SUICIDE SQUAD Cast and Director Respond To Its Bad Reviews

Suicide Squad is currently sitting at a 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, but there are some out there — like Joey and Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins — who loved the film. Still, the response has been overwhelmingly negative so far, and Reuters caught up with the cast and writer/director David Ayer on the red carpet to ask them about their feelings about the reviews so far:

Cara Delevingne: “The critics have been absolutely horrific. They’re really, really horrible. You know, I just don’t think they like superhero movies. I know there's a lot of them. This movie isn't perfect, but it's a wonderful film. The characters are incredible, we all worked really, really hard, and 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.”

Margot Robbie: “Critical acclaim is really nice, but we made it for the fans. If the fans like it, then we did our job.”

David Ayer: "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. The movie's a lot of fun and the fans are really going to enjoy it."

Will Smith: "What [Ayer] did, what he was able to create, how he was able to take this DC world and bend it into a really different thing, he made it a really unique thing, you know? I think people had expectations that may have been different, but I'm excited for the fans to get to vote."

Sorry Ms. Delevingne, but the idea that critics don't like superhero movies is so laughable that I'm not even going to waste time responding to it. I understand that the cast worked hard to make the movie, but unfortunately just because you work hard and you have a story about characters that people love from comics, books, or other source material, that doesn't automatically make the movie great. And Ayer's claim about making movies for people who love movies? That's film critics, dude! I know there are probably some grumpy exceptions (I'm sure you'll have your own claims about this in the comments), but here's a secret: for the most part, film critics truly do love movies — that's the entire reason they write about them and spend their entire lives engulfed in all things movies. 

I get it: it's not fun to be criticized. It's not fun to work hard on something for a year or more, put it out into the world, and watch it get torn to shreds. But not every movie will be beloved by everyone, and instead of demonizing critics, the people who make these films need to start being better about owning their decisions and rolling with the punches. It's OK to say they made something for the fans, but trashing critics along the way sort of makes them seem petty and thin-skinned, doesn't it?

I'd like to point you to the article I wrote about a similar topic when the Batman v Superman cast responded to that movie's bad reviews, because a lot of the same things apply here.

I haven't seen the movie yet, but contrary to what Ayer claims here and what some people in our comments sections like to assume, I do actually want the film to be great and I still hope I love it when I see it.

Suicide Squad hits theaters tonight.