If you’ve been on the internet lately, you might’ve noticed that the highly (and we mean highly) anticipated Suicide Squad film debuted to poor reviews. The Independent called the movie “nowhere near nasty enough,” and the cast aren’t happy about it. Cara Delevingne, who plays Enchantress, certainly doesn’t approve. And the three time i-D covergirl isn’t alone: fans of the film were so up in arms about its 31% Rotten Tomatoes rating that they petitioned for the site to close — “Critics always give The DC Extended Universe movies unjust bad reviews,” wrote the petition’s creator.
Cara personally doesn’t have an issue with Rotten Tomatoes, but she does have some words about critics, en masse. “They’re really, really horrible,” she told Reuters at the London premiere.”You know, I just don’t think they like superhero movies.” Cara does concede “this movie isn’t perfect,” but she stresses that critical acclaim really wasn’t the point.
“It doesn’t really matter what the critics say at the end of the day, it’s the fans that we made this movie for.” Director David Ayers was at the premiere to echo Cara’s sentiment, explaining “I made the movie for real people who live in the real world. I made the movie for people who actually love movies and go and see movies.” Will Smith — who plays Deadshot in the film — had the same idea. He told Reuters, “I’m excited for the fans to get to vote.”
Wondering why everyone is making such a fuss about this? The stakes are high for Warner Brothers’ Suicide Squad. The studio has the rights to the entire DC Comics universe, but its first effort — Batman Vs. Superman — didn’t fare well with critics either. After a huge opening weekend, it saw a massive drop in ticket sales. Some suspect the same fate awaits Suicide Squad, which could signal the end of the DC Universe at Warner Brothers. That is to say, they might kill the entire franchise if Suicide Squad doesn’t fare well. But if Cara has anything to do with it, maybe things won’t go down that way.
Credits
Photography Richard Bush [The Collectors Issue, no. 328, 2013]