Illusiveone - 346: Redoing My Life, I Mean, It’s Alright

r/DCUMegathread: Suicide Squad Review Thread

(RT score will be updated every 5–10 minutes for the first hour or so, and then periodically as reviews continue to roll in. I'll keep adding more outlets and snippets as they drop.)

All Critics: 72% – 83 reviewsTop Critics: 68% – 41 reviewsFreshAverage Rating: 6.7/10

Critics Consensus:

"Suicide Squad is overstuffed, excessively violent, and frequently at war with its own ambitions, but an inspired cast, anarchic humor, and a surprisingly affecting emotional core keep this trip through Arkham entertaining even when the chaos threatens to overwhelm it."

Verified Audience: 94% – 1,500+ reviewsAll Audience: 96% – 5,000+ ratingsAverage Rating: 4.6/5

Metascore: 69Based on 51 Critic Reviews

"An unruly, frequently hilarious comic-book bloodbath whose memorable characters are occasionally buried beneath an avalanche of franchise machinery."

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"Suicide Squad may very well be the messiest DCU film yet, but it is also one of its funniest. The film throws Bloodsport, Harley Quinn, Peacemaker, Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang, Vigilante, Deathstroke, Joker, Amanda Waller, Parademons, and eventually Kalibak into one enormous Arkham Island pressure cooker and somehow emerges with enough character work to justify most of the madness."

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"There's a terrific Suicide Squad movie buried inside a very good but frustratingly overstuffed one."

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"Suicide Squad is juvenile, grotesque, funny, unexpectedly sincere, and occasionally exhausting. In other words, it understands its title characters perfectly."

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"Suicide Squad is the rare blockbuster that can be criticized for excess while making that excess part of its appeal. There are too many characters, too many jokes, and probably one Apokoliptian too many. Yet the movie never becomes boring. Vigilante is an instant audience favorite, and we will have far too many people obsessed with Harley Quinn soon enough."

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"Suicide Squad is chaotic as hell, and mostly better for it. Its setting gives the film a wonderful horror-comedy energy, Idris Elba is excellent as Bloodsport, and Margot Robbie introduces Harley Quinn to the general audience. The final act nearly buckles under Deathstroke, Joker, Kalibak, and a Parademon invasion all happening at once, but the action remains inventive enough to keep the spectacle from turning into noise."

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"Suicide Squad is two films fighting for control. One is a darkly comic character piece about coercion, abuse, and whether morality means anything when punishment is removed. The other is a sprawling piece of DCU franchise construction. The former is considerably better than the latter, although the latter will almost certainly receive the louder cheers."

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"The film is at its best whenever its characters are allowed to be people rather than pieces on a cinematic-universe chessboard. Bloodsport's relationship with his daughter is familiar but effective, Flag brings a welcome moral center to the team, and Harley's story works because the movie gives her room to make mistakes before confronting some uncomfortable truths about herself. The performances give these quieter moments more weight than expected. Less successful is the constant escalation around them. As the film barrels toward an increasingly enormous third act, some of its strongest character work risks getting buried beneath the spectacle."

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"Loud, bloody, and often very funny, Suicide Squad possesses the restless energy of a filmmaker terrified that the audience might spend thirty uninterrupted seconds without an explosion, joke, cameo, or severed body part. Sometimes the strategy works magnificently. Sometimes one longs for everyone involved to sit down. Margot Robbie and Idris Elba are far better than the surrounding chaos requires, John Cena remains a gifted comic performer, and the film's cocaine-fueled Snowflame sequence is either inspired lunacy or evidence that civilization has reached its natural endpoint."

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"There's an excellent movie inside Suicide Squad about Amanda Waller discovering that coercion does not create loyalty and Joker discovering that removing consequences does not automatically reveal monsters. The Squad proves both wrong when their bombs stop working and they choose to return to Arkham. It is the film's smartest idea. Then Deathstroke steals an alien box and a giant monster arrives. Suicide Squad's inability to stop escalating is both its greatest weakness and probably the reason audiences will adore it."

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"Suicide Squad appears to have been constructed according to the principle that if one superhero-movie element is entertaining, seven must be better. Joker alone could sustain the film. So could Amanda Waller. So could Bloodsport and Harley Quinn. Instead, we are given all of them alongside Lex Luthor, Deathstroke, extraterrestrial technology, Parademons, Kalibak, and a post-credit appearance by the next big bad. There is considerable talent here, particularly Robbie, Cena, and Elba, but the film repeatedly interrupts its own best ideas with advertisements for other movies."

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"The critics will complain about the giant alien in the third act. They will be correct. Audiences will cheer anyway. They will also be correct."

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"Suicide Squad feels less like a carefully structured feature film than a three-hour comic-book crossover somebody somehow edited down to theatrical length."

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Top Comments:

u/CrimsonLantern91 (11.8k upvotes)72% CRITICS AND 94% AUDIENCE LMAOOOO.

This is EXACTLY the movie I thought it would be.

Critics: "There are too many characters."

Fans: "HOLY SHIT, KALIBAK."

u/Batfan224 replying:They're both right.

u/CrimsonLantern91 replying:That's the funniest part. I agree with like 80% of the negative reviews, and I still gave it five stars.

u/MarikMarik (1.7k upvotes)I cannot believe SNOWFLAME had one of the most heroic deaths in the entire DCU.

The entire theater started cheering when he yelled, "BEHOLD THE POWER OF SNOWFLAME."

u/Kalintist (7.5k upvotes)Joker seeing Kalibak come through the portal:

"Okay, I'm outta here."

Possibly the smartest decision Joker has ever made.

u/SnDealer replying:Kalibak genuinely looked offended that Joker didn't want to fight him.

u/Kalintist replying:He was prepared for a boss fight, and Joker just surrendered the quest item.

u/DTracker (7.1k upvotes)Honestly, I get why this will probably end up being the lowest-rated DCU film.

It is objectively kind of a mess. But if THIS is the floor for the franchise, they're doing fine.

u/MeolisKid replying:Exactly. 72% being considered the disaster score for this universe is hilarious.

u/DTracker replying:Adler: "This might be our worst-performing movie."

Movie gets a 94% audience score.

u/Cinemaual (6.8k upvotes)I liked it, but the critics complaining about the third act aren't wrong.

Harley finally realizing Joker doesn't give a shit about her felt like the climax.

Then suddenly:

DEATHSTROKE BETRAYALPEACEMAKER BETRAYALPEACEMAKER UNBETRAYALVIGILANTE DIESBOOM TUBEPARADEMONSKALIBAKDEATHSTROKE STEALS THE BOXVIGILANTE IS ALIVEEXPLOSIONSDARKSEID

Movie, please breathe.

u/Sallrong (6.4k upvotes)Viola Davis needs more appreciation. Every single time Waller appeared, I was more scared of her than I was of the alien demons.

u/Filnnoying (5.1k upvotes)I think the movie's biggest problem is Deathstroke.

He's cool. I understand why Lex sent him. But he's basically carrying the setup for an entirely different movie inside this one.

u/ilantesFriend replying:We had a rapist and a pedo in this movie.

u/Filnnoying replying:Hey, man, that was retconned away.

u/CerasRigg (4.2k upvotes)I like how Joker has Batman withdrawal. His boyfriend disappeared, and now everyone has to suffer.

u/Dctoater (3.6k upvotes)Peacemaker unloading extra rounds into Doctor Light AFTER Waller blew his head off:

"What? Just making sure."

My theater was gone.

u/KeemetOn (2.6k upvotes)Hot take: this is probably not one of the five best DCU movies.

u/OldScan (2.3k upvotes)They're doing a good job setting up Darkseid, and we've only seen his eyes and heard his voice. It sounds so good, man. Terrifying.

u/Marinrekn87 reviews now.RT has moved from 72% to 73%.

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Suicide Squad Explodes With $328 Million Worldwide Opening, Sets New R-Rated Record

DC Studios’ Suicide Squad opened to a massive $328 million worldwide, setting a new record for the largest global opening ever for an R-rated film and giving the DC Cinematic Universe another major box-office success.

The film earned an estimated $132 million domestically from the United States and Canada, while international markets contributed approximately $196 million, bringing its global opening to $328 million.

The result significantly exceeded pre-release expectations, particularly given the film’s R rating, which limits access to younger audiences in several major markets. Industry projections had already suggested a strong opening following unusually high advance ticket sales, but the final global figure placed Suicide Squad well beyond previous R-rated opening records.

Analysts credited much of the opening to the strength of the DC brand and the film’s ensemble cast, particularly Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Heath Ledger as the Joker, and John Cena as Peacemaker. The return of Ledger’s Joker, who had not held such a central role in a DC film for several years, was considered one of the biggest factors driving advance interest.

Its R rating had initially been viewed as a potential commercial limitation, particularly for a production of its scale. Instead, the rating became a significant part of the film’s marketing, with trailers emphasizing the Squad’s violence, dark humor, and the considerably harsher consequences faced by its characters compared with the studio’s traditional superhero releases.

Audience interest remained high throughout the weekend, with younger adult audiences making up a substantial portion of ticket sales.

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Suicide Squad was doing well.

Two weeks after release, the movie had settled at 66 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, which was lower than most of the DC films but hardly disastrous. Critics were divided over the sheer number of characters, the violence, the tonal shifts, and how much the movie tried to fit into its runtime, while audiences had responded far more enthusiastically. The box office was strong, merchandise was moving, Harley had somehow become even more popular than we thought she would, and people were already talking about Peacemaker, Vigilante, and Snowflame online as though they were A-list comic characters.

Not every movie needed a ninety-something percent rating to be successful, and Suicide Squad had accomplished almost everything we wanted it to accomplish. It had expanded the DCU into something stranger and more violent and introduced characters we could use later. More importantly, from my perspective, it had raised Margot's stardom to new levels, and from the studio's perspective, it was making a great deal of money.

Once the release obligations were mostly behind us, Margot and I returned to Canada to finish Ready or Not.

Production went smoothly, and we were finally approaching the end.

I stood inside the mansion set while the crew prepared one of the last major sequences of the film: the moment the family discovered that the curse they had spent generations obeying was very real.

And then exploded.

Margot stood a short distance away in what remained of Grace's wedding dress. Calling it white at this point would have been generous. The fabric was stained with blood, dirt, and grime from everything Grace had survived throughout the night, while dried and fresh-looking theatrical blood covered one side of Margot's face and disappeared into her hairline. The makeup department had spent an irritating amount of time making her look exactly as she did now.

The rest of the cast were gathered nearby while members of the effects and stunt teams talked them through the sequence. Mark O'Brien, Henry Czerny, Melanie Scrofano, Kristian Bruun, Nicky Guadagni, and the two boys were all there, along with Scarlett, who was listening carefully while one of the effects supervisors explained where everyone needed to stand when the practical effects were triggered.

My attention, however, had wandered toward a portrait leaning against one of the walls.

Victor Le Domas.

I stepped closer and studied it. The portrait depicted me somewhere in my sixties, dressed in nineteenth-century clothing with graying hair. Victor was the ancestor who had originally made the deal that created the family's fortune and, more importantly, the curse hanging over every generation that followed.

The portrait wouldn't even receive much attention in the finished film. It would hang somewhere in the mansion during earlier scenes and now in this scene as well, visible enough that attentive viewers might recognize the face, but not so prominently that the camera screamed, Look, Daniel Adler. The portrait looks like Daniel Adler.

Still, seeing myself aged by several decades was strange.

"I hope I look this good when I'm actually that age."

Margot's voice came from beside me.

"I hope so too." She studied the portrait for another moment. "Is it weird that I'm more attracted to an older you?"

I looked at her. "Yes, a bit. But hey, at least now I know you'll still be attracted to me when I'm old."

She winked at me as she laughed. "Let's not set unrealistic expectations."

I gave her a wounded look, which only made her smile wider.

Then she seemed to remember something.

"Also, serious question. Why does Pepper keep calling you about us parachuting into the wedding?"

I closed my eyes briefly.

Pepper Saltzman, whom I had met and befriended through Cam and Mitchell years ago, back when I was still a teenager. When Margot properly met Pepper during Cam and Mitchell's wedding, the two had gotten along.

Which was how Pepper became our wedding planner.

In fairness, he had done an excellent job. Unfortunately, Pepper's definition of an excellent wedding involved treating every possible moment as an opportunity to create something people would still discuss twenty years later.

"Because Pepper doesn't understand the word no."

Margot folded her arms. "You told him no?"

"Several times."

"Then why did he ask me yesterday whether I was afraid of heights?"

I sighed. "Because he thinks if he asks enough times, we'll eventually become exhausted and agree."

She laughed.

"He pitched me an idea when I went to that brunch with Cam, Mitchell, and their friends. He had this entire plan with some absurd reveal, and I think there was either a horse or a helicopter involved at one point."

I shook my head. "The only reason I escaped that conversation was because I changed the subject to me kissing Meryl Streep."

She shook her head, still smiling. "I'll talk to him later. And we're going to be fully focused on the wedding from next week. Remember what we talked about?"

"Yeah, yeah. I haven't forgotten. Nothing for the next month and a half."

Margot narrowed her eyes.

"Nothing."

"I said nothing. It's just going to be us."

She stepped closer and leaned in to kiss me.

I immediately raised one hand between us.

She stopped.

I gestured toward the carefully applied blood and makeup covering the side of her face.

"We can't wait another half hour because you ruined continuity."

Her mouth opened slightly in disbelief.

I turned away before she could respond and clapped my hands loudly enough to get the attention of the nearest crew members.

"Alright, everybody. Let's do it."

The effects team had been preparing the room for most of the morning because this wasn't a sequence we could casually reset after every take.

The Le Domas family exploding needed to look violent, sudden, and disgusting rather than like a series of obvious digital effects. We were still going to use visual effects afterward to extend some of the gore, clean up rigs, and enhance individual moments, but the foundation would be practical.

That meant blood.

A truly unreasonable amount of blood.

The mansion interiors needed to be protected, so the crew had spent hours covering almost everything. Heavy plastic sheeting covered sections of the floors and walls, while additional protective material had been hidden behind set dressing and beneath rugs. Anything that couldn't be adequately protected had either been duplicated or temporarily removed.

Mark, Henry, Kristian, Nicky, and Scarlett were all wearing specially prepared concealed practical blood effects: small controlled charges and pressurized blood packs.

The effects department had gone over every setup repeatedly.

We had rehearsed the timing without effects several times. The family members would realize the ritual had failed, panic, and then the curse would begin collecting them one after another.

The camera department confirmed they were ready.

Sound was ready.

Effects was ready.

I stepped closer to the monitors while the effects team finished their last checks.

"Alright," I said, looking around the room. "For most of you, we'll be doing the actual deaths as close-up shots, so we're starting with Scarlett."

Scarlett looked toward me. "Good to know I'm first."

I turned toward Melanie and the two boys. "Once Charity goes, that's your cue. I want all three of you to react immediately, scream, and run through that doorway."

We ran through it one more time. The camera operator rehearsed the move from Charity's close-up to the retreating trio and then toward the doorway.

Once everyone was happy, the effects supervisor gave me a thumbs-up.

I moved behind the monitor.

"Okay. Let's do it."

The room quieted immediately.

"Picture's up."

The camera settled on Scarlett.

I looked toward the set.

"And... action."

Scarlett's character was already panicking, staring toward the empty Le Bail chair as the realization sank in that the family had been wrong. The ritual had failed. Dawn had come.

"I take it back!" Scarlett screamed. "I take it back! I want to go ho..."

PAFF!

The blood pack erupted.

A violent burst of fake blood exploded across the frame.

Melanie screamed on cue.

The boys screamed with her, and all three turned and ran.

Their figures disappeared through the doorway.

Then...

PAFF! PAFF! PAFF!

Three separate blood effects detonated near the doorway and along the edge of the corridor, spraying the walls and floor.

I watched the monitor for another second.

"Cut!"

The set immediately came alive again.

I stood up from behind the monitors.

"Good. Great. That's exactly what I wanted. Let's do the rest now."

We were finished by the end of the day, and I stayed near the monitors, going through the final shots with the cinematographer.

They looked good.More importantly, we were almost done.

Two more days.

After almost a month of production, I would finally be able to call Ready or Not a wrap. That thought put me in a very good mood.

Once I was satisfied with the footage, I went looking for Margot and I found her in one of the adjoining rooms with several members of the cast.

I walked inside as another photo was taken, my eyes fully on the portrait.

God, I really hope I look like that when I'm sixty.

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‘Suicide Squad’ Finishes With $954 Million Worldwide

DC Studios’ Suicide Squad has ended its theatrical run with approximately $954 million worldwide, completing one of the strongest performances ever recorded by an R-rated film.

The movie had already broken records with its $328 million global opening weekend, including roughly $132 million from the United States and Canada and $196 million from international markets. By the end of its theatrical run, Suicide Squad had grossed approximately $385 million domestically and around $569 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to approximately $954 million.

The result makes Suicide Squad one of the highest-grossing R-rated films ever and one of the biggest worldwide successes in the DC Cinematic Universe.

For DC Studios, Suicide Squad had begun as one of the riskier projects on its slate. It ended as one of its biggest hits.

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