scott_thompson7454

Sitcoms rarely make a successful transition to the big screen (the Alan Partridge movie was really good but that's about it in recent years). The return of Gervais and his mahoosive ego is, shock horror, a bit crap. I have a confession to make. I wasn't a big fan of The Office (preferred the US version) and I find Gervais about as funny as Donald Trump's Muslim ban. But the BBC sitcom was a work of genius compared to this. The character of David Brent was OK in small doses and when surrounded by Tim, Dawn, Gareth etc. But he quickly grates over 90 minutes and not in a 'like, so cringe, but hilarious' way, just cringe. None of the supporting characters are given much to do, because this is the Ricky Gervais show and if you don't like jokes about Chinese and Irish people, gays and the disabled, all done in a 'nudge, nudge, I'm not racist or homophobic, I went to University, I'm in on the joke' way, then move on, nothing to see here. Lazy, horribly paced, offensive drivel.

So, it's not as bad as Batman vs Superman. And Will Smith and Margot Robbie are good, although the latter isn't helped by a manchild director who shamelessly objectifies her at every turn ("how many shots do we have of Margot's butt? That's not enough! Put more in. And more guns. Butts and guns. The fanboys love that stuff!'). Every so often we catch a glimpse of what this movie could have been, most of those moments involving Robbie's awesome Harley Quinn, but otherwise this is a complete mess, with terrible pacing, struggling along under the weight of too many characters and the need to set up spin off movies, and a weird mish mash of styles (Suicide Squad can't decide if it wants to be off kilter and knowing like Deadpool or bleak and thudding like Batman vs Superman). Jared Leto's Joker is a massive letdown and we also get one of the worst comic book movie villains of all time. Cara Delevingne cannot act to save her life, that much is obvious, but even Brie Larson would have struggled with Enchantress, who is lumbered with some truly dreadful dialogue and an unintentionally amusing CGI big brother. You could analyse this movie's faults to death but ultimately it's just not very good, cynical, shoddy and forgettable.