Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay delivers a solid fun performance that holds together nicely and that DC fans can find enjoyment from.
Any film associated with DC seems to have an odd air about it. This is mostly due to the fact that the live action films haven’t met their extremely lofty expectations. However, Suicide squad: Hell to Pay is an action packed piece that uses its R rating to full effect with out going overboard just for the sake of going overboard.
The film begins with Deadshot (Christian Slater), Punch (Trevor Devall), Jewlee (Julie Nathanson), and Count Vertigo (Jim Pirri), Chasing down a hard drive at the orders of Amanda Waller (Vanessa Williams). This opening sequence, which takes place on a fast-moving train that matches the action on screen, was great to watch and set the bar for the rest of the film. The band of villains naturally cuts down anything in their path only for betrayal to happen that ends with Deadshot the only one alive. It helps set up the nature of who these people are and that anything can happen when they are on a mission.
Move to three years later and we have Professor Pyg (James Urbaniak) operating on Two-Face, when Scandal Savage (Dania Ramirez), and Knockout ( Cissy Jones) kidnap him. This coincides with Waller being diagnosed with terminal illness. Being the woman that she is, she tasks Deadshot to lead a group consisting of Task Force X members Harley Quinn (Tara Strong), Copperhead (Gideon Emery), Killer Frost (Kristin Bauer van Straten), Captain Boomerang (Liam McIntyre), and Bronze Tiger (Billy Brown) to chase down a black card supposedly in the possession of a male stripper named Steel Maxum. The group eventually finds out that the card was stolen from Maxum and its function is a get out of hell free card that Waller plans to use for herself.
Eventually the group runs into two other groups led by Zoom (C. Thomas Howell) and Vandal Savage (Jim Pirri) who both want the card for obvious reasons…They’re bad people who know where they’re going when they die. In Zoom’s case his death is imminent due to actions taken by Batman. Everything ends up tying together nicer than expected and out of the chaos a nice finish is delivered to tag along with the fun action.
One of the things that makes this film so enjoyable is getting to see some characters that a non-diehard DC fan wouldn’t get to. Copperhead was an extremely fun character and it would awesome to see him in some more films including live action. If done right he could make a great villain for a piece that establishes a new franchise. At first his little dialogue can throw the flow off a bit, but it matches his action and who he is.
Deadshot and Harley Quinn shine as well. The latter is perfect as the quiet anti-hero type character and has always been an interesting character within the DC universe. Harley is used mainly as comedic relief and the writers execute this very well. It’s not out of place or over that top and accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish effectively.
All the other characters fit in nice and as said above it was nice to see some characters that may not be featured in more mainstream pieces. It made it interesting and makes you want to pay attention to each character.
The movie does teeter on the edge of falling into the expedition abyss that the live-action DC films have fallen into, but just when it is about to fall it recovers and saves itself with some very fun action. The overall plot strains under the pressure of the weight of everything and everyone involved but as said above it all ends up tie together. Any moments of worry were thankfully solved on screen.
As far as 4K goes, there wasn’t anything that was jumping out in an amazing fashion. Maybe it needs a watch on a regular HD TV to appreciate this, but as it stands now it wasn’t the same experience ass watching a live-action film in the resolution. It couldn’t do a growing 4K library harm, but at the same time it won’t be the first film you would show to your neighbors when you buy your new 4K Blu-Ray player.
Ultimately Suicide Squad: Hell to Play offers up a fun, refreshing dive into the extended DC universe. From the fast-paced action to the fun and new to some characters, this movie delivers a punch that a movie from DC should pack. It would make a solid buy to anyone who is even somewhat a fan of DC and can serve to spice up a day that might be heading toward boredom.
