“Suicide Squad” watchers will leave the theater crazed by the elements of “freakiness” from the members of the Suicide Squad. The Suicide Squad is a team of “anti-heroes”, central characters that lack the conventional “heroic” attributes. The members are comparable to Marvel’s Deadpool, with dark personality traits and cruel humor.

       The Suicide Squad stands at a stark contrast to the Avengers, lacking the same honor and nobility held by the team of heroes. Rather, the Squad teamed up, reluctantly, by their common vice, crime, in order to fight against higher crime. These members were connected via their common wickedness by a secret government agency to fight against a higher evil which would destroy their world, something they were not ready to give up. This recurrent theme of villainous behavior in the film, uncommon in superhero movies, is new and unpredictable to audiences, and is probably the reason to the success of “Deadpool” and now “Suicide Squad”.

     Portraying the anti-heroes, the actors in this film practiced “method acting”, in which they stay in character both on- and off-camera. While typically applied for deeply emotional, maudlin movies, method acting was employed by the actors in order to achieve the madness typical of the criminal characters. For example, in order to find the perfect “creepy” Joker laugh, Jared Leto publicly tried different laughs, seeing which ones made people the most uncomfortable. In addition, to continue the deranged mentality of the Joker, he sent presents to his co-stars, including a live rat to Margot Robbie, bullets to Will Smith, and a dead hog to the entire crew. Fellow actor Scott Eastwood mentioned that Leto frightened him at times with his unsettling behavior. Leto is previously known for his method acting in his appraised, Oscar-winning role in “Dallas Buyers Club.” Will Smith, preparing for his role as Deadshot, shaved his head, trained with Navy SEALS and Army Rangers, and practiced firing guns and rifles. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, who plays Killer Croc, delved into his character, even observing actual crocodiles and researching about cannabalism.

     “Suicide Squad” has received mixed reception, ranging from worst to best. Audiences have rated the film low for its lack of plot organization and uneven screen time among the characters. The plot, at times, seems confusing, as it jumps around and continues without answering obvious questions. In addition, characters such as Enchantress, Harley Quinn, and Amanda Waller received an excessive amount of screen time compared to other characters such as Katana and Joker. Certainly, the time of the droning parts of recurring characters could have been allotted to other characters such as Joker, which the audience wanted to see more of. While critical watchers may judge the movie negatively, those looking for a fun, energetic film will not be disappointed by “Suicide Squad”. Positive critics have praised the film for its thrills, cast, and originality. The film is filled with action, and doesn’t waste too much time on dull flashbacks or profound pasts typical of other movies. Rather, it sticks to the present, with small bits of flashbacks to give the audience insight into the personal histories of main characters such as Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and Joker and their true, intrinsic motivations for their decisions. The cast, including Will Smith (Deadshot), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Jared Leto (Joker), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), and Cara Delevingne (Enchantress), were fit for their roles, with the right amount of psychiatry and lunacy important for each character. Margot Robbie received praise for her nearly-genuine expression of mania as Harley Quinn. She brings novelty to the movie as charming yet insane female character who draws in the audience with each unpredictable comment and action. The positive reception of Harley Quinn has led to the possibility of a future Harley Quinn movie.

     “Suicide Squad” is an entertaining film for all audiences, and it satisfies the expectations of comic book fans. While its main purpose is to entertain, it does leave the audience with the idea of the strong female role, by actresses Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn) and Karen Fukuhara (Katana). In typical superhero films such as the “Avengers” and “Iron Man”, women play weaker, non-central roles. Recent series such as “Hunger Games” and “Divergent” also have the strong female hero, but “Suicide Squad” is one of the first and few films of the comic book genre to bring the female character to the most central light. In the movie, Harley Quinn was the focus of attention. While Deadshot and Rick Flagg had a great amount of action, Harley Quinn had the main, comedic commentary, was the voice of reason to connect the group, and was the hero to make the final, deciding action to save the Squad and the entire world from apocalyptic takeover. This was also a turning point in Margot Robbie’s career, just after playing the “damsel-in-distress” role as Jane Porter in “The Legend of Tarzan.” The other female character, Karen Fukuhara, defies cultural odds in “Suicide Squad” by bringing Asian diversity and changing the typical role of the Asian woman into the tough, rebellious fighter. “Suicide Squad” serves as a form of entertainment for the average audience, but it does carry the inconspicuous message of female strength.