THE BAD GUYS' WORLD — There have been several movies that audiences have been excited to see this summer, but one that I’ve been hearing about more than almost anything else is “Suicide Squad.”

I received more texts and phone calls asking if I’d seen the new DC movie revolving around the baddies than any other screening I’ve ever been to in the last three years. With this much excitement around the film, I knew I needed to take this movie seriously while reviewing it.

Not that I don’t always take the films seriously, but I made a point to go into the movie without knowing much about it and leaving expectations at the door. I just wanted to go in blind and see if I was entertained and had a good time.

I was entertained and I had a good time, for the most part. Here’s a look at what did and did not work in “Suicide Squad.”

What worked

Action

When all is said and done, “Suicide Squad” is really an action flick. It’s a comic book movie, but this film is pushed forward by action and there is plenty of it. Director David Ayer knows how to film action and he puts his experience into play here. A lot of the big scenes are a lot of fun, and watching Deadshot (Will Smith) in high gear is a blast.

The action is manic and pretty constant, which can get exhausting, but it never really hits that point. We have our down moments and they seem to come at a good time.

Characters

I know some of the characters really well, and I didn’t know others nearly at all. I think it was a good group of characters with stories that kept me interested, if not always connected. I’ll get into that later.

For the most part, I wanted to find out more about each of the characters we see and enjoyed watching them on screen. I felt Will Smith’s Deadshot, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag and Jai Courtney’s Boomerang have chemistry and are enjoyable to watch.

While we’re on the subject of characters, it’s worth pointing out that Robbie is spot on as Harley Quinn. She’s funny, disturbing and terrifying, just like Joker’s main squeeze is supposed to be.

Tone

This is a movie about a bunch of insane villains forced to do some good. I want to avoid getting into the plot in an effort to keep everyone in the dark about what they’re about to see, but let it be known that the overall tone is dark. This is darker than “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."

The tone will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I thought it fit the film well and is what it really needed to give it the feel it desired. Even though it’s dark, it’s quite funny, which helps lighten the mood — something “Batman v Superman” could have used.

What didn’t work

Villain

I don’t really know how to say this other than bluntly stating that the main villain the Suicide Squad is supposed to take down is uninteresting and boring. The main baddie felt clichéd and kind of lazy. I understand that this was a tall order. Think about it: what bad guy do you put in front of a bunch of other bad guys that makes the second set of bad guys want to stop the first bad guy? See how confusing that was? Well, I think the writer — also David Ayer — ran into this issue and it didn’t turn out as well as we’d hoped.

Shared screen time

There are a lot of central characters in this film, and that always introduces a challenge. “Captain America: Civil War” did a really good job of giving characters the right amount of screen time. “Suicide Squad” didn’t really pull that off.

Clearly, Deadshot and Quinn get the most screen time, but we have some really fun characters that are almost forgotten about. The most obvious one here was Boomerang. Courtney’s portrayal of the thief was actually a lot of fun, and I wanted more of him and his backstory, but we didn’t get it. It felt as if the filmmakers forgot some of these characters were in the movie until a certain scene and then were like, “Oh yeah, he’s in this. Let’s give him something to do here.”

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Creating a 'Suicide Squad' for 3 movie universes: Disney, Marvel and 'Star Wars'

Keeping in mind that DC’s Suicide Squad excludes main villains like the Joker, Penguin or Riddler, I’ve come up with my fantasy suicide squad scenarios for the Disney, "Star Wars" and Marvel cinematic universes. Some of the references are obscure so I’ve tried to include as many references and links as possible, but really, there are more Captain Boomerangs on this list than Harley Quinns.

Why I didn’t mention The Joker

I know a lot of people want to know how Jared Leto did as The Joker, and it’s for that reason I am not going to say anything. I have my opinion, but in this instance, I think it’s best for you to go in without any bias and form your own opinion of the latest incarnation of the famed nemesis of The Bat.

If that’s frustrating I apologize, but I think that will be the best way for you to experience the performance.

Conclusion

Overall, “Suicide Squad” has some real issues. There were times I was disappointed because so much potential was left on the table, but that’s not to say I didn’t like the film at all.

Critics are having a field day with how much they hated this movie, but I’m not one of them. I won’t say I loved it, but I was entertained and it had enough going for it that I’m still looking forward to when DC and Warner Bros. hit their stride with their superhero universe.

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