SUICIDE SQUAD (EXTENDED CUT)

(2016) When a film gets as much marketing, over-hype and exposure as Suicide Squad did in the months - not weeks, but months - prior to release, it's usually a good sign the film may not be that great.  Which is why (along with the casting of Jared Leto, which I felt - along with the film's entire concept of Joker - stank) I didn't rush to see it.  The Extended Cut is only 11 minutes longer, purportedly giving Joker a better back-story for his actions than the theatrical release, but the film still suffers from a lack of focus - and sorry, but yeah Leto was just an awful, awful casting choice.  Worse choice still: relegating Joker to a minor character that feels like he's only inserted into the film to upgrade audience interest.  Boo.  Beyond that, the film's plot is a cinch: Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is tasked with heading a secret government organization to fight crime, and her brilliant idea is to do so by creating a team made up of some of the biggest criminally-insane loons to ever be incarcerated; a "suicide squad" if you will, to send into the heart of the fray, because if they're all killed trying to defeat the even nastier bad guys who the heck will care?  Things don't go as planned (do they ever?), but in the meantime there are some good laughs and dark humor, mostly via Will Smith as Deadshot and a particularly giddy Margot Robbie, who channels Harley Quinn to perfection.  The film itself, though, is strictly standard in plot and execution, offering nothing knew while meandering all over the place.  Oh yeah, and the subplot of Joker trying to break Harley out and/or rescuing her from the team is, in the end, a fairly big yawn.  The finale is pretty cool, once we get there, but overall what seems like it could have been so much more never quite makes it there.  (PG-13) 6.5/10 stars