With Green Lantern, Man of Steel, and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice all failing to achieve universal popularity among fans, we continue to wait for the DC movie that returns us to the glory days of Christopher Nolan. Suicide Squad is next on the DCEU slate, and it goes without saying that it represents a serious gamble for Warner Bros. With the franchise on shaky ground, a supervillain team up film could make or break this cinematic universe. We’ve just learned that a handful of lucky moviegoers got the chance to see a rough cut of Suicide Squad; here are some of the reactions to the film.
As you can see from these tweets, there’s a strong sense of enthusiasm and excitement for Suicide Squad’s eventual release. Fans went so far as to classify the film as "genius," and one fan even considers it the best DC film ever.
The positive opinions soon poured into other parts of the web as well. One Reddit user explained that Suicide Squad is, first and foremost, a movie for fans of the DC mythos, and that it even pays considerable respect to Batman: The Animated Series:
This is the type of movie that demands a sequel. I’m sure critics will find ways to hate it (it’s basically a gritty action movie with comic book characters and a Hot Topic aesthetic, which honestly might turn critics off), but DC fans will like it. The BIG thing is that the movie literally saves DCEU Batman. This Batman is BTAS personified.
Of course, we should note that these reactions must be taken with a healthy grain of salt. The early reactions for Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice were similarly glowing, and that film turned out to be incredibly divisive among fans when it hit theaters this past March. Another Reddit user made a point to indicate that Suicide Squad – while good – falters at certain parts, particularly with its villain:
There were two characters I didn’t like. Felt nothing towards them and when they had that so-called emotional scene at the end, nothing. The villain was a big disappointment considering how fresh the idea I thought it was. I still thought it was a very good movie.
Outside of the film’s overall quality, these early reactions have also offered us some minor details about the film itself. Particularly, we now know that Ben Affleck’s Batman has maybe five total minutes of screen time, and Jared Leto’s Joker has maybe 20 – although anyone who has seen Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs will tell you that it doesn’t take much screen time to create something iconic. These early reports also confirm that the film takes place after Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, which explains why Amanda Waller would have such a vested interest in creating a task force to deal with metahuman threats.
Ultimately, the early buzz surrounding Suicide Squad seems overwhelmingly positive. It looks and feels like one of the most unique comic book films in recent memory, and if it does well it could set the tone for the entire DCEU going forward. We will know for sure when Suicide Squad hits theaters on August 5.
