Suicide Squad Movie Cast

Another comic book movie to look forward to, this from DC, Suicide Squad.  Set to be released August 5, 2016.   So, you got time.  But there is an intriguing cast coming together...


Jared Leto – The Joker

Will Smith – Deadshot

Tom Hardy – Rick Flagg

Margot Robbie – Harley Quinn

Jai Courtney – Boomerang

Cara Delevingne – Enchantress

Sounds like Jesse Eisenberg could play Lex Luthor as well.

That "Margot Robbie" who is playing Harley Quinn (can't wait for that) is the hot girl from Wolf of Wall Street.

Top 10 Tuesday: Batman Villains

Time to start up a weekly segment here on The Brief.  Top 10 Tuesday.  Is it the most original thing?  No.  Are lists something a 3rd grader could do?  Yes.  But people like rankings and it's easy to argue someone's list.  So for as long as it lasts, I present, Top 10 Tuesdays: Batman Villains.  (I don't consider Catwoman a villain, just too friendly with Batman.)

Honorable Mention: Hush, The Penguin, Mr. Freeze, Holiday, Victor Zsasz

10. Calender Man

Julian Day committed crimes based on significant days/ holidays on calender, hence the name.  It may seem corny, but in the graphic novel The Long Halloween, Calender Man basically played the role of Hannibal Hector.

9. Bane

I didn't love The Dark Knight Rises.  Bane, however is one of the best bad guys to mess with Batman.  Brains and Bronze with the voice of an underwater Sean Connery, what's not to like?  Oh and he also broke the Bat.

8. Ra's al Ghul

His daughter Talia, could probably also be on this list.  Ra's is the leader of the League of Assassins, and one of Batman's toughest foes.  He was the perfect villain in Batman Begins and I'm pretty sure he is everything proof.

7. Scarecrow

Dr. Jonathan Crane.  He was a great addition to the Christopher Nolan trilogy.  He uses a lot of drugs and toxins to mess with the minds of whomever.  Lot of toxin-wielding villains in Gotham City.  Toxins.

6. The Riddler

I have always enjoyed, Edward Nigma aka The Riddler.  Who doesn't love riddles, puzzles, and word games?  Throw in a sweet green suit, question marks, and a cane... that's a villain!

5. The Mad Hatter

Is Jervis Tetch a rip off of an Alice in Wonderland character?  Of course he is.  But he's a real sick-o.  Another dude who relies on mind-control devices.  Dare I say toxins?  He's obsessed with the Lewis Carroll book and is a genius.  He needs to be in one of these 13 Ben Affleck movies.

4. Two-Face

D.A. Harvey Dent was a guy fighting for Gotham.  WAS.  A court room incident (in the comic storylines) turned him into one of the best villains of all-time.  The coin flip is bad ass and where does he get those suits?

3. Poison Ivy

Pamela Isley is all about the toxins.  She can also control plants.  You wouldn't think that would be very helpful, but turns out it works for her.

2. Harley Quinn

Dr. Harleen Quinzel was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum where she was working with The Joker and boom she falls in love with him and goes nuts.  Great idea.  She started on the animated TV series, was worked in the comics and is probably at her best in the video games such as Batman: Arkham City.

1. The Joker

Couldn't be anyone else.  The most famous villain in all of comics.  The Joker is the best.  Whether it's old school Adam West Batman, or Jack Nicholson and of course Heath Ledger.  Check out the graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke if you want an origin story for the greatest villain all-time.

Rich Reviews: The Dark Knight Rises

Chances are you have already seen The Dark Knight Rises.  Well I didn't see it til this past Saturday, so here is my review anyway.

The Dark Knight Rises is good.  In fact it's very good, but not great.  I preferred The Dark Knight to any other in this trilogy or any Batman film prior and now sense.  This most recent installment was facing some tough obstacles right out of the gate.  The main villain in the film, Bane, is some what limited.  He talks through a mask with a funny accent, making him difficult to understand at times.  Bane made his comics debut in 1993, that's more than 50 years after Batman was introduced and certainly long after many of his most infamous counterparts hit the big time (Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, etc.) 

That is not my main complaint, as "newer" villains can certainly be very complex, entertaining and all of that.  (In fact, I wish Harley Quinn was somehow included in The Dark Knight along with the Joker).  But Banes story, although interesting in its own right, could never live up to The Joker, or even Two-Face, The Riddler (if done the right way) and others.  Tom Hardy did a great job playing Bane, Christopher Nolan utilized Bane probably as well as you could, and still its a far cry from The Joker (Heath Ledger's performance, combined with the history of the character, his standing amongst all-time super villains, and that incredible relationship between Batman and him.). 

So going into the movie, I knew that the best Bane could only go so far, and I was proven right.  My other complaint going in was the decision to cast Anne Hathaway as Catwoman.

Don't get me wrong, she is a great actress, probably a better actress than any in the age bracket for this Catwoman.  But she's not hot.  I don't see it.  Mila Kunia, Natalie Portman, Megan Fox (after 10 years worth of acting lessons... ok then she's out), would have been better.  But the truth is, Hathway was fine. 

I thought they could have explained Catwoman and Bane's stories a little bit more, that might have helped with both of them for me.  No spoilers here, but the film takes place 8 years after the last, and these two new characters seem to be thrown in a bit. 

I understand that The Dark Knight Rises is meant as a conclusion to the trilogy.  With that said, I felt it served as a pretty good wrap up.  It's a very solid film both for the Batman die hards and the comic book novices out there.  I recommend it, but don't think there is any way to compare it to the Ledger driven Dark Knight. 

8/10

(Batman Begins probably gets an 8/10, I'll have to see Rises again to really break the tie and determine which is better.  The Dark Knight is definitely 10/10.)

-Keefe

Rich Reviews: The Dark Knight

Is there a better comic book movie? I haven’t seen one. Simply put The Dark Knight is one of the best movies in years. The sequel to Batman Begins took home an opening weekend record of $155+ million. It was one of the most hyped up films in recent memory and more than lived up to it. I never wanted it to end. I’m not sure I have a single thing to complain about. It’s easy to get let down by a movie after you’ve waited so long to see it, but that was not the case here. I want to see it again.

Christian Bale already became my favorite Batman following the last film. With all due respect to Michael Keaton, Bale was just better. He was a comparable Bruce Wayne, and a far superior Batman. Both men were better for the role than Val Kilmer and not even close to the forgettable effort my George Clooney in Batman & Robin. Bale brought the same intensity to his Batman and cockiness and swagger to his Wayne from the first. Bale’s stat line would be 2-2, 2 HR.

Director Christopher Nolan certainly made sure to put the “dark” in Dark Knight. At times I was almost surprised the film was rated PG-13. I guess as long as you don’t drop F bombs or show boobs anything can avoid the R rating. Clearly the movie executives wanted to make sure it wasn’t an R so it could capture the highest grossing opening weekend, but you could see how they could have crossed a line and just made it over the top. Perhaps an unrated DVD is in the future? But the film still delivered with implied violence and excellent camera work.

What put this movie over the top was the performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker. A year or two ago when I read that Ledger agreed to play the part, I admit I was very skeptical. How could he pull this off? I mean, Jack Nicholson was the Joker. It would be like recreating Star Wars with a new Han Solo or Ace Ventura with a different…Ace Ventura. Looked like an up hill struggle. But as you have seen, whether in the theater or on the previews, they just made him crazier, scarier, and well darker.

This ain’t your father’s Joker. Ledger portrays an absolute psycho path who has nothing to lose. His makeup is fantastic, and his performance is one of the best villains I have ever seen on screen. As I have mentioned before other super hero movies like Iron Man or Hulk lack popular/ fascinating villains. It’s the exact opposite in The Dark Knight. You’ll find yourself more interested in the Joker and even the chilling reincarnation of Two-Face more than Batman. And it’s no fault of Batman’s because he too is very good.

The acting is unparalleled for the typical comic book movie. I enjoy this films so much I always over look the less than stellar performances by the actors/actresses in movies such as X-Men or Fantastic 4. The Dark Knight is on par with any other Oscar nominated film. Bale, Gary Oldman, and Morgan Freeman reappraise their roles from the 1st film along with the additions of Ledger, Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/ Two-Face), and Maggie Gyllenhaal (in for Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes.) The cast is a Dominique Wilkins slam dunk. Wind mill style.

What more can I say about it? It’s one of the best movies I have seen in a while, I recommend it to everyone and anyone, whether you’re a comic fan or not. Even though I assume most of you have seen the film, I didn’t want to get into any kind of spoilers, but please leave a comment with your thoughts on the movie or any questions you may have.

Final Rating: 10/10

-Keefe

Rich Reviews: Iron Man

-Keefe

I saw Iron Man over the weekend, and figured I’d share my thoughts. Chances are you’ve already seen it as the film has pulled in $177 million in two weeks including $50.5 in its second weekend. The formula is simple. Recognizable comic book + movie star or 2 = easy 100+ million dollar block buster. Let’s see Spider- Man (3 times), X-Men (3), Fantastic 4 (2 and counting), Hulk (and we’ll see another one this summer), Daredevil, Punisher, Batman (all of them), I mean if they keep making them we’ll keep seeing them. You name it, I’ll watch it. Infinity Gauntlet? Yes. X-Factor? Of course. Alpha Flight? Why not.

As for the most recent successful Marvel Comic Book movie adaptation, it was the real deal. Iron Man brought the noise, and no, that’s not the glorious surround sound from the CineMagic talking. Even with the lack of a well known super villain (Iron Monger played by Jeff Bridges, instead of a Joker, Magneto, Kingpin, Dr. Doom, Sabretooth, Juggernaut, Venom, Green Goblin, Dr. Octopus, etc.), you are still intrigued to see what Iron Man is up against. The action, fighting sequences, and special effects were top notch and extremely entertaining.

Robert Downey Jr. was brilliantly cast to play billionaire weapons manufacturer, genius, and playa Tony Stark/ Iron Man. Whether you are familiar with the comic series or not you will enjoy the job done by Downey Jr. There’s been some great acting jobs done in super hero roles; Christian Bale in Batman Begins (and The Dark Knight, which will raise the bar once again) and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in the X-Men series are just two examples, and Downey Jr. is right there with his performance as Stark. He is a natural to play the part and he seems at ease in front of the camera.

The rest of the cast was solid as well. Downey Jr. clearly brings the level of play up from everyone around him, much like a Kevin Garnett with the Celtics. Speaking of the Celtics, when will they start to play well on the road? I mean are you kidding me with that Game 3 showing? Sorry. The supporting cast: Jeff Bridges, who will forever be known as the Dude was good as was Terrence Howard as Stark’s buddy Jim Rhodes. Howard will undoubtedly have a bigger role in the sequel where I expect him to fight side by side as War Machine. Gwyneth Paltrow plays Pepper Potts, Stark’s assistant that knows everything about him. She’s not supposed to be smoking hot, so they got that right, but her acting isn’t the best either. Most comic book movies you wouldn’t notice, but when she’s surrounded by the likes of Downey Jr., Bridges, and Howard you can tell. But she wasn’t bad enough to bring down the entire ensemble.

Bottom line, Iron Man is an absolute treat to the eyes and ears. It’s just over 2 hours long, and you’ll never once feel that the film is dragging. Lots of action mixed with humor. You don’t have to be a comic book fan to enjoy this movie, although I’m sure it helps. I give it a 9 out of 10, and can’t wait for the sequel.

Special heads up brought to you by the Sports Brief. If you have not seen the movie yet, make sure you stay through the end of the credits. You’ll be glad you did.

I hope you enjoyed the first installment of Rich Reviews. It will become a new addition to the Brief, where I can sound off on new films that I have seen. Maybe I’ll even save you 9 bucks in the process.