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While Suicide Squad isn’t amazing, it certainly isn’t terrible, as the majority of reviews would have one believe. At the very least, it’s better than the garbage that is Age of Ultron and X-Men Apocalypse.

The problem, I believe, is that Marvel has dominated the superhero movie industry for so long now that people aren’t quite sure what to make of movies of the same genre that don’t follow Marvel’s patented formula (think underdogs, cameos, with plenty of humorous moments thrown in to lighten the mood and endear the characters to their audience). Granted, Batman Vs. Superman was stale, unfunny trash whose darkened shots made it nearly impossible to see what was going on half the movie, but Suicide Squad, despite some flaws, is executed reasonably well.

SPOILERS AHEAD

That’s not to say it’s a perfect film, but what movie is? Suicide Squad’s main problem lies in the form of irrelevant characters — the movie digs itself a hole by introducing too many characters to allow the audience to bond with. For example, the character Katana, a soul-sucking sword-wielding samurai, tacked on at the last minute and given maybe two lines of dialogue, feels more like an accessory than the actually interesting and dynamic character she had the potential to be. They kill another character, Slipknot, only 10 minutes into the movie to prove the stakes — another unnecessary measure.

Strangely enough, for a team of “metahumans” (the politically correct term for super powered human beings in the DC universe), only two members of the team (El Diablo, who wields fire, and Killer Croc, a human/croc genetic mashup) have actual superpowers. The others, (Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Katana and Flag) either just possess extremely enhanced senses, magical items, or copious skills in martial arts, gymnastics and weaponry.

Most of the acting in the movie falls into the category of average, rather than bad. Jared Leto, for example, despite going to such lengths to get into the character of the Joker (such as sending dead animals, used condoms, and anal beads to his fellow cast members) is entirely forgettable as the Joker. His overwrought, borderline annoying garbage performance of the character is only outweighed by the actor’s garbage personality as himself.

Despite overall mediocrity, certain members of the cast sparkle. Viola Davis, as the team’s puppetmaster Amanda Waller, manages to be stone-cold in a complex, fascinating way, and Will Smith, playing Deadshot, is far funnier and more dynamic than the script given to him. But the real star of Suicide Squad is Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, in a performance so great that a solo Harley Quinn movie is now in the works for 2019 as a result. Robbie sparkles as Quinn, commanding the focus and attention of any scene she’s in, making almost any other character she interacts with (with the exception of Will Smith) pale in comparison and fade into the background. If anything, the entire movie is worth seeing for Robbie alone, as she manages to perfectly execute the first time Harley Quinn has ever appeared on the big screen.

If I had another tip for DC, it would be this: don’t be afraid to shoot fight scenes in the daytime. Continually, DC falls into the trap that darkness equals badass, and thus all fight scenes must take place in gray or black toned shots where the audience can barely follow what’s going on.

Overall, for fans of the superhero genre, Suicide Squad is a worthwhile watch, despite its problems. The movie manages to be funny as well as suspenseful, the movie’s humor adding exactly what was missing in Batman vs. Superman — personality.