If you’ve spent any time online in the last eight years, you’ve seen the meme. Rick Flag’s exposition line about Katana: "This is Katana. She's got my back. I would advise not getting killed by her. Her sword traps the souls of its victims." It is the perfect example of the movie’s biggest sin: Telling, not showing. We are told this is a team of bad guys. We are told they are dangerous. But aside from a few bar fights, they mostly just banter like coworkers at a sad office party.
If you remember nothing else about Suicide Squad (officially titled Suicide Squad , but unofficially known as the birth of the "damaged" Joker meme), you remember the marketing. Warner Bros. sold us a dangerous, R-rated-style heist movie about villains forced to be heroes. What we got was a studio-edited patchwork quilt.
Revisiting Suicide Squad (2016): The Ultimate Case of "What Could Have Been" suicide squad 2016
Let’s talk about (Jared Leto). Leaving the behind-the-scenes drama aside (the "used condoms," the dead pig, the method acting), the final cut of the film features a Joker who is barely in the movie. He’s a side plot. A flashback machine. Leto’s "gangster with grills and a damaged forehead tattoo" had potential, but the theatrical cut reduced him to a music video cameo. It felt like watching the deleted scenes reel.
If you haven’t seen it since 2016, watch the Ayer Cut fan edits (if you can find them) or just watch the "Bohemian Rhapsody" trailer again. The trailer is still a masterpiece. The movie… well, it tries. If you’ve spent any time online in the
Let’s set the scene: It’s the summer of 2016. We had just watched Batman v Superman tear up Metropolis, and the world was desperate to see DC catch the lightning in a bottle that Marvel had been holding for a decade. Then came the trailers for Suicide Squad —set to Queen’s "Bohemian Rhapsody" and Twenty One Pilots’ "Heathens." They were gritty, colorful, and looked like a blast.
Is Suicide Squad (2016) a good movie? Objectively? No. It is disjointed, tonally confused, and features a final battle that feels like a video game boss on easy mode. I would advise not getting killed by her
But is it fascinating ? Absolutely. It is the ultimate "what if." A beautiful mess of great performances trapped inside a studio panic attack.