Warner Bros. and DC Comics released Suicide Squad, a comic book movie focused on super villains, into nationwide theaters on August 5. Starring Will Smith (Deadshot) and Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), the film is the third in the DC Comics film universe.

Powered by a $131 million United States opening weekend, the film has grossed $744 million since its release, according to Box Office Mojo. However, the critical response has not been very positive. The movie currently stands as “rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes, with 26 percent of critics giving the film a positive score and an average critic rating of 4.7 out of 10. My own views on the film resemble this score.

Suicide Squad’s advertising campaign was excellent, creating compelling trailers for audiences, assembling a star-filled musical soundtrack and teasing comic book fans with introductions of various DC Comics characters. However, the film simply did not live up to the hype.

Additionally, Suicide Squad did not have entertaining and fun scenes promised by their promotions. Relying on computer-generated images (CGI) and visual effects, the sequences were not original or creative. I was bored by the formulaic and repetitive scenes, watching our “heroes” take down aliens and move onto the next level. It was not engaging and caused me to lose interest halfway through.

Creative and engaging action is vital to a comic book film, but no movie can be good without a strong story, something that Suicide Squad lacked overall. The beginning and end of the film have purpose and make up the plot of the film, but the middle of the movie is essentially pointless. The beginning developed the characters and defined the purpose of the cast. The ending delivered a final emotional blow and resolved the conflict. However, the middle served absolutely no purpose.

Suicide Squad is not entirely a bad film and succeeds with its characters. Introducing DC Comics figures such as Harley Quinn and Killer Croc into the film universe while including two of the most famous characters, the Joker and Batman, the performances by the actors were the highlight. Capturing humor, emotion and depth, Smith delivered a stellar performance as Dead- shot. Additionally, Robbie was excellent as fan-favorite Harley Quinn, representing the development of one of the first strong female characters in comic book films. Finally, Viola Davis encompasses Amanda Waller, a government official that assembles the team, with a performance that makes her character more evil than the true villains of the movie.

Suicide Squad had a great deal of potential and could have helped define DC Comics and Warner Bros., yet its disappointing traits outweigh the positives that lie within. DC Comics and Warner Bros. will release the next installment with the release of Justice League on November 17 in 2017.