David Ayer

The film does a lot of stuff right, but unfortunately, it also does a lot of stuff wrong. There are corny voice-overs and one-liners, weird plot holes, murky/unconvincing character motivations, and the "I wrote my catchphrase in my forehead" sad gangster wannabe version of the Joker doesn't help. All in all the film is almost more disappointing for flailing helplessly on the edge of something great than it would be had it just been a full-on travesty. But at least Will Smith is always great (and he does a solid Deadshot), and at least Harley Quinn is excellent in it (I think I bumped it half a star just for that), and at least that gave us the (much superior) Birds of Prey spin-off.

As far as the 11 minutes longer extended cut goes, it's just more, both of what works and what doesn't. I think I still prefer it, though, as it does deepen several of the characters a bit, which is always a good thing.… (more)