, or he'll be trapped in the cat's body forever. Oh yeah- Christopher Walken talks to cats in this movie, FYI. 


Normally, I just write a little summary of the plot, and then I move right along with my thoughts on the movie. But for this movie, I felt it was important to explain all of that nonsense, which is what this flick is made up of. This movie was not only painfully predictable, but it is so full of plot holes any rational person can't make it through this film without asking a minimum of 3 questions. The movie literally made no attempt at explaining how Tom becomes a cat, or how Christopher Walken can talk to cats, or what the hell Lara sees in her husband to begin with, or why Tom is so obsessed with his fancy building or anything. At the beginning of the movie we're introduced to Tom by way of showing him and his adult son in a plane getting ready to go sky diving on his way to a press junket. Tom isn't a professional sky diver, or extreme sportsman. In the interior of FireBrand you see panels on a wall with pictures of Tom playing golf and other things, but it's never mentioned if he's an avid sportsman, or if his company could possibly sell sporting equipment, but it never says for sure. So really, not only was the story introducing us to the main character, but also to an endless string of McGuffins that this movie is loaded with. 

"Nine Lives" follows the tired plot of "overworked dad must become an animal to become more human" which has been done to death, even by talking animal movie standards. In pacing, plot and predictability this film is right on par with the 2005 remake of "The Shaggy Dog" starring Tim Allen, which was also a remake of the original 1960's classic of the same name. And I say

Jennifer Garner trying to get her keys from Fuzzypants
[Found on Google Images]

that film is a classic because not only did it come out during the Golden Age of live-action Disney films, it was also one of the first movies to capitalize on the fore mentioned theme before it got ridiculously overused. The movie makes it a point to show the audience how "Tom isn't involved with his family", when really, aside from working too much, he seemed to have really good chemistry with his daughter, son, and wife. Sure he could be a little curmudgeonly about certain things, but what parent or working adult can say they've never been cranky, or overworked, or stressed out and acted out from that?  

And in regards to the cat and the cat humor, even that wasn't very good. During the opening credits there are a ton of phone-shot cat videos but none of them are particularly funny. And don't get me wrong- I am a fan of internet cat videos. But if you're going to take the time to show funny cat videos, actually show funny cat videos. I'm telling you, a little "Shock Kitten" or "Ninja Cat" would go a long way. For the most part, I will give it to them, the cat animation was fairly good, especially since the film didn't come from a major movie studio, but there were a few scenes were the animation left a little to be desired. For example, there was one scene in particular that was supposed to be heartwarming that involved Mister Fuzzypants and Rebecca dancing as they were reconnecting, but honestly, the cat's movements were super awkward, and the look he gave his daughter during the scene with his kitty-cat eyes was

Some of the animation in this film was great. Some
was not....
[Found on Google Images]

a little bit creepy. However, I do have to give the movie kudos on one thing; when Tom becomes a cat, he is a man trapped in a cat's body. I know that idea has been incorporated into every "human-to-animal" movie, but this one actually plays it straight- a man trapped in a cat's body. Let's look back to "The Shaggy Dog"- in that film, after Tim Allen became a dog, he would also inherit the dog's tendencies and animal nature even in his human body; tennis balls would be super interesting, growling at people who angered him was an appropriate expression of disapproval, and chasing a cat is a top priority. However, in this film, Tom is not interested with anything cat related. He's disgusted by cat food, he isn't interested in cat toys, can't land on his feet, and is still into manly things like drinking scotch (Yes. There is a scene where a cat drinks scotch). 



I also can't help but feel that another thing that works against this film is its misuse of Kevin Spacey. The majority of Spacey's screen time isn't actually spent on screen. Instead, he's a voice that's imposed over Mister Fuzzypants, but while this is a talking cat movie, there aren't any moving animated mouths; it's all very much like Garfeild but less humorous. While Spacey does deliver a lot of chuckle-worthy jokes (especially at the expense of his ex-wife), on the

CGI Fuzzypants sharing a dance with Rebecca
[Found on Google Images]

whole, a lot of the jokes are just weak. I can't help but feel that this movie underutilized what is essentially one of the strongest actors in Hollywood. Spacey is without a doubt a heavy-weight in the world of film. This also isn't his first foray into animation; in 1998 he played Hopper in Pixar's "A Bug's Life", and while this wasn't one of Pixar's most-loved films, many people can agree that Spacey brought a lot of weight and character into his role. This film, while earnest, just didn't have too much in the way of interesting characters, even when faced with something exciting; like being turned into a cat, for example. 

And moving on to the cast, really I have to give whoever did the casting in this film a big round of applause for even landing Kevin Spacey for this. He was definitely the highest caliber actor they had in the cast. Jennifer Garner honestly has had better performances, but this felt like she just said yes to get a paycheck. I mean with this film, "Miracles from Heaven" and a multitude of Garnier commercials under her belt, this literally had to just be a pad-the-wallet job. And as for Christopher Walken, I'm pretty sure he just wandered onto set and started playing along with the cast. But on the other hand, this film has a pretty good roster for Internet and App-famous cats. For example, there's Hamilton the Hipster Cat, Lil Bub AND Talking Tom gets screen time and film credits. Talking Tom. Let that sink in for a minute. 

Talking Tom (above) gets actual screen credit in this film... Really??
But seeing Lil Bub (below) on screen was cool, so there's that I guess...
[Found on Google Images]

Honestly, this whole movie felt a lot like a made-for-TV Hallmark movie, and frankly, Europacorp probably would have saved a lot of time and money just making the film that way. But was it really horrible? Well, I've seen worse movies, like "The Shaggy Dog" remake that I am honestly shocked has a higher rating on Rotten Tomatoes- that movie was awful for so many reasons. This movie, while not the best, was at least an earnest attempt at making a fun family movie. And I'm probably being too harsh of a judge, because the other members of the audience were busting a gut and enjoying themselves. Ultimately, this type of movie doesn't appeal to me, clearly. But if you do enjoy movies like this, who knows- you may just fall in love with it. This film was harmless as far as movies go, but it doesn't make a huge attempt to do anything new for the genre, but rather plays it really safe. This film did have a few highlights, but ultimately it all fell a little short.  

"Suicide Squad" Movie Review

"Suicide Squad" is one of, if not the, most hyped movies of 2016. After a teaser trailer was unleashed at Comic Con in 2015 and was then leaked online, the fervor to see this movie has been ridiculously high. I personally have also been chomping at the bit to see this movie for a little over a year now (any one of my friends can confirm this as I'm sure I became pretty annoying in my discussion of the movie and how excited I was to see it). After a great ad campaign and loads of teasers, the "Skwad" has finally hit theaters. During what has been described by many, a disappointing summer for movies, "Suicide Squad" was supposed to be the shot of adrenaline that brought the season back to life with pure villainous synergy. 

Amanda Waller as played by Viola Davis
[Found on Google Images]

I have been missing most of summer's cinematic offerings thanks to my stint with abject poverty (that's a discussion for a later blog), so I was hell bent to NOT miss this movie. I made it there opening night and was greeted with the movie I had been waiting for, and while there was a lot I really, really, REALLY liked, I was a bit disappointed because I ended up not loving it nearly as much as I wanted to. 

"Suicide Squad", for those who don't know, focuses on government agent Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) who gathers a group of dangerous and "metahuman"criminals with no hope of ever getting out of prison to create "Task Force X", who she then makes perform covert suicide missions in return for clemency. After a supernatural threat is unleashed on Midway City and is threatening the world, Waller sends in her group of villains led by solider Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) to wipe it out and save the planet. 

If you're not a big comic book fan, this film gives you the opportunity to meet some of DC's most interesting and dangerous bad guys that haven't had any exposure on the big screen; there's Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) who is a man with the skin, teeth, and strength of a crocodile who has no problem brutalizing (and sometimes eating) anyone who crosses his

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as the impressive
Killer Croc
[Found on Google Images]

path. Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) who is an Aussie with crazy boomerang skills and a taste for robbery, El Diablo (Jay Hernandez)- a man who has devilish pyrokinetic powers, Deadshot (Will Smith); an assassin for hire who never, and I mean never, misses a shot no matter how impossible, and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie); a former psychiatrist who fell in love with the Clown Prince of Crime, a.k.a. The Joker (Jared Leto), and through a series of torture, brainwashing, and a chemical dip became as crazy and dangerous as her "puddin'" is, if not more so. 

This is the first time any of these big-time baddies have had any time on the Silver Screen, which is pretty awesome since we live in a world of reboots and sequels. Sure, new villains get introduced in super hero movies all the time, but usually it's in a rebooted franchise (X-Men and Spiderman come to mind) or it's around a continued story line for a hero/heroes (the rest of Marvel's films) but this is the first time the super villains have their own movie, and the heroes play second fiddle in the story. That right there was hugely interesting to me as DC has some of the best and most interesting villains in their comics and stories. 

Harley and Deadshot [Found on Google Images]

I was blown away by the actors in the Suicide Squad- all of their characters complimented each other nicely, and the audience can feel and see the connection between them. They had great chemistry and that really made the movie work well. According to multiple sources the cast wasn't only close on screen but they've also bonded as a group outside of filming. Will Smith recently was on Jimmy Fallon's late night talk show and even said that he hasn't had any experience on set comparable to this experience, and it shows. While the group as a whole were great together, there were a few different performances that stood out to me. 

Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn [Found on Google Images]

Margot Robbie was one of the biggest surprises in the movie, as she literally nailed the role of Harley Quinn. She had the accent, the humor (including the cringe-worthy jokes that Harley was known for) and she was able to tap into Harley's insane love for the Joker, which isn't an easy love to show. She was likable but also unhinged and was so entertaining she stole just about every scene she was a part of in the movie. 

Will Smith also really impressed me with his portrayal of Floyd Lawton a.k.a Deadshot. After seeing one too many Will-Smith-movie flops, I was worried that this was going to be another round of Will-Smith-playing-Will-Smith. Rather, it was Will-Smith-playing-a-character-with-Will-Smith-humor which was perfect. The movie also included his backstory to establish his history with the audience, and it added a lot of complexity to the character in a short amount of time. Not only do we learn just what a deadly badass he is, but also he's just a dad trying to stay with his daughter and keep her safe and happy which makes him a much more relateable and layered man. 

Another character that really stood out to me was El Diablo. He is definitely the strongest and most dangerous member of the team since he has immense pyrokenetic abilities (think "Firestarter" but much more controlled), but he also refuses to use this power through most of the movie due to tragic moments in his past that shaped him into the character we meet in the

Jay Hernandez lights up the screen as Diablo
[Found on Google Images]

film. I loved his toned-down attitude and how he tried so hard to remain passive through most of the film because that adds real strength to his character. And when he does break his restraints to help the team it's incredible- I wasn't expecting him to be as amazing as he was so that was really impressive in my eyes. 

The other characters in the movie weren't without merit- I am looking forward to a Suicide Squad sequel where we get to see more Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and hopefully Katana. 

This movie was great fun, but no film is without it's faults. And while this one didn't have too many, they definitely landed a few good blows to what would otherwise be a thoroughly enjoyable flick. 

Katana and her sword Soultaker
[Found on Google Images]

My first gripe is also what a lot of other critics and movie-goers are picking at; the villain. Of course, in a movie full of villains it's extremely hard to have a bigger villain than the rest of the cast. The big baddie in "Suicide Squad" is a 6000 year old witch from another dimension named Enchantress. She can posses hosts, travel anywhere on Earth in the blink of an eye, and is damn formidable in battle. It should be easy to come up with something compelling for her, right? Well, if that's what you were thinking you would be wrong. Unfortunately, the plot took the current Super-Hero-Movie standard of "Bad guy wants to take over world for reasons,

The Enchantress played by Cara Delevingne
[Found on Google Images]

creates giant machine to do that, team has to shut machine down, bad guy beaten." Seriously, lately that seems to be the most used plot device for these types of movies. While her purpose in the film was definitely squandered, I thought the portrayal of the character was interesting. The way she moved, how she dressed, her makeup and hair- everything was very attention-grabbing for me. I wish something different could have been done with this powerful and interesting character, but it is what it is.

As much as the villain bummed me out, it's not a drop in the bucket compared to what really angered me about this movie. 

"Suicide Squad" introduces us to the new Joker who was played by Jared Leto (as previously mentioned). It's been 8 years since the Joker has been in a major motion picture; the last time we saw him, he was portrayed incredibly by the late Heath Ledger who won an Oscar for his performance. Ledger shattered all expectations when he went on screen as the Joker- he took the role to a whole other dark and twisted level that hadn't been explored in superhero films, and nothing has been able to hold a candle to it since then. Enter Jared Leto- an equally

Jared Leto as The Joker
[Found on Google Images]

dedicated and talented method actor who for months never broke character and got so into the Joker's head that his costars were afraid of him. And every time he was on the screen, all eyes were on him. When I saw and heard the Joker I was never sure if I should laugh with his jokes, be drawn in by his charismatic edginess, or be utterly terrified because I didn't know what he was going to do next. And THAT is what the Joker is all about, ladies and gentlemen. However, as much as I loved him, I wanted to see so much more of him, but I was sorely disappointed. 

All of the ads, teasers, trailers, plugs and spots strongly pushed the notion that the Joker was going to be an integral part of the film, and that was a huge draw for a lot of people. When the teasers and ads started coming out for the film, and the new look of the Joker was shown, people were really resistant to his sleek apparel and his plethora of tattoos, which of course is a far cry from the standard look of the Joker. Once that dropped, the hype around the movie really started to pick up, and the more hype there was, the more the Joker was pushed in trailers and was teased as being a big deal in the movie. But after seeing the film, he was in about 5 or 6 scenes, only 3 with any major dialog, and all of those scenes were way too short for my liking as well as the liking of other viewers, and Jared Leto himself. He was recently being interviewed by Movie'n'co about his role in the film, and  was asked what he would say to fans who wanted the Joker to have more time on screen, and he said, "To the people who want more Joker, I'd say 'Me, too'." 

With ads like this putting Harley and
Joker front and center, how could we not
think they would be a bigger part of the movie?
[Found on Google Images]

This film also introduces the world to Harley Quinn and Joker's twisted relationship. Anyone who has seen the animated series where she first appeared, or read any comics featuring her and "Mistah J" together (especially The New 52) will tell you how dark, abusive and insane their relationship is. The history of their love was first explained in an episode on "The New Batman Adventures" called "Mad Love". The basis of that story has be changed and adapted since, and was altered in The New 52 comics, which this film seems to use for their Harley and Joker origin story. However, while the movie tried to make it look slightly more romantic, they totally glossed over the abuse and head-games Joker and Harley doled out to one another which is a major part of their relationship. In this film, while he is definitely and unquestionably a bad guy, in my opinion he comes across as less abusive than Christian Grey in "50 Shades of Grey", as everything he asks of Harley, she does willingly rather than being coerced into it. And when The Joker is less abusive than Christian Grey, you're doing something wrong. 

UItimately, while these two points were really disappointing, the film is still enjoyable. I'll be interested to see what comes in the future as far as sequels and how the Squad will tie into the DC Cinematic Universe. "Suicide Squad" has already broken August box office records despite the critical beating it's been taking. And even with all of the movie's problems, I myself don't think it's warranting the dismal 26% Rotten Tomatoes is giving it. I mean, that's putting this movie on the same level as "Green Lantern." "Green Lantern"?? Really?? This film is MUCH more balanced and entertaining than that unfortunate DC trainwreck. Of course, the response to "Suicide Squad" has been almost as divisive as the reaction to "Batman v. Superman", so I guess it's really up to the audience member in question. This movie goer on the other hand, really liked the movie. I wanted to fall in love with it, but instead I just have a solid appreciation for it. This movie definitely helped DC gain closer ground to a movie that is as impressive as what Marvel is putting out, but there is still some things that clearly need to be done to close the gap between the two.