Today on Dateline Movies, we will be counting down the list of people who does not only possess good singing voices but was also endowed with good acting abilities. Some of them might have completely turned their career towards the big screen and left their singing talents behind them, while others return to singing and made movie appearances just once in a while, and still others does the singing and acting at the same time. Now, on with our countdown. David Bowie
Considered as one of the world's most best-selling music artist, David Bowie appeared in a number of films. He first appeared in the science fiction drama in the 1976 movie, The Man Who Fell to Earth which was directed by Nicolas Roeg and written by Paul Mayersberg and was based on the 1963 novel by Walter Tevis bearing the same title. For his performance as Thomas Jerome Newton in the movie, David Bowie won the Saturn Award for Best Actor. His other noteworthy films include Just a Gigolo; Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence; Into the Night; and Zoolander.
His other memorable movie is the 1986 adventure musical fantasy film The Labyrith alongside Jennifer Connelly and was directed by master puppeteer, Jim Henson and executive produced by Star Wars creator George Lucas. Ricky Gervais
Ricky Gervais started out as a singer of a new wave pop band in the 1980s called Seona Dancing. After being a singer, he started appearing in the late night British television comedy show, The 11 O'Clock Show, followed by a talk show, Meet Ricky Gervais. He become popular when he appeared in the television series The Office and Extras. His popular film appearances include Night at the Museum as Dr. McPhee and in its two sequels, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb; The Muppets as well as The Muppets Most Wanted; Stardust; Ghostown;and The Invention of Lying, among others. He was seen most recently in the film, Special Correspondents which he also directed, written and produced.
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is a very busy young man way back in the early 1980s. He started out as a comedian, being a regular cast member of SNL (Saturday Night Live). He was also a musician, providing background vocals to a group known as The Busboys. As a solo artist, he was also doing well having some hits like Party All The Time and How Could It Be in 1985 from his album, How Could It Be. He made several studio music and compilation albums and has released a number of singles. He was seen in a 9-minute music video for the promotion of Michael Jackson's single, Remember The Time. He also did some songs for the movie Shrek, where he is also the voice of Donkey.
His first movie was in 1982, appearing with Nick Nolte in the action-comedy film 48 Hours. His next film was another comedy with Dan Aykroyd titled Trading Places in 1983, his first collaboration with director John Landis. In 1984, Eddie Murphy appeared in 2 films, Best Defense with Dudley Moore and Beverly Hills Cop, where he received his second nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, the first time being in the movie Trading Places. He had one movie in 1986, The Golden Child. In 1987, the sequel Beverly Hills Cop 2 was released, as well as his stand-up comedy film, Eddie Murphy Raw. In 1988 he appeared in his second movie with director John Landis, Coming to America. In 1989, he appeared in his first directorial debut film , Harlem Nights, which he also wrote and produced under his own company Eddie Murphy Productions. By 1990, the sequel to his debut film with Nick Nolte was released, Another 48 Hours. In 1992, Eddie Murphy has 2 films, Boomerang and The Distinguished Gentleman. In 1994, Axel Foley returns and Eddie Murphy was reunited for the third time with director John Landis in Beverly Hills Cop 3. In 1995, he appeared in a movie directed by the Master of Horror Wes Craven, Vampire In Brooklyn. Besides being the main actor, Eddie Murphy also portrayed smaller roles such as the alcoholic preacher named Preacher Pauly as well as the Italian gangster named Guido. In 1996, he appeared in a remake of the 1963 film by Jerry Lewis, The Nutty Professor, performing 7 character roles in the movie - university Professor Sherman Klump and Buddy Love, Lance Perkins/Cletus 'Papa' Klump, Anna Pearl 'Mama' Jensen Klump and Ida Mae 'Granny' Jensen/Ernie Klump, Sr. He received his third nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy in this movie.
In 1997, he made Metro. In 1998, Eddie Murphy made 3 movies, Dr. Dolittle, Holy Man and Disney's 36th animated feature movie Mulan, where he did the voice of a small dragon named Mushu. in 1999, he had 2 movies, one with Martin Lawrence titled Life and the other, Bowfinger, a satirical comedy with Steve Martin and directed by Frank Oz (who did the voice of Yoda in Star Wars). In 2000, he made the sequel for the Nutty Professor, Nutty Professor II: The Klumps, where he also did a number of other characters. In 2001, he made Shrek, giving voice to Donkey, and would spun a number of sequels, Shrek 2 in 2004, Shrek The Third in 2007 and Shrek Forever After in 2010. Also in 2001, Dr. John Doolittle returns in Dr. Doolittle 2. In 2002, he teams up with Robert De Niro for another police action comedy movie Showtime and he also teams up with Owen Wilson in the spy comedy movie I-Spy. Another movie in 2002 is the science fiction comedy The Adventure of Pluto Nash. In 2003, we saw Eddie Murphy appearing in Daddy Day Care and in Disney's The Hunted Mansion. He appeared in Norbit in 2007 with his older brother, Charlie Murphy. In 2008 we saw him as a human-like spaceship controlled by hundreds of tiny humanoid aliens from the planet Nil - Meet Dave. In 2009, Eddie Murphy appears in Imagine That. Tower Heist in 2011 comes next in his list of films, appearing as a petty crook known as Slide. In 2012 he appeared in A Thousand Words, his third film collaboration with director Brian Robbins, the other movie being Meet Dave and Norbit.
Perhaps one of the best films of Eddie Murphy was Dreamgirls in 2006. It earned for him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at the 79th Academy Awards. He was also nominated for Best Actor at the BET Awards and nominations for Best Supporting Actor at the Black Reel Awards, Chicago Film Critics Circle, NAACP Image Awards and Online Film Critics Society Awards. He won Best Supporting Actor award at the following award giving bodies - African-American Film Critics Association Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association, Golden Globe Awards, New York Film Critics Society and the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone or more popularly known as Madonna, the Queen of Pop, is designated by the Guinness Book of World Records as the best-selling female recording artist of all time. But her illustrious career is not limited to just being a singing sensation.
She also appeared in a number of films. Her first film is the 1985 drama movie A Certain Sacrifice. Her first appearance in a major motion picture was a cameo in the movie Vision Quest, playing the part of a singer in a local bar singing her hit song Crazy for You and Gambler. She also appeared in Dick Tracy as Breathless Mahoney with Warren Beatty, Shanghai Surprise opposite Sean Penn, Desperately Seeking Susan with Rosanna Arquette, Who's That Girl opposite Griffin Dune. She appeared in 2 documentaries about her life as a singer Madonna: Truth or Dare in 1991 and another one in 2005 I'm Going To Tell You A Secret. She starred in a black-and-white comedy thriller that is written and directed by Woody Allen in 1991 Shadows and Fog. In 1993, she appeared opposite Willem Dafoe in the erotic thriller Body of Evidence which was produced by Dino De Laurentiis. Also in 1993, she appeared with Harvey Kietel in a drama movie Dangerous Game. In the year 1995, she was seen in a comedy movie directed by Paul Aster and Wayne Wang Blue in the Face which incidentally reunited her with Harvey Keitel. Her other movies include Four Rooms in 1995, Girl 6 in 1996 which is directed by Spike Lee and The Next Best Thing in the year 2000. In 2002 she appeared in a movie directed by her then husband Guy Richie - Swept Away. Also in the same year, she had a cameo role in the James Bond movie of Pierce Brosnan - Die Another Day. Her last movie was the animated/live action feature film Arthur and the Invisibles in 2006, where she did the voice of Princess Selenia, the daughter of Emperor Sifrat of the Minimoys.
Perhaps her two most memorable roles are in the movies - A League of Their Own in 1992 which was directed by the sister of Garry Marshall, Penny Marshall and Evita in 1996 which was written, produced and directed by Alan Parker and based on the musical by Sir Lloyd Andrew Webber and Tim Rice. She plays the role of Evita Peron, which won for Madonna the award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical at the 54th Golden Globe Awards. Mark Wahlberg
Mark Robert Michael Wahlberg or Mark Wahlberg started out being a frontman for a hip-hop rap group known as Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch way back in 1991. The band was successful, having a song that reached No. 1 in Billboards Hot 100 in 1991. When his band disbanded in 1993, he teamed up with Dominican-born American reggae musician named Prince Ital Joe. They made two albums together.
After being a musician for sometime, he transitioned into acting starting out in the movie Renaissance Man with Danny Vito as the lead actor in 1994. He was cast as Private Tommy Lee Haywood (King Claudius) in the movie. He had a small role in his next movie with lead actor Leonardo DiCaprio, The Basketball Diaries in 1995.
His first major role in a movie was in 1996 in the psychological thriller movie Fear which also stars Reese Witherspoon, William Petersen, Alyssa Milano and Amy Brenneman and directed by James Foley and produced byBrian Grazer. For his portrayal as David McCall in the film, Mark Wahlberg was nominated for the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain at the MTV Movie Award in 1997. He appeared in two movies in 1997, The Traveller withBill Paxton and Boogie Nights where he portrayed the role of a pornstar named Eddie Adams also known as Dirk Diggler. For his role in Boogie Nights, he was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama at the 2nd Golden Satellite Awards. His other notable movies include The Big Hit in 1998, The Corruptor in 1999,Three Kingsalso in 1999, The Yards in 2000, The Perfect Storm also in 2000 together with George Clooney in their 2nd movie together after Three Kings, Planet of the Apes in 2001, Rock Star also in 2001 which was produced by George Clooney, The Truth About Charlie in 2002, The Italian Jobin 2003, his second movie together with Charlize Theron after The Yards, I Heart Huckabees in 2004, Four Brothers in 2005, and the Invincible in 2006.
His crime-drama movie in 2006, The Departed, his second movie with Leonardo DiCaprio after Basketball Diaries, which was produced by Brad Pitt and directed by Martin Scorsese, won numerous awards including Best Director for Martin Scorsese both at the 64th Golden Globe Awards on January 15, 2007 as well as the 79th Academy Awards. Mark Wahlberg was nominated for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture at the Golden Globes as well as Best Supporting Actor in the Academy Awards. In 2007, he appeared in 2 movies namely Shooter and We Own The Night, and another 2 movies in 2008 - The Happening and Max Payne. In 2009, he was seen in a movie that is written, produced and directed by Peter Jackson, The Lovely Bones. By 2010, Mark Wahlberg appeared in 3 films, a small role in Date Night,an action movie with Will Farell - The Other Guys, and the critically acclaimed movie - The Fighter.
The Fighter, is the third collaboration of Mark Wahlberg with director David O. Russell, the other two being Three Kings and I Heart Huckabees. It also stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Melissa Leo and Jack McGee. It is a biographical drama about the life of light welterweight champion "Irish" Micky Ward played by Mark Wahlberg and his half-brother Dicky Eklund played by Christian Bale. It earned seven nominations at the 83rd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, winning the awards for Best Supporting Actor for Christian Bale as well as the Best Supporting Actress for Melissa Leo. His other films include Contraband and Ted in 2012, Broken City, Pain & Gain, 2 Guns and Lone Survivor in 2013, Transformers: Age of Extinction and The Gambler in 2014, and in 2015, Mojave, Ted 2, Daddy's Home - his second team-up movie with Will Farell and a cameo in the Entourage, which he produced. Who's your favorite singer turned actor? Watch out for more countdowns here at Dateline Movies. In our next countdown, we will be counting down those actors and actresses who possesses good singing voices. Goodbye for now!
The year 2016 for superhero movies is about to come to a close with Marvel's latest magical release Doctor Strange this November, although it is set for an earlier release date in other countries such as here in the Philippines. So far, all of the movies, ranging from the adult-comedic superhero antithesis Deadpool, to the supervillain caper flick Suicide Squad, as well as the three movies which feature superheroes battling each other to the death, have lived-up to a lot of audiences' expectations. Since there is not much scoops to work on for a Spotted! post, let us try to create concrete theories for movie plot holes. In this case, Dateline Movies begs the question, "Who hired Crossbones in Captain America: Civil War?". Spotted!: Hidden Surprises and Trivia (Spoiler Alert!)
In Captain America: Civil War, we see that Crossbones, tired of being a lackey for the likes of HYDRA, decides to assemble a team of mercenaries to raid the Institute of Infectious Diseases in Lagos, Nigeria. The villain's primary objective is to steal a currently unnamed biological agent from the facility. However, that is not the only thing that he has in mind, because he is aiming to do battle once more with the man who "dropped a building on my (his) face", the star-spangled Avenger, Captain America! After a chase all throughout Lagos, Crossbones and Captain America finally fight as the Falcon and the rest of the Avengers manage to safely obtain the virus before it starts an epidemic from the rest of Crossbones' allies. With Captain America beating him, Crossbones pulls one more trick up his sleeve, and that is by detonating his rigged vest, causing an explosion that would kill not only Captain America, but about a quarter of a populate area. Fortunately, the Scarlet Witch was there to contain then displace the explosion in the air, but the range of the bomb destroyed a nearby Wakandan building. Crossbones is killed, and the virus is never heard of again in the movie.
In this introductory battle of the flick, it is very much clear that all Crossbones wants is to kill Captain America, and nothing else, so why go through all the trouble to organize a theft of an item that has absolutely no connection to your plans? Also, where could he possibly get the new gear and the additional manpower? It is safe to assume that Crossbones is working for someone else, and that someone else hired Crossbones to perform a sinister act for a bigger plan. Below are our possible candidates for Crossbones' anonymous benefactor.
0th Candidate: Himself (?)
What is that? Crossbones was never a pawn for anyone in the first place and that he just assembled a team of henchmen and obtained a new battle armor himself? It is possible, because why not? Crossbones, probably in his days as a HYDRA soldier disguised as a SHIELD agent, might have had some connections with various underworld elements, including bounty hunters and terrorist organizations. And through those connections, he might have simply asked for a favor, and granted that he infiltrated SHIELD before, he might have tracked down some interesting weapons hidden away by SHIELD long ago. But you might still wonder, why would Crossbones hit this specific laboratory in the first place? I mean, he could just cause a ruckus somewhere in New York City, where the Avengers are nearby, or why not just hit them where they live, their own headquarters? Well, it is possible that the pathogenic weapon of mass destruction is actually the Zodiac. In a tie-in issue to the franchise that before SHIELD was dismantled, Captain America, Black Widow and pre-Crossbones Brock Rumlow tracked down a terrorist cell lead by a man named Baker who stole the Zodiac, and plans to unleash a plague all over Chicago. Given that Captain America knows how much damage the Zodiac can potentially cause, there is no doubt that Crossbones is aware on how fast the Avengers will respond to the scene. But again, if Crossbones is only fixated in the death of Captain America, why not just attack their base of operations, or maybe, at least his house, where he is alone? And why even bother securing a weapon that does not even add up to your master plan?
Ever since Captain America: The First Avenger, HYDRA has made quite an influence over the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is much more evident in their orchestration of Project Insight in the aforementioned movie's follow-up. Time and time again, defeat after defeat, HYDRA simply does not know when to give-up, and they just stand back up with a new master plan for world domination, and a new set of leaders to guide the organization's evil intents. Even after their entire membership has been killed in the television program Agents of SHIELD, there is always a slim chance that they will come back. Besides, there are many agents in the collective that are hiding in their secret bases, plotting their revenge. This just makes them the perfect candidate as Crossbones' benefactors, right? Wrong!
It is revealed in another tie-in that after Project Insight was dismantled indefinitely by Captain America, The Falcon, Black Widow and Nick Fury, Crossbones became disillusioned to the point that he is fed-up with his ties with HYDRA. To express his rage, he sets up an arms deal with other members of HYDRA, and shoots all of his unsuspecting victims in plain sight. Even if HYDRA gives him a new battle suit and a needed motivation to pull-off a heist like that, it is very doubtful that Crossbones would even think of joining them ever again given the circumstances.
The one thing we learned so far from Captain America: The Winter Soldier is that the governments of this universe will always have ulterior motives, and would often resort to drastic measure to obtain their shady aims. This is the likely case for either Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross or Everett K. Ross. And no, they are not related here or in the comics.
In "Thunderbolt" Ross' case, he has had experience with fighting an Avenger before, namely the Incredible Hulk. With the experience, he knows what it is like to face a powerful superhero in the past. As such, we can conclude that "Thunderbolt" Ross orchestrated this attack so as to push forward the Sokovia Accords, which is a panel that demands superhero accountability in response to the devastating aftermath that was seen in Avengers: Age of Ultron. However, this is also very unlikely, as doing this would make this character hypocritical to what he stands for, and thus makes him an improbable figure; although this can be justified as Ross once became duplicitous before due to his involvement with the creation of the Hulk villain Abomination, played by Tim Roth (Pulp Fiction) in The Incredible Hulk.
Everett K. Ross, on the other hand, has a large probability percentage as he is still new to the franchise, and is a relatively unknown supporting character in the comics who is bound to be changed even just a little bit (Hey it is expected in every adaptation). While there have been theories pointing out that Ross is actually the Red Skull in disguise, I believe that this is not the case. Provided that we know almost nothing about the character from a moviegoer's perspective, we can assume that he has a similar potential motivation as the other Ross'. According to some viewers, in the scene wherein we see Zemo incarcerated, and is being monitored by Everett K. Ross, Zemo cryptically mentions that his plans has not failed. The look on Ross' face could signal that Ross might have plans on his own. Okay, this speculation is off the rails, and it is probably just a normal facial expression of his. Then again, only time will tell who Everett K. Ross really is.
It is made clear in the movie that Helmut Zemo does not want anything to do with HYDRA after the terrorist assembly's actions in Sokovia, his homeland, before. However, given that both Crossbones and Zemo hate not only HYDRA, but also the Avengers, there is a major chance that the two might have collaborated in a way that is just not fully explored in the movie.
According to user "Nerdtastic1221" on a comment of his in the franchise's own fan-made database, which is also a somewhat pitch for a short film, Zemo hears a lot about Crossbones' crusades, and he hires him to steal the biological weapon in Lagos. This way, based on Zemo's knowledge on the current political climate surrounding the superhero community, a chain reaction of events that would have the heroes destroy each other would hopefully occur. Crossbones agrees. However, Zemo tells Crossbones that he has to make himself a target of the Avengers for the team to have a reason to catch him.
As such, Crossbones assassinates his former HYDRA subordinate Jack Rollins, played by Callan Mulvey (Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice) in his prison cell, who is discovered to be selling HYDRA intelligence to the government for a swifter prison release. Crossbones then poses for a security camera for Captain America to find, and Zemo provides new weapons and enough manpower, assuming that he had several EKO Scorpion allies that are just as angry as he is towards the Avengers.
Personally, this is my most favorite theory that I have researched so far, because mainly, this is well thought of, although the user did not mention the part about Zemo's former contacts. And the fact that this is pitched by a fan as a Marvel One-Shot, which is a short film usually available for viewing in a Marvel movie's DVD release, only makes this idea very engaging and interesting. However, there are many more candidates to choose from, and the biological weapon again does not add up to the plan, so we will have to skim the other possibilities available.
Remember the Advanced Idea Mechanics? Yeah, the evil think-tank that made the world believe that the Mandarin is organizing terrorist attack but in reality they are just attempting to cash in on their Extremis virus through terror? Yep, that AIM. Well it appears that after Iron Man's defeat over the science-dedicated society, AIM has taken a massive blow to their economic status and their supervillain reputation. According to user "Carlos Rosario (Lone Lez)" of Moviepilot, Crossbones knew that he would have cheated death twice after blowing himself up, as through him undergoing experimentation with the Extremis virus, he would be able to resurrect and appear as if he just disintegrated in the blast. Not only would he have got the chance to kill his nemesis, he would also have a chance to continue his pursuit of a life of crime. But what would AIM get in return for starting a new pandemic in Lagos? Just imagine, a group of scientists that has an array of technology and possibly enough knowledge in every single branch of science imaginable, especially the field of medicine, plus a seemingly incurable disease on the rise. What do you get? A booming business run by malevolent geniuses would be the end result. After reading about this theory, it just came to my mind on how credible this can be, given that it would be a really tragic waste of Crossbones if the studios were to kill him off immediately after getting a new alter ego. Yes, Marvel has had a villain problem recently, but after some major shift in their management system, it would appear that Marvel is aiming to create better foils for our heroes, starting with Zemo. In addition, this would be a great reintroduction to AIM, despite being a pretty cliched plan.
However, I think AIM did not orchestrate this caper entirely, or at least not alone. While it was previously mentioned that AIM is "aiming" to kickstart this generation's version of the Black Death, I doubt that that is the goal all along. The writers of the movie might be foreshadowing a possibility for one of their future releases, specifically Black Panther. This is supported by the fact that the bombing was done in a Wakandan facility, which is not the Institute For Infectious Diseases, mind you, which can be said is done on purpose by the writers. This is, of course, aside from giving a reason for Black Panther's involvement in the movie.
Does this mean that a villain we have not even met has masterminded all of this? Yes, but it is merely a possibility. So who do we point the finger at? Well it is none other than the newbie villain of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who is to be played by Michael B. Jordan (FANT4STIC) in the Wakandan King's upcoming solo outing. For those who do not know who Killmonger is, he is a Wakandan native who moved out of the nation due to his hatred towards Ulysses Klaw, who is played by Andy Serkis (Avengers: Age of Ultron), and coerced Killmonger's father into joining his plot to kill Black Panther's father in the comics, as well as the Black Panther's legacy in general.
In the case of this adaptation, we might see a slightly different origin story, wherein Ulysses Klaue (It is spelled differently in the movies) had no involvement whatsoever with the demise of Killmonger's father, given that Klaue did not have any connection in Black Panther's father's death. That honor goes to Zemo. In the forthcoming entry, we can see that Erik Killmonger and Ulysses Klaue are planning to overthrow Black Panther from the throne of Wakanda, with Killmonger planning to become the better ruler of the sovereign country, and Klaue gunning for the Vibranium mines. But in order to get pass Wakanda's security forces, the two evildoers have to use a weapon instead of an army, and what better weapon is there than a viral strain? AIM can also be factored into this insidious plot, as they can provide some men for Killmonger and Klaue to command, and some arms to use, and AIM can grab this opportunity to increase their funds like our previous theory.
Well we have come to an end with our latest Spotted! post of the year, and this year has been surprisingly devoid of a lot of Spotted! articles compared to last year. For one thing, there is not a lot of movies to tackle, but we are making one each for Wonder Woman, Justice League and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. We might as well add Kong: Skull Island and Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, but the latter one I could use some help from of my bookish buddies in school. Anyway, before we exit, here are some of the best outtakes and bloopers from Captain America: Civil War. The Captain may have broken his no bad language vow, but please you do not have to. Stay tuned for more Dateline Movies!
Released onAugust 5, 2016 (US Release Date; Available For Worldwide Viewing)
Presented by Warner Bros. Studios
Writer and Director: David Ayer
Starring:
Will Smith as Floyd Lawton / Deadshot
Margot Robbie as Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn
Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag
Jay Hernandez as Chato Santana / El Diablo
Jai Courtney as George "Digger" Harkness / Captain Boomerang
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Waylon Jones / Killer Croc
Karen Fukuhara as Tatsu Yamashiro / Katana
Cara Delevigne asJune Moone / The Enchantress
Viola Davis as Amanda Waller
Jared Leto as The Joker
And now it is the best time for something that is completely different for this year of superhero movies, supervillains saving the world from utter destruction. After our school examinations, and during our DC Extended Universe critique post, I have promised myself that I would be watching Suicide Squad as soon as I rid myself of all the school work, but an avalanche of projects followed, and there went what could have been the best weekend of the school year. But finally, we celebrated National Heroes' Day by watching the Worst Heroes Ever on the big screen, which is pretty ironic once you think about it. Is this film the definitive DCEU movie fans have been waiting for, or is this a major red flag towards the franchise' dwindling quality? Join Dateline Movies as we review the third consecutive, polarizing DCEU flick, and most definitely not the last of its kind, Suicide Squad!
In the aftermath of the world's most powerful superhero, Superman's demise at the hands of Doomsday, Earth is left without a protector. The mysterious figure named Amanda Waller, played by Davis (Beautiful Creatures) spearheads the program known as Task Force X, which involves the assembly of the world's most ruthless assassins, criminals and all-around villains, in exchange for reduced prison sentences, as a means to take down extraordinary threats that a regular human could not handle.
Waller already has selected individuals under her grasp who have the potential to join-in the ranks of being a member of a Suicide Squad. Arrested by Batman in Gotham City, ace assassin Floyd "Deadshot" Lawton, played by Smith, struggles to prove to his daughter that he is more than just a killer. The pyrokinetic Chato "El Diablo" Santana, played by Hernandez (Max), lives in self-isolation after his powers led to the accidental deaths of his wife and daughter. Former psychiatrist Harleen "Harley Quinn" Quinzel, played by Robbie (Smith and Robbie appeared in Focus), is also apprehended by Batman after the Dark Knight had a run-in with his nemesis, the Joker, played by Leto (Panic Room). Another Batman rogue, Waylon "Killer Croc" Jones, played by Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Game of Thrones), is born as a cross-breed between a lizard and a man. Wisecracking boomerang-based thief Digger "Captain Boomerang" Harkness played by Courtney (Terminator: Genisys), is dragged into the program as well after the Flash caught him. The mythical June "Enchantress" Moone, played by Delevigne (Paper Towns) is selected as a candidate due to her connections with the paranormal.
All of these fine and deadly ladies and gentlemen are part of Task Force X. To keep the order intact within the team, Waller assigns her most trusted colleague Rick Flag, played by Kinnaman (Run All Night) to monitor the group with bombs implanted in their necks, with Flag's bodyguard and friend Tatsu "Katana" Yamashiro, played by Fukuhara in her debut role.
But things quickly turn dangerous as the Enchantress' darker personality, the demon that possessed her and who grants her abilities, has taken over, and has freed her sinister brother Incubus. With her brother, the insidious duo takes over Midway City and transforms the populace into mindless henchmen. Now planning to start a frightful new world order, Task Force X must get it together if they are to be more than just your average evildoers. However, they forgot about the Joker joining the game.
What we think of the movie?
Acting = (3/5) When we think of the iconic beauty of a character that is Harley Quinn, two things would come into mind. First, Harley is indeed gorgeous, and second, she is a fairly complex character, packed to the brim with complicated love-related issues and dark humor. I am here to tell you now that this iteration of Harley Quinn, is more or less tamed. Sure, omitting the trademark abusive Joker-Harley relationship is done to cater to all audiences, but I have to agree with other Internet users here, this just made Harley pretty one-dimensional. But character underdevelopment aside, Margot Robbie nails it as Harley Quinn, and she is by far the best performance throughout the entire movie, as if she is the very heart of the flick. Making use of her charming talents to capture the lovable nature of the iconic comicbook character of the same name, Robbie steals the show by becoming the inevitable comic relief that is actually fun to watch, compared to the really annoying. However, I do miss the notable Brooklyn accent from the original animated series. Given my love for comicbooks, you could easily assume that I know who Chato Santana is before watching the movie. Well you are really, really wrong, because this El Diablo is not the one I am familiar with, who is a Spanish cowboy who hangs-out with Jonah Hex in the old west. Storywise, Jay Hernandez's "isolated himself from society" character is undeniably cliched. Seriously, El Diablo is just like any other guilt-driven character in all the other crime films I watched. However, there is something about Jay Hernandez's portrayal that makes him a highlight. Was it the actor's ability to make audiences sympathize, or was it the fact that he transformed into a full-fledged flaming demon by the climax made us cheer? Either way, we can all agree that El Diablo, who in the wrong hands could have just been a charmless gangster, have been a standout among the cast members of the entire film by conveying raw emotions, making viewers relate to this sadly killed-off character.
The Joker, played by Academy-Award winning method actor and 30 Seconds To Mars front man Jared Leto, is part of the main cast of characters but only appears for a handful of minutes. After all of the anticipation brought upon by the endless circulation with regards to Leto's unorthodox ways of getting into character, such as pranking his co-stars to the point that Viola Davis threatened to pepper spray, to blurring the lines between actor and character by becoming a total psychopath, a lot of us would assume that Leto would be getting a proper amount of screen time. Prepare to be eerily disappointed as the Joker's overall screen time meets little to no expectations at all due to the apparent one-hour worth of footage that is "enough for a Joker movie." removed from the final cut. Regardless of limitations, Leto does have the potential to be a truly terrifying Joker, and the scenes that featured him are somewhat enjoyable but are too short to make an impression. Unfortunately, there simply was not enough time for him to show-off his complete dark side, and had the scenes remained, maybe we could have seen a completely unique portrayal. As such, my final judgement remains in the "gray area". Amanda Waller, as I have seen from the classic DC animated shows, is a very intriguing authority figure in a world filled with gifted superhumans, and a very threatening foil to our heroes in red, blue and black. She represents the ideally paranoid government officer who knows her way in and out of the ever changing world, and someone who knows the many difficult and regretful decisions she has to do to preserve the greater good. In this movie, well, she is slightly underdeveloped, given that she practically acts as the squad's handler, and not much else, but Viola Davis' delivery, dashed with her How To Get Away With Murder energy, shows a small but engaging glimpse at who her character truly is. Despite the slightly under-cooked characterization, the movie does a great job at making her easily hated by a lot of fans, in a good way. With her being the secondary focus of the story, combined with Davis' performance, we get to see serious and committed Amanda Waller, who knows how to get through everyone's heads, and play with them for her own gain.
Will Smith is usually the kind of actor that would be the source of a movie's energy. For a man who is a very talented actor and rapper who is often displayed for a party animal or a bad boy type of protagonist, Smith's performance as Deadshot represents some of the aspects that he is notable for. While Smith delivered some interesting moments such as the training scene, and his character is developed, although cliched, this performance feels a little bit tired, and most of the gag scenes that he is in seem to be lost in translation. No, I am not joking. Not a single soul in the movie house cracked a smile in some of the scenes that has him attempt to be charismatic. However, I am still hopeful to see more of him as time goes by, and maybe return with much more energy.
Joel Kinnaman is a pretty decent actor, if you would ask me. He has had some ups, such as his role in the acclaimed drama House of Cards, and times that he is somewhere within the middle such as the RoboCop reboot and Run All Night. But I will be perfectly honest here, his role did have purpose, yet it is overshadowed by the sub-plots concerning the other major characters, specifically by Harley Quinn's backstories. His performance as Rick Flag is sort-of average at best, as I am very much familiar with the "no non-sense field leader with a huge military background" trope like if its is my own backyard, and his portrayal matched the description. Character underdevelopment plagued not only Rick Flag, but also not one, not two, rather four other characters in the movie, namely Jai Courtney's Captain Boomerang, Cara Delevigne's Enchantress, Karen Fukuhara's Katana and Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje's Killer Croc. I cannot remember how many times I actually said it to myself in the theater, but I did say "Oh yeah, I forgot they're in the movie.". In Akinnuoye-Agbaje's case, his character's vocabulary range from reptilian growls, to some gags, but mostly reptilian growls. Had he do more than those, except for that one hilarious bar scene, he could have been more memorable. For Captain Boomerang and Katana, it is as if they are just extras in their own movie. While this is undoubtedly one of Jai Courtney's much better portrayals, and Karen Fukuhara shows promise, their amount of dialogue in the entire movie is about five to seven lines. For Enchantress, it is the trope of being the typical kind of villain that you would normally expect from every other superhero movie that completely ruined Cara's performance. Also, while Delevigne is very hypnotic in appearance as the Enchantress, there is some notable lack of energy, aside from a few scenes of her chanting an incantation, but again the screenplay is the true culprit here.
Also, Adam Beach is here as Slipknot, for only two minutes or less until his character dies with only a few words out of his mouth. What was the point of him being in the poster again? I saw a lot of posts on Facebook saying that he was the "highlight" of the movie, powered by an "amazing performance" by Adam Beach. On that day, I learned to differentiate pure sarcasm to actual praise by looking beyond the words on my computer screen. Seriously, he does not even get to have an origin story at the beginning, compared to the rest of the cast mates. While his character in the comics is very bad in terms of both power and characterization, given that he only uses powerful ropes to climb (and that is about it), it would have been pretty interesting to at least try to expand the character a little bit further by giving him a stand-out scene, or maybe a one-liner.
Production Value and Cinematography = (3/5) Well this is, after all, a big-budget action movie, so I would expect some high quality production value. And the final result featured a bundle of stylish art direction, especially in the introductory origin story montage for all of our villains. The use of bright pink colors to imitate neon lights was all around eye-catching, and it really did reflect the psychotically humorous tone of the entire movie, which makes this a very good hook for audiences. It really did feel like a heist movie with superpowers. In terms of the rendering of the computer generated imagery, it appears very frequently that it is incomplete, as if it is made for a cartoon rip-off. Some examples to back this up would be how Killer Croc is almost noticeably different, like how the colors of his scales change from dark green to bright yellow green in some scenes, notably in the climactic battle. Another evidence of this fault would have to be that in some cases, the mind-controlled citizens of Midway City look cartoonish, and in a lot of shots, they appear as dark silhouettes. Incubus is the worst of the worst among all the unpolished CGI creations, the Enchantress' brother, looks something straight out of a poorly made video game, as his appearance alone looks like a terrible mash between The Scorpion King from The Mummy 2, and Doomsday from Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.
The direction and the editing of the movie felt pretty messy, as one can feel that the end result was indeed rushed for release. For instance, near the end of the movie after Amanda Waller is rescued from mind-related torture, she somehow gets to walk alright even after a lengthy battle. Normally, someone who experienced some torture related to this one would feel weak, but apparently Amanda Waller is so strong that she can simply threaten the entire Suicide Squad after a night of mental agony. It is shown throughout the movie that the Enchantress is a goddess-type of villain who is very formal and sophisticated with her vocabulary, given that she does keep saying things in a Dracula-esque manner. However, by the conclusion of the climactic battle, with the Enchantress' weapon of mass destruction destroyed, she changes from a calm and mature villainess to a potty-mouthed crybaby as upon her defeat, she threatens Flag that he does not have the "parts" to kill her. I had to paraphrase so as to keep this website family-friendly, but you all know by now what "parts" I am referring to. The action sequences are pretty much okay really. The hand-to-hand combat is enough to thrill audiences and to keep us distracted from the CGI nonsense of the rest of the movie. This is indeed true, especially in the final battle between the Suicide Squad and the Enchantress, although the lighting and the camera work would prevent moviegoers from really knowing what is going on. One example of this being in the Squad's entrance of Midway City, and their first encounter with the mind-controlled citizens. The darkness makes it really hard to make up what is going on. Also, can the Enchantress take a break every once in a while from dancing while casting an enchantment? I am not joking, as in about the entire movie she is endlessly moving her hips. Overall the editing and the direction could use some more polish, and the CGI could use some more tinkering as well, but it does not necessarily derail the movie.
Story, Dialogue and Flow = (3/5) By now, you might already notice that in every movie review we make, I would always place emphasis on a film's story. Why I do this is because, well, stories are the lifelines of each flick, and without a cohesive and/or interesting plot, then the movie is slightly doomed, unless the director and the crew make the best out of it. In this movie, the plot is fun, engaging and full of interesting ideas, given that this is the first released movie based on comicbook supervillains, most of these are tragically wasted. A lot of people claim that this is the DC Extended Universe version of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Guardians of the Galaxy, as both films feature relatively then unknown and obscure characters, and both make use of humor as an essential part. However, unlike the latter flick, Suicide Squad failed to give each member of their team, including the main antagonist, a proper story arc, which makes them feel more like they are more or less shoehorned into the film for other fans to be intrigued.
We have already mentioned about all the underdeveloped characters in the movie in the first section of this movie review, but we have not tackled the Enchantress brick by brick. Let us start with the weakest antagonist the DCEU has to offer so far, the Enchantress. Again, like the other superhero movies released recently, the Enchantress basically has a recycled master plan to conjure, but has almost no backstory to fully explore the character's motivations and goals. Mind you that Guardians of the Galaxy also experienced the same thing with Ronan the Accuser, who is changed from a tyrannical figure in the comics, to a punchline who gets easily distracted by dancing. In the Enchantress' case, she mentions something about reclaiming her and Incubus' forgotten legacies as godlike beings among the people. It is a pretty cliched but an okay motivation at best, but the movie just leaves it there and adds absolutely nothing else to the character. It is as if the screenplay just gave up (then again, the script itself was made in less than two weeks, according to some sources). Her sinister plan for conquest is also very unoriginal and very lackluster, as we are once again introduced to the done-to-death swirling vortex of doom in the sky, just like in The Avengers and FANT4STIC. Whilst Jesse Eisenberg's Lex Luthor's plan to manipulate Batman into killing Superman is convoluted beyond reason, the Enchantress' is straightforward and also vague, given that the script did not even bother to explain her ideas. It is overall very simplistic because of how much this plan has been done over and over again recently, and also really unclear. Why she kidnapped Amanda Waller and destroy the world's defenses is beyond me, although we could easily conclude that Earth would be easier to take over once the world has no contingencies left. Also, is the movie telling me that the Enchantress, an all-powerful magic user, can create parasites that can control people, and create a doomsday weapon out of nothing, but she cannot unleash hordes of supernatural monsters? Seriously, why make your forces fight with axes and guns, when you can just give them powers right now? However, all of these negative aspects are not to say that the script did not have any great moments, because it did. For instance, the humor, evident in the dialogue, is really spot-on, and it is certainly one of the few times in modern superhero movies that the humor feels mostly natural and not forced. One example being, in my own very honest opinion, the part wherein the Squad hangs-out in a city bar after discovering what their true purpose is. It is a really heartwarming part, as we get to have more character development for both Deadshot and El Diablo. The humorous exchange between Killer Croc and Harley Quinn is also a barrel of laughter. The part wherein Flag introduces the Squad to "The Voice of God" is very funny as well. In some points, though, the humor can become out-of-place, with some instances being at the part wherein Harley Quinn references the voices in her head. The origin story segments are also a delight to watch, especially Deadshot's part, as it contains some of the funniest moments in the entire movie. How the movie introduces several supervillains into the shared universe, and how superheroes are made symbols of fear among the villains, supported by cameos from Ben Affleck's Batman and Ezra Miller's The Flash are great, as this leaves a lot of things to wait for, and brings a different perspective. Who knows? Maybe all of the still alive villains would band together again and form a Secret Society of Supervillains (If you know what I mean), or maybe an annexed version of the Suicide Squad, with other potential recruits. Overall, the story is not as intriguing or interesting as that of Batman v. Superman's, and the lack of character development will bother viewers, but the dialogue and some other particularly amazing elements really helped shape this movie to a practically entertaining piece of film. Also, this comment might feel bizarre, but honestly, I do not see the logic behind the team's formation. How can average metahumans and non-superpowered villains survive against a magical onslaught? And above all else, how can they fend-off the likes of Superman? I think I would rather see them do an assassination plot to overthrow the Queen Bee of Bialya and for the US government to steal the nation's experiments. Hey, that would sound like a great movie pitch!
Ending, Originality and Story Fulfillment = (4/5) Well, we have now come to the concluding chapter of our movie review, and it is time to review the climactic battle between the Worst Heroes Ever, and Worst Villain Ever in a DC Movie. After reaching the Squad's primary target, the entire team is in for a shock when they discover that they are only an extraction team for Amanda Waller, who is trapped in Midway City at the time of the attack. This revelation is surprising, as in no way the movie gave any hints as to what is in store, but it was also fulfilling as this shows how far Amanda Waller will go just for her own agendas, whether or not this will help others, but one thing is for sure, it is for her country. After an ambush by the Joker in an attempt to rescue Harley Quinn, only to be shot down by Waller's forces, Waller is kidnapped by the Enchantress for reasons unknown, because again, the script did not dabble in the intentions of the Enchantress. Things fall apart when Deadshot discovers a file on Rick Flag that details the profile of their enemy, who is also revealed to be Flag's girlfriend. (Gasp! Also, am I the only one bothered by this?) After getting enough motivation to fight again, the Squad assembles to launch their last stand against the Enchantress, who they track to a city subway. Finally we get to the action! The Squad distracts the Enchantress and Incubus as Killer Croc and an out-of-place Scott Eastwood places a bomb underneath Incubus in order for the Squad to have one less demon to battle. After attempting to control Deadshot, Harley Quinn and El Diablo by making them believe that the Enchantress would grant them their deepest desires. Deadshot would be able to kill the Batman and be reunited with his daughter, Zoe. Harley would marry the Joker and have a baby together. Rick Flag would be able to spend the rest of his life with June Moone, while El Diablo would have reunited with his now dead family, whom he accidentally killed with his powers after a fit of rage. But El Diablo knows that this is all a lie, and after waking the rest of the team from the Enchantress' trances, El Diablo fends-off Incubus by becoming a fiery giant. This moment cements his status as one of the movie's highlights, and it only becomes disappointing once you realized that he is caught in the explosion meant for Incubus. Seriously, he should have survived, but hey, it is a comicbook movie after all.
Afterwards, we get to see the battle against the Enchantress, and it is awesome. The rainfall effects really reflects the seriousness of this finale, and how powerful the Enchantress can be. The hand-to-hand fights are really entertaining, and while the Enchantress still refuses to unleash her complete powers, she puts up a good fight. Luckily, there is an explosive nearby, and after Killer Croc throws the device to the Enchantress' machine, which is being used to destroy the world's most powerful defense installations thanks to Waller's thought patterns, Deadshot shoots the bomb, causing the machine to fall down, and for the Enchantress to fall flat on her face. Defeated, the Enchantress plays some mind games before finally having Rick Flag get the last laugh by destroying the Enchantress' heart. By the film's conclusion, we get to see the rest of the currently alive Squad members get their rewards, with Killer Croc getting a television set and a hamburger, Harley Quinn gets a coffee machine and Deadshot gets to visit his daughter, which is a particularly heartwarming scene and shows that Deadshot is more than just a contract killer who knows how to kill people from 4,000 feet away. For some reason, Captain Boomerang is the only one who does not have a reward. Was it because that he is indirectly responsible for Slipknot's death? The film concludes, at the backdrop of the great Bohemain Rhapsody, the Joker, predictably revealed to be alive, break Harley Quinn out. Be sure to stay for the mid-credits scene, which proves that DC is holding nothing to become a worthy opponent to Marvel's growing franchise. Here, Bruce Wayne, played by Affleck (The Accountant) seeks some files for the locations of other potential Justice League members from Waller, who in turn asks for protection. This is not necessarily a great scene, but it does help tease what is to come, and is only made more exciting when Waller hints that she knows the alter ego of Bruce Wayne. All-in-all, this was a fun movie to watch, and the ending was nothing special, but it is a fitting end to an amazing yet flawed installment. Here is to hoping that both Wonder Woman and Justice League really pave the way for better DC Movies.
While it is most certainly not that The Dark Knight of the decade, and will not entertain some of our highest expectations, this film is a fun and the most lighthearted film in the franchise so far, in the most twisted sense possible.
TOTAL = 16/25 (Pleasant Entertainment)
A clearly distinctive and fresh outing for the DC Extended Universe, fueled by dark humor and quirky performances, Suicide Squad suffers from the bad case of an unpolished story and over-hype, but it is still a must-watch for all! And that concludes our very lengthy and very detailed review of Suicide Squad. Be sure to listen to their official soundtrack on Spotify, because it really is catchy, even if I am not that kind of guy who likes modern music that much. Did you like Suicide Squad? Let us know in the comments. Also, be sure to listen to their songs. They are really good. And speaking of songs, here is a fan-made music video titled "Voices in My Head" made by Nerd Out! We hope you like it! Stay tuned for more Dateline Movies!
