The build-up to tomorrow's release of Suicide Squad has been long and teasing. We've had countless trailers, featurettes, soundtrack teasers, remixed soundtrack teasers, and a mountain of interviews with the leading actors. It was made to seem like it could be one of the greatest superhero movies of all time, but according to the critics, it's not. In fact, it's said to be terrible.
The film currently has a score of 31% on the review-aggregator Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 42 on Metacritic, which has led to outraged fans trying to shut down the former. But do they really matter anyway? Some films now considered to be classics were panned when they were first released – The New York Times slammed The Godfather Part II, for example - and besides, there are a few positives reviews for the film.
Here's what the critics had to say, and if you've seen the film already, tell us you what you thought of it in the comments below.
The Good
"Compared to its ilk, Suicide Squad is an excellently quirky, proudly raised middle finger to the staid superhero-movie establishment." Read more.
– Brian Truitt/USA Today
"If Marvel has the best superheroes, so the prevailing geek-logic goes, then DC has the coolest villains... Like Avengers Assemble forced through a Deadpool mangle, Suicide Squad gives new life to DC’s big-screen universe. So bad-to-the-bone it’s good." Read more.
– Dan Jolin/Empire
The OK
"It’s a clotted and delirious film, with flashes of preposterous, operatic silliness. But it doesn’t have much room to breathe; there are some dull bits, and Leto’s Joker suffers in comparison with the late Heath Ledger. Suicide Squad promises madness, and a dense downpour of madness is what it delivers. I could have done with more fun and more lightness of touch." Read more.
– Peter Bradshaw/The Guardian
"When it comes down to it, there's one overriding factor that lessens the impact of the film's numerous stumbles, and that's this: It's just plain entertaining to see all these warped characters, and all these well-cast actors, bouncing off of one another, interacting with one another, and creating a barely controlled chaos." Read more.
– Mike Scott/The New Orleans Times-Picayune
"Writer-director David Ayer (End of Watch) skillfully sets up the film, introducing each of the crazies with caffeinated comic-book energy. But their mission...is a bit of a bust. The stakes should feel higher." Read more.
– Chris Nashawaty/Entertainment Weekly
"In the end, the characters are more lasting than the story, which is a standard save-the-city-from-destruction yarn. But this crew is a riot, and their world is intriguing and even a little meaningful." Read more.
– David Calhoun/Time Out London
The Bad
"Folks, this is a lousy script, blobby like the endlessly beheaded minions of the squad's chief adversary. It's not satisfying storytelling; the flashbacks roll in and out, explaining either too much or too little, and the action may be violent but it's not interesting." Read more.
– Michael Phillips/Chicago Tribune
"The appallingly bad Suicide Squad has the lamest villains ever. If it has a genius for anything, it’s disorganization: What promised to be a Super Bowl of villainy turned out more like toddler playtime." Read more.
– Kyle Smith/New York Post
"Suicide Squad wussies out when it should have been down with the Dirty Dozen of DC Comics. Audiences complained that Batman v Superman was too dark and depressing. So director-writer David Ayer (End of Watch, Fury) counters with light and candy-assed. I call bullshit." Read more.
– Peter Travers/Rolling Stone
The Ugly
"It’s the kind of torment you can wish on your worst enemy without feeling too guilty, not something to inflict permanent damage, just two hours of soul-sickening confusion and sensory torment." Read more.
– Mick LaSalle/San Francisco Chronicle
"At one point in the slog that is Suicide Squad, Will Smith’s character laments that he and his team of reluctant do-gooders must battle “the swirling ring of trash in the sky.” That’s a pretty apt description of the movie as a whole, too: It’s massive, messy and noisy. And it stinks." Read more.
– Christy Lemire/Roger Ebert
"There isn’t a moment of spontaneous fun or humor in this long, turgid movie, the latest let-down for rabid DC Comics fans who’ve been waiting for someone to pick up the baton Christopher Nolan left behind and do this universe justice." Read more.
– Rene Rodriguez/Miami Herald
So, there you have it. According to the critics, Suicide Squad is officially terrible.
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