Suicide Squad 3D (Blu-ray) (2016)

This review is sponsored by

BUY IT

General		Extras
Category	Action Adventure	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2016
Running Time	122:53
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	David Ayer
Studio Distributor	Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Will Smith Margot Robbie Viola Davis Joel Kinnaman Jai Courtney Jay Hernandez Jared Leto Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje Cara Delvingne Karen Fukuhara Adam Beach Scott Eastwood
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	$29.95	Music	Steven Price

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	Auto Pan & Scan Encoded	English Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (448Kb/s) English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) French Dolby Digital Plus 7.1 (448Kb/s) Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s) Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 (448Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	?
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired French Italian for the Hearing Impaired Spanish Dutch Danish Finnish Greek Icelandic Norwegian Swedish	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Available now from Roadshow is Suicide Squad, given a stunning 3D presentation. You may have heard some negative rumblings from the "crickets", but forget those naysayers. This is thoroughly entertaining, at times exhilarating, escapist nonsense. It is well written, masterfully directed and filmed flawlessly. Roadshow have released the 3D version combined with the twelve minutes longer 2D Extended Cut on a second disc, plus the option of the Ultra Violet download. Offered for review was the single disc 3D theatrical version.

     This third instalment in the DC Extended Universe follows Man of Steel (2013), the reboot of the Superman film series, and Batman v Superman : Dawn of Justice (2016). Expectations should be high for Suicide Squad, as it is written and directed by David Ayer, who has a string of memorable films to his credit, including 2012's brilliant and devastating End of Watch. In Suicide Squad Ayer's script presents us with a secret government agency led by Amanda Waller. Playing Waller is Viola Davis (Doubt and The Help), and this excellent actress grounds much of the film with her riveting narration. Offering the promise of reduced sentences, Waller recruits imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions in order to save the world from a powerful threat. Playing members of this lethal team are Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Cara Delvingne, Karen Fukuhara and Adam Beach. The action sequences are the meat of a film like this, but David Ayer wisely has given his excellent cast scenes that provide character development, and his cast make the most of these terse dialogue scenes. With such a large cast of characters, not all are provided with substantial back stories. Ayer has concentrated on the characters of Deadshot (Will Smith) and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and as a result these two tend to dominate the film. Will Smith in particular seizes his opportunities with obvious relish. Those behind the cameras were apparently very taken with the gorgeously blonde Margot Robbie. This extremely photogenic buxom beauty is given perhaps too much screen time, tending to weaken her undeniable impact. A little less would have been more. Jared Leto, against all odds, manages to make The Joker his own creation, and he and Robbie work very well together. Scott Eastwood registers well in a supporting role.

     Technically the film is, as we have come to expect, flawless. Sets, costumes and special effects are state of the art.

     I found Suicide Squad to be an enjoyable two hours that raced by. I enjoyed this film considerably more than most in the comic book genre.

Video

     As I stated at the head of the review, available for review was the single disc 3D version of the movie. Other reviewers have bemoaned the lack of 3D gimmicks in the movie, yet I found the film to be a three dimensional pleasure, with many camera set-ups designed to take advantage of depth. The film has been converted to 3D, but I was never aware that I was not watching "real 3D". True, the film is not full of in your face 3D moments, but I have always found the added depth far more interesting than having a ping-pong ball bounced off your face. The cinematographer is Roman Vasyanov (Fury and End of Watch) and the often monochromatic images offer popping primary highlights, such as Robbie's lipstick. The often dark scenes are beautifully rendered, with detail galore and I could find no fault with this presentation, sharp and detailed and making full use of the widescreen format - plus the added sensibility of 3D.

     The English for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired subtitles were sampled and were excellent, presented in white and centred at the foot of the image. Other subtitles are French, Italian for the Hard of Hearing, Spanish – Castellano, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Icelandic, Norwegian and Swedish.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     There are five audio tracks : English Dolby True HD 7.1 encoded at 48K, English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital Plus 7.1, and Italian and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1.

     The English Dolby True HD 7.1 track offers a thrilling audio experience. As you would expect, there are audio fireworks and they are delivered with oomph and excitement. Gunfire, vehicular mayhem, and explosions of all varieties are placed around the entire sound field, providing a truly immersive auditory experience with the subwoofer adding to the total dynamics at every opportunity. Dialogue is clear and never drowned by the audio fireworks, though the music at times does tend to overwhelm some scenes, such as with the use of You Don't Own Me to introduce Robbie's character. In addition to the numerous catalogue tracks, the original score by Steven Price (Fury) is exciting both in its composition and performance. This is a soundtrack to test any sound system to its limits.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     There were no extras on the single disc 3D release reviewed.

Menu

     The menu screen features the poster art work, with a 3D strip at the foot of the screen.

    There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.

    The local Zone B 3D disc appears to be identical to the US release.

     Suicide Squad was a hit at the box office, despite the poor reviews. I am obviously not on the same wave length as most reviewers, as I found this film considerably superior to most of the super-hero offerings. Dark, but with loads of humour, beautifully filmed, with excellent direction and performances, this film entertains from beginning to end. The local Roadshow release is another beautiful 3D offering with exceptional picture and sound.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall