The Fatal Flaw of 'Suicide Squad'

Suicide Squad is damaged.In a world dominated by superheroes, the high concept Suicide Squad put [...]

Suicide Squad is damaged.

In a world dominated by superheroes, the high concept Suicide Squad put the spotlight on the bad guys: namely crazed clown Harley Quinn, starry-eyed lover of the Joker, the never-misses Deadshot, the fiery Diablo, the disfigured but still beautiful Killer Croc, crude bank robber Captain Boomerang, and their military man handler, Rick Flag.

Task Force X is assembled under the orders of high-ranking government official Amanda Waller, whose disposable super-group would act as a contingency plan in the event the government would need to combat an out-of-control metahuman — like the recently deceased Superman.

The team of bad guys, dubbed a "suicide squad" by an always sharp Deadshot, trade their services on off-the-books missions in exchange for perks and reduced sentences.

Deadshot and crew come to learn they're being pit against an ancient evil: a supernaturally-gifted inter-dimensional witch known as the Enchantress.

And that's the biggest flaw with the oft-maligned Suicide Squad.

Suicide Squad's concept — a shadowy government agency recruits criminals, psychopaths and villains as a hush-hush defensive task force — is a great one.

The concept stumbles when a psychiatrist-turned-clown and a guy really, really good at climbing with ropes are among those actively sought out and enlisted by the government to take on a force so powerful it could give Superman a run for his money.

Like every DC Extended Universe installment before it, Suicide Squad boasted a potentially world-ending threat when it would have fared better if its assemblage of outmatched villains weren't warding off the apocalypse.

It makes sense for the government to conscript an imprisoned Harley Quinn if they're putting together a task force specifically aimed at pursuing the Joker. It doesn't make sense to conscript an imprisoned Harley Quinn who will fend off mystical creatures and an ancient witch with a baseball bat.

Of the main players, only Diablo and Killer Croc could potentially go toe-to-toe with a moderately powerful metahuman.

If your goal is to bring together a team capable of thwarting the machinations of a boogey man Superman, it doesn't make sense to carve out deals with guys like Boomerang and Slipknot, non-powered humans whose accessories become glorified gimmicks when put against superpowers like those exhibited by Superman or the Flash.

What should have been an eccentric black ops team became the last line of defense in a world where Batman, Wonder Woman and the Flash exist and had already operated publicly.

The Squad's talents were more suited to going after the Joker, the perfect choice for lead villain in a movie starring wrongdoers who require an even worse villain to make them look better in comparison, or violating a lawful "no trespass" sanction and infiltrating a restricted country that is publicly and officially hands-off.

Would Suicide Squad have fared better if it centered around a clandestine team of super-criminals overthrowing a malevolent dictator, or bringing down an overseas criminal operation manufacturing and selling dangerous drugs — like Venom, the same super-steroid used to grant Batman villain Bane incredible strength?

Warner Bros. has several Harley Quinn-centric Suicide Squad spinoffs in the works, and the Squad are rumored to next square off against another ancient evil, this time in the form of Dwayne Johnson's mystically-powered Black Adam, in Suicide Squad 2.

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