Suicide Squad is just days away from hitting theaters on August 5. The hotly-anticipated anti-superhero film has been teasing audiences for more than a year at this point. Now, at long last, we”re getting an early taste of what critics are thinking, and it”s decidedly mixed.
While many more reviews will be coming out in the days ahead, the movie is only at 38 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes. HitFix”s Drew McWeeny gave the movie a B+, saying it”s “gleefully nihilistic” and “it gets it right often enough that I like a lot of it.” While many agreed, many others took the exact opposite position on the film that”s tracking for a $100+ million opening weekend.
Following are some reviews from leading critics:
“Fresh”
“Compared to its ilk, Suicide Squad is an excellently quirky, proudly raised middle finger to the staid superhero-movie establishment.”
Brian Truitt
USA Today
“For DC, which blew it with Batman v Superman last spring, Suicide Squad is a small step forward. But it could have been a giant leap.”
Chris Nashawaty
Entertainment Weekly
“It's probably best to think of Suicide Squad as a primer, an entry into a side world of the DC Universe that may pay bigger benefits in later films.”
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic
“Suicide Squad is the rare superhero movie in which I actually found myself wondering about the characters' inner lives.”
Bilge Ebiri
Village Voice
“Rotten”
“What a waste of a perfectly twisted Suicide Squad.”
Richard Roeper
Chicago Sun-Times
“So much happens in David Ayer's DC Comics adaptation Suicide Squad that by the end, it's as if you've seen nothing.”
Stephanie Zacharek
TIME Magazine
“Just when you think the summer movie season can't get any worse, along come the 'Worst. Heroes. Ever.””
David Ehrlich
indieWIRE
“Who stole the soul of Suicide Squad? I'd say it's Ayer's willingness to go all limp-[CENSORED] and compromise his hardcore action bona fides for a PG-13 crowd-pleaser that would rather ingratiate than cut deep, or even cut at all.”
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone