Deadly villains step into the crimebusting spotlight

LETO AS THE JOKER. Big shoes to fill.

“Suicide Squad” soars and sinks as it fields a band of reluctant villains to act against their own sinister interests. Now that Superman (Henry Cavill) is “gone,” the government wants the unlikely team to defend the world against people like them!

—That’s a tall order, especially for seasoned criminals whose raison d’être is to make life a living hell for members of the Justice League and the other superheroes of the world.

But, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the guiltless government official who is as morally devious in her concept of justice and methodology as she is relentless in her own form of “villainy,” believes that the antihero group she “oversees” with the Suicide Squad’s no-nonsense field leader, Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), is what the doctor ordered:

After all, why sacrifice the lives of good men if the government can fight fire with fire? Amanda wants none but the worst of society’s criminals to do the fighting for her!

Easier said than done

But, that’s easier said than done, because the monstrous and inherently manipulative “pawns” she has in mind don’t take orders and government-commissioned direction easily:

Moreover, making them come together is one thing, but getting them to work with each other is another matter!

There’s expert marksman and mercenary, Deadshot (Will Smith), who wants a shot at redemption for the sake of his 11-year-old daughter; the Aussie hooligan, Boomerang (Jai Courtney); the crazed former shrink, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), who’s smitten with The Joker; the flame-summoning pyromaniac, El Diablo (Jay Hernandez); the reptilian cannibal with rage issues, Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), and the soul-keeping swordswoman Katana (Karen Fukuhara).

Keeping them company are the 6,300-year-old sorceress, The Enchantress (Cara Delevingne); the rope-wielding assassin, Slipknot (Adam Beach), and the elusive psychopath, The Joker (Jared Leto).

But, can mankind truly trust these foes-turned-friends? More pertinently, is it too late for them to make a fresh start?

The film exists in the same universe as “Man of Steel” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” so don’t be surprised if you see the Scarlet Speedster (Ezra Miller) or a grumpy Dark Knight (Ben Affleck) interacting with the movie’s “new” heroes.

Flashes of comedic brilliance

The film doesn’t have the Marvel movies’ cheery and quirky humor, but at least its doom-and-gloom grit is buoyed up by flashes of comedic brilliance provided by Robbie, who remains likable even when she goes overboard with her loopy and quip-happy characterization.

Storytelling-wise, the movie is, at best, uneven. Not all the antiheroes’ back stories are depicted or explained well—so, for the most part, it’s hard to empathize with their individual “issues” because of the overreaching convolutions in the story, which confound more than clarify.

For instance, director David Ayer exerts greater effort in giving Smith’s character a “more human” arc and a clearer story to justify his polarizing actions, but the other characters aren’t treated with as much attention to detail.

Yes, Will is the ensemble’s biggest star, but tent-pole movies like this should serve the story and its characters more than the stellar actors who portray them.

What about Jared Leto in the role of The Joker? The actor knew he had big shoes to fill, because the role has, in past incarnations, been “inhabited,” with more than satisfying results, by the iconic likes of Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger—who even won an Oscar for his menacing turn in 2008’s “The Dark Knight!”

Curiously, Leto’s participation is limited, but perhaps that isn’t such a bad thing, because his portrayal of The Joker is neither as terrifying nor as entertaining.

There’s a lot of flash, all right—but, not enough “scarifying” substance.