Come December, keep in mind there is already a Star Wars thread - Movie Reviews

[Reply #320 on:]

Zootopia

They said it was good and they were right.

I saw this just over a week ago, too. Great film. Love the lead characters, the animation is stunning & there's even a Breaking Bad joke. Good stuff.

[Reply #321 on:]

Captain America: Civil War

I loved it. It managed to tell a compelling story without throwing itself all over superhero tropes and it handled both perspectives of the conflict very evenly and rationally. All the characters had clear motivations and even though it's an insanely dense movie, it didn't feel bogged down by an endless amount of half-assed subplots. The humour was on-point as well, and never felt out of place or inappropriate like it occasionally did in Age of Ultron.

Since it's a very character-driven movie, I'll break it down in more detail, character by character. No restrain on spoilers. You've been warned.

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Captain America
Even though almost every Avenger is in this movie, plus several newcomers, it still feels distinctly like a Captain America movie. This is mostly, I think, due to Bucky being a major driving force behind the motivations of numerous characters as well as the Sokovia act. Also, Cap's supporting characters (Falcon/Bucky, and Widow to a lesser extent) have a large amount of screen-time and interaction with one another.

Anyway, I thought he was great in this. He wasn't a one-dimensional goody-two-shoes because a lot of his decisions were rash and emotionally-charged, but he was still ultimately the one to understand what was really going on. Sticking his shield over the exploding grenade was sweet af.

Iron Man
As I predicted, his parents' death was a driving force in the plot (which was hinted at, though not confirmed, in The Winter Soldier). Other than the watch-glove I don't recall anything new tech-wise but damn if he didn't deliver with his chemistry with the other characters, as always. His "Uh, who are you again?" moment with Ant-Man was great.
I also appreciate how they gave an in-film motive to sign the Sokovia act, with the realisation that he's caused a lot of collateral damage. In Age of Ultron he didn't seem overly concerned that he made a murderous AI.

Bucky
Based on the trailers I was kinda expecting him to be insta-buddies with cap at the beginning of the movie, but I'm glad that wasn't the case. Some of the shit he did, like batting away bullets with his hands, was niiice. Also that one part where he broke off a staircase railing and used it to swing to a lower level.

Falcon
Like Bucky, he got a lot of screen-time. I enjoyed the upgrades to his suit and its new utilities such as the drone. "Bird Suit? Seriously?"

Black Widow
It felt like she didn't really do much in the movie, besides in the opening scene. She had plenty of dialogue though and I like how she became the "hero that switches sides" which I wasn't sure would happen or not.

Black Panther
This fuckin guy. He stole the damn show. Everything from his badass accent to his relentless chase scene with Bucky, and the way he is so no-nonsense and is too serious to quip around with the other jokesters. If hadn't already known, the reveal that The Black Panther was T'Challa might have been pretty amazing but I suppose that's one disadvantage of knowing the source material. Also, that triple-mid-air-kick-flip.

Baron Zemo
Now this dude was something. I know Marvel hasn't had a fantastic track record with villains but Zemo filled a niche that hadn't been filled yet. He was just a normal, un-extraordinary bloke out purely for revenge. They even do the fake-out where it sounds like there's gonna be an army of Winter Soldiers to fight the heroes, but instead he murders them all. The best part? He actually succeeded with his plan. He won. The Avengers are fucked up now with half of them being fugitives.

If they ever make a Thunderbolts movie, Zemo should be in it. They even kept him alive, unlike almost every other MCU villain.

Spider-Man
Far more screen time than I expected! I really appreciate how they didn't waste any time bringing him into the story. Even though he's not established in the MCU, we all know who he is and his backstory. Cutting straight to the chase was the smartest possible move, especially since he didn't really have large bearing on the plot.

And by the way, Tom Holland totally killed it. He's easily the best Spider-Man yet; he's got the adorable awkwardness of Toby Maguire mixed with the sarcastic wit of Andrew Garfield.

Scarlet Witch
Do they even call her that? Who knows. Anyway, it was great seeing her in action again. They really exemplified the weirdness of her powers this time around and stressed how ridiculously powerful she can be, but also how shit she is at actually controlling them. The scene where she put a barrier around Crossbones when he blew himself up was awesome. Also the part where she pulled cars through the adjacent building and rained them all over Stark. And when she possessed Vision and sunk him into the ground. And speaking of the guy...

Vision
He looks so weird wearing clothes. And that cooking scene was priceless as well. "In my defense, I've never actually eaten anything before."

Since he's by far the most overpowered guy in the movie, it's kind of a bummer that he was barely used in the airport scene. I suppose that's to be expected when he can fry anything and anyone with ease. On the other hand, that's literally the only negative thing I can think about for this movie, which says a lot.

War Machine
When Vision accidentally shoots him (nice misdirection from the trailers, by the way) the way his helmet interior goes completely dark except for the eye slots was haunting. Even though I wasn't expecting him to die... that shit was chilling.

Hawkeye
I was surprised he showed up so late in the movie, which amplifies another thing I loved about it: Not every damn character needed to have an arc. Clint was only here to fill the number's for Cap's side, which made the whole thing feel much more focused.

In his intro scene I love how he attempted to go toe-to-toe with Vision; a borderline unkillable foe. Also because the fight choreography was cool as hell, with Vision phasing around like a playa (and since when could he even do that? ).

Ant-Man
He brought by far the funniest moments. His fanboyism towards Cap was hilarious and the delivery of "Here's your shield, Captain America!" was perfect. Taunting Stark from within his suit ("It's your conscience!"), throwing the then-tiny truck, and pretty much the whole sequence with him turning into Giant-Man. And as usual, the visuals for Tiny Ant-Man where top-notch.

Well, that ended up being much longer than I expected.

In the end, it was easily among one of Marvel's best movies so far.

[Reply #322 on:]

The Angry Birds Movie

Not great but certainly not as bad as I feared it might be.

Apart from being (somewhat inconsistently) angry the protagonist seemed quite bland and, given that most of his problems were of his own making, came off as rather unlikable until well into the story.

The film-makers have catered more for the little ones than for their parents which tends to limit the depth of the story. Also, as someone who has not even seen the game the movie is based on, let alone played it I suspect that I missed most of the in-jokes and references (etc.) that the film undoubtedly contains.

Grade: B–

[Reply #323 on:]

I saw Captain America: Civil War on Tuesday, it's pretty good. I was in agreement with Cap's side, plus he had Ant-Man, who was my favourite hero in the film.

Having not seen The Winter Soldier, I didn't 100% understand what exactly was going on with the Bucky plot, but the movie still made sense, I guess. The new Spider-Man is okay, everyone is going on about how he's the best one yet, but I still love/miss Tobey Maguire.

[Reply #324 on:]

Yeah, civil war was a very good movie, I loved how they did spiderman better in about ten minutes than the last one did over two entire films

[Reply #325 on:]

Speaking of Spider-Man...

I saw The Amazing Spider-Man a few weeks ago. Wasn't too bad. A lot of the plot points were absolute nonsense but Andrew Garfield made a good Spider-Man (albeit a shit Peter Parker). He doesn't hold a candle to Tom Holland though.

Also, Inside Out, which was actually amazing. Easily one of Pixar's best movies, and that's saying a lot.

[Reply #326 on:]

I saw Captain America: Civil War on Tuesday, it's pretty good. I was in agreement with Cap's side, plus he had Ant-Man, who was my favourite hero in the film.

Having not seen The Winter Soldier, I didn't 100% understand what exactly was going on with the Bucky plot, but the movie still made sense, I guess. The new Spider-Man is okay, everyone is going on about how he's the best one yet, but I still love/miss Tobey Maguire.

civil war war really good.. i had enjoyed also the winter soldier (far better imho than the first Cap movie and might say even better than the Thor and Ironman movies). however i mad the mistake of not watching AntMan before. i had it planed to see it the weekend before seeing Civil war and totally forgot cause life.. and in the theather when he walks out of that van i can hear someone in the theather saying "its antman!" and said a very very subtled and contained DOH..

I can atgue that the writes clearly side with Cap side.. but its a great debate as both sides are right..  and quite a moral dilema in such entertainment movie...  tought as said the movie allready makes the decision for you..  Its very nice to see how events in past movies have clear and direct consecuences..and not just push a reset button.

Im not a superhero-comic guy.. i dont reach superhero comics (i have my comics readings but not superghero themed usually) .. but i got caught by the MCU and its so far very well threaded line

[Reply #327 on:]

X-Men: Apocalypse

Finally. An X-Men movie where Cyclops isn't a little bitch.

Movie was pretty good, but not perfect. Thankfully it didn't end up being as Mystique-heavy as the trailers suggested.

The part where

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Jean went full-Phoenix

Made me pee a little.

All of Apocalypse's horsemen were wasted, even Magneto. I really hope they just put the character aside for a while because they keep retreading the "There's still good left in you!" ground. Psylocke, Storm and Angel were all pretty underdeveloped and had no clear motive. The scene where Angel got his metal wings was pretty dope though. It's a shame that, as one of the original X-Men, they had the nerve to

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kill him off so early, and meanwhile fucking Mystique is leading the X-Men.

There was also

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The scene where Quicksilver saves all the students. On one hand this scene was incredible entertaining to watch. But as it went on it became more and more ridiculous and goofy. And then as soon as it finishes the movie dives right into a serious moment where Cyclops realises his brother just died, which was a stupidly jarring disconnect. In a similar vein, Stan Lee's cameo deflated the chilling atmosphere when he showed up.

I probably sound like I'm complaining a lot but I did enjoy the movie. The tease with Jean and the great use of Cyclops and Nightcrawler gives me a lot of hope for the future of the series. Now they just need to get rid of Magneto and Mystique and give Colossus and Kitty Pryde some large roles, and they're set.

Maybe a 6 or 7 out of 10.

[Reply #328 on:]

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed X-Men: Apocalypse given the bad reviews. It was too long and a lot of the plot points were contrived and badly written but and the ending really let it down, for the most part, it was a very enjoyable film and I'm glad to have seen it.

In case anybody cares, I also saw Captain America: Civil War, The Jungle Book, Zootopia and Batman v Superman fairly recently. Civil War was great, but I found it very draining and I got character introduction fatigue by the time Ant-Man showed up. The Jungle Book was surprisingly great given how much I was expecting it to suck. Zootopia was a typically great bit of Disney fare. Batman v Superman was much better than I expected but still an absolutely awfully written film where nothing made any sense beyond the superficial surface-level (and even that didn't even make sense all of the time).

Zootopia - 8/10
The Jungle Book - 8/10
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Dreadful Film Titles - 5/10
Captain America: Civil War - 8/10
X-Men: Apocalypse - 7/10

[Reply #329 on:]

Terminator Genisys

I picked this up purely due to my ocd insisting that I complete the series.  Most surprisingly, it not only wasn't terrible, or even bad, it was actually OK!

Yes, it's made in the modern make-everybody-feel-good moviemaking style and threw (even more) mystical nonsense into the storyline's time travel paradigm and overplayed callbacks and had inconsistent characters, but still... I enjoyed it.

7/10 for those who place the original Terminator into their personal top-five list of movies.

6/10 for most everyone else.

[Reply #330 on:]

10 Cloverfield Lane

Watched for the third time today; I really enjoy this movie. John Goodman gives an amazing performance as a very confusing, yet intimidating character, and the rest of the cast did amazingly well playing 'real', understandable people. The ties to the first Clover were a bit out-of-place, but they at least gave Goodman's character more complexity.

8.5/10
4/5

Zootopia

The most 'modern' animated movie in a while, and not forced in one bit. The characters are really fun to see onscreen, and the chemistry; even between minor characters; was amazing. A fun, happy, upbeat movie that did basically everything well.

9/10
5/5

Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare

How did this take me so long to catch?
Such a mixed bag. Freddy was, infamously, fun and insane, but the characters were beyond bland and the story felt like a list of loosely connected checkmarks on the Director's to-do list. The idea of Freddy having an estranged child is an awesome and very creatively inspiring one; as was the delve into Freddy's past, which honestly, should've and seems to have been the main reason this movie exists.  Had this idea been expanded upon and developed enough to make Freddy almost forgivable, it would've been really clever and interesting.

As it is, Freddy's Dead is trying it's hardest to be Dream Warriors, with half the script and twice the cheese

5/10
1.5/5

[Reply #331 on:]

Terminator Genisys
Not bad, etc.

I felt similarly to you. It's really a fairly enjoyable film once you get past the idea that no new Terminator films are going to be complete masterpieces like the first two and that it's sort of starting to feel like an ongoing soap-opera with robots and time-travel.

And it's not like it's tarnishing the franchise. It's substantially better than Salvation (which was genuinely awful), for a start.

[Reply #332 on:]

I've no idea why, but I bought the Director's Cut of Terminator Salvation and have yet to watch it.  I figure it can't possibly be worse than the theatrical release

[Reply #333 on:]

When your director is McG, anything can happen.

[Reply #334 on:]

Is anyone planning to see Independence Day: Resurgence on its opening day?

[Reply #335 on:]

Is anyone planning to see Independence Day: Resurgence on its opening day?

I saw it yesterday. It was alright, but felt unnecessary. Way too much CGI and they showed the aliens far too much in this one. Something else didn't feel right, but I haven't completely figured out what it is. Maybe a lack of heart? I also missed Will Smith, despite explaining his absense.

6/10

[Reply #336 on:]

Finding Dory

… wasn't as bad and/or pointless as many people feared it would be.

It does get a bit silly toward the end (c.f. dogs piloting planes in Up) and there was a bit too much fish-out-of-water (literally) activity to suit me but as far as Pixar sequels go I'd rank this one above Monsters University.

Grade: B

[Reply #337 on:]

Ghostbusters

Watched the movie this weekend, and what can I say: Great movie, most excellent, definitely in my Top 10 movie list.

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But this is not really a surprise: A movie directed by Reitman, with Akroyd/Ramis/Murray/Weaver/Moranis cannot be anything but great.

Grade: A

[Reply #338 on:]

Anyone brave enough to see the remake?  If so, please do report here.  A local critic gave it a B+, and I don't recall him ever hesitating to trash a big-budget Hollywood film if he felt it sub-par.  https://brianthemovieguy.blogspot.com/

[Reply #339 on:]

In all fairness, aside from the whole "men first" movement, it's been getting pretty favorable to mixed reviews

[Reply #340 on:]

I saw it and, as someone who absolutely loves the original and the sequel (come at me, internet), was pleasantly surprised. I wasn't expecting it to be terrible but I obviously didn't have very high expectations either. It was much better than one would expect from a contemporary remake of an 80s movie. Obviously it wasn't as good as the original and there were small things about it that I didn't love but, yeah, I really liked it overall.

[Reply #341 on:]

I saw the remake and I was really disappointed. I was actually pretty optimistic about the new film but it just wasn't very funny. Most of the jokes fell flat for me.

And, to be fair, it's not like the original Ghostbusters is a laugh riot, either, but the story held together and was fun. There's massive problems with the writing in the new one.

It's pretty watchable but it's bizarrely flat for something from the level of talent involved and Ghostbusters deserved better.

[Reply #342 on:]

Well, fuck.

[Reply #343 on:]

Ghostbusters
Absolutely terrible. No laughs and despite it not being exactly the same as the original, it was a real struggle to finish as I was facepalming at some of the changes.
F

The Secret Life of Pets
Basically "Toy Story" with pets, but not really all that funny or clever at all. The Minions short was also mediocre.
D

[Reply #344 on:]

I like how Hein didn't list Ernie Hudson in his list of the original cast. What a racist!

[Reply #345 on:]

Star Trek Beyond

Left the movie after 50 minutes, as I considered it unbearable.

Acting was okay, SFX were okay, designs were okay.
But the movie completely lacked the ability to highlight important scenes, or to hold back on semi-important stuff.

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Choreography and  overall feeling of a scene did not differ very much, wether a Redshirt was shot, or wether the movies most important object was hidden/found again

All in all, the movie felt like an Opera, where EVERY song has EXACTLY the same length, being written in the same tune, played at the same tempo at the same volume. A audiobook being read by Steven Hawkins voicebox. A grafic Novel where EVERY panel has the same size, perspective, and showing all characters from the same distance.
You get the point...

The rest of our group later confirmed that the rest of that movie also suffered from that monotony, it all felt the same, and no scene really managed to stand out. (And that leaving the cinema, to wait for the rest over some coffee might have been a better choice)

No, my overall mark might not be fair. Technically, the movie was done all right, and there are other aspects than this monotony. Yet, when one flaw becomes that GRAVE that you rather leave the movie than watch if completely, there is obviously only one judgement:

E

[Reply #346 on:]

Very interesting review, thanks!  To be honest, sometime over the last couple of weeks I'd completely forgotten that it was due to be released.

I'm about to do something underhanded and despicable.  I'm going to steal part of a friend's review without crediting them or letting them know that I've done so.

I went in expecting the worst. I felt like the trailers made the movie look awful. Kirk on a motorcycle. Directed by the "Fast and Furious" guy. The Enterprise

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blowing up again

. Etc., etc.

I was pleasantly surprised. Shocked even. It felt like Star Trek!

Most if not all of the scenes in the trailers were cut in a very misdirecting way. For example, remember the scene in the trailer where Scotty walks in on Kirk..."

My friend is a fairly avid Trek fan.  A bit of a happy-go-lucky person who is not overly critical.

Just FYI, I avoid all trailers like the plague, and spoilered that little bit in case others have avoided them.

[Reply #347 on:]

Star Trek Beyond

I didn't think it was too bad.

Even with a new director it seemed pretty much in the same vein as the previous two movies. I enjoyed this one a bit more than the second installment. I especially liked the emphasis on inter-character interactions this time around.

Grade: B

[Reply #348 on:]

Jason Bourne

Now, I know it's basically tradition at this point, but I had no fucking idea what the hell was going on during the action scenes. The shaky cam was so embarrassingly obnoxious (even moreso that previous entries in the franchise) that I eventually just gave up trying to make sense of the mess that was happening in front of me. The idiotic cuts just left no room to get any idea of where characters are relative to each other. And they seriously pull the "Zoom and enchance!" bullshit that should never be spoken unironically.

The plot wasn't great. It had this weird mish-mash of these two main plots that barely had anything to do with each other and it did a shitty job of explaining small details. And many times basic logic and continuity fell flat on it's face.

It had a few cool moments but ultimately this was a big disappointment.
/10

[Reply #349 on:]

Can we all finally admit that the Bourne franchise was never all that special to begin with?

[Reply #350 on:]

I think The Bourne Identity was pretty good, but yeah, it's not exactly a revolutionary series.

[Reply #351 on:]

Which movie is best?

[Reply #352 on:]

I must be the only person in the world who has seen the first, but none of the others.  Are they worth marathoning, with plenty of popcorn and alcohol?

[Reply #353 on:]

I guess they're okay.  I've seen a few movies that are watchable, but I don't know if we have enough time to watch them all.

[Reply #354 on:]

The Conjuring 2
Having only seen this as a sort of time-waster and not being familiar at all with the first, this review's a bit unfair, but what the hell.

I swear I'm not trying to come across as edgy, macho, none of those hook words - but it was not scary. Based solely on the excitement buzzing around the first film, I figured I'd be really shaken by this one... sadly, unless you're unfamiliar with the vast majority of overused horror tropes, you won't be in the slightest.

As a movie alone, it was still kind of shaky... almost all big plot points hardly ever lead to anything or had an outcome, there was a very poor sense of pacing and time passing within the story, and most characters had no purpose whatsoever. I understand it as based off of a true story (not that I've confirmed that for myself, only assuming they're truthful), but you're making a movie, not a documentary; cutting out the large handful of unneeded characters could've helped immensely.

It's hardly anything more than your average dollar-bin horror flick. Creepy little girls, evil nuns, crucifixes galore... I was underwhelmed.

3/5... maybe not a bad movie, but not exactly good, either.

[Reply #355 on:]

Suicide Squid

Man, DC is really struggling to get their feet off the ground. This movie wasn't quite the trainwreck that BvS was, but it really wasn't anything special.

And I mean that. I can't honestly think of anything terrible about this movie; it was just very mediocre. The main issue was that there were so many supporting characters that added nothing to the story. Katana was just a lame stereotype. Killer Croc was an enormous waste (amazing-looking makeup, though). And Mr. Boomerang just idly sat around being an asshole to everyone (The part where he bolts out of the bar was priceless though, and it would've been even better if he was absent for the remainder of the movie).

Time to say something positive. Margot Robbie's performance was fantastic. It's very clear that much more thought and effort was put into her character than any of the others, except perhaps Deadshot. She really nailed the insanity and obsessiveness of Harley Quinn, and I can confidentially say that she'll be the most memorable thing about Suicide Squad. It also helps that she's ridiculously fucking hot.

Now, what else? Deadshot was alright. He was a bit too Will-Smithy for my taste, and he didn't fit the "worst of the worst" criteria they were going for. But the man is charismatic and his performance was solid. And the times where he was actually doing gun-related stuff were awesome. The assassination scene in his intro set up his skill and ability to plan, even if that never really paid off. Speaking which, I actually quite liked those intro scenes. I understand it would've dragged on if everyone had them as long as Deadshot and Harley, but I wouldn't mind seeing that in an extended cut.

The Joker was very underwhelming, mostly because he felt so disconnected from the rest of the movie and only seemed like an extension of Harley Quinn's character (that feels weird to type. It's usually the other way around). He also didn't feel like the Joker. He didn't have the wit and strategy of the character, he was just a crazy clown with a gun, who acted more like a typical mob boss.

The climax was nonsense. The squad suddenly acting like best family didn't feel deserved because half of them were so underdeveloped, and that stupid CGI fight looked like an orgy of molten diarrhea.

It might sound like I hate this movie more than I do. But really, it was quite inoffensive. Margot Robbie's portrayal of Harley Quinn is the saving grace of Suicide Squad, and for that I give it a middle-of the barrel 5/10

[Reply #356 on:]

I think you speak for Everyone.

[Reply #357 on:]

Suicide Squid

Man, DC is really struggling to get their feet off the ground. This movie wasn't quite the trainwreck that BvS was, but it really wasn't anything special.

And I mean that. I can't honestly think of anything terrible about this movie; it was just very mediocre. The main issue was that there were so many supporting characters that added nothing to the story. Katana was just a lame stereotype. Killer Croc was an enormous waste (amazing-looking makeup, though). And Mr. Boomerang just idly sat around being an asshole to everyone (The part where he bolts out of the bar was priceless though, and it would've been even better if he was absent for the remainder of the movie).

Time to say something positive. Margot Robbie's performance was fantastic. It's very clear that much more thought and effort was put into her character than any of the others, except perhaps Deadshot. She really nailed the insanity and obsessiveness of Harley Quinn, and I can confidentially say that she'll be the most memorable thing about Suicide Squad. It also helps that she's ridiculously fucking hot.

Now, what else? Deadshot was alright. He was a bit too Will-Smithy for my taste, and he didn't fit the "worst of the worst" criteria they were going for. But the man is charismatic and his performance was solid. And the times where he was actually doing gun-related stuff were awesome. The assassination scene in his intro set up his skill and ability to plan, even if that never really paid off. Speaking which, I actually quite liked those intro scenes. I understand it would've dragged on if everyone had them as long as Deadshot and Harley, but I wouldn't mind seeing that in an extended cut.

The Joker was very underwhelming, mostly because he felt so disconnected from the rest of the movie and only seemed like an extension of Harley Quinn's character (that feels weird to type. It's usually the other way around). He also didn't feel like the Joker. He didn't have the wit and strategy of the character, he was just a crazy clown with a gun, who acted more like a typical mob boss.

The climax was nonsense. The squad suddenly acting like best family didn't feel deserved because half of them were so underdeveloped, and that stupid CGI fight looked like an orgy of molten diarrhea.

It might sound like I hate this movie more than I do. But really, it was quite inoffensive. Margot Robbie's portrayal of Harley Quinn is the saving grace of Suicide Squad, and for that I give it a middle-of the barrel 5/10

[Reply #358 on:]

You just copied UnrealLegend's post! Quit trying to steal his thunder, he doesn't deserve such disrespect!

[Reply #359 on:]

Screw you guys! It was dumb fun. Probably didn't make sense in parts, but I'm giving Suicide Squad a 7/10. I was surprised The Joker wasn't in it that much, though.