The Suicide Squad (2021).
“I didn’t pick the team!”
Directed by James Gunn
Written by James Gunn
Starring Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, John Cena, Viola Davis, and the most terrifying starfish you’ve ever seen
The Stage.
The newest iteration of the Suicide Squad is dumped on the island of Corto Maltese. Their mission? Find and destroy the information related to Project Starfish, a secret World War II project still being worked on in the depths of a mysterious tower.
The Review.
About halfway through the first Suicide Squad, I remember thinking, “This is one of the worst movies I’ve seen in years.” The script was terrible, everything seemed forced, certain jokes felt like they were just ADR’d in after the movie was shot, the music felt so ham-fisted, the main characters not named Harley Quinn were lifeless and boring, and it felt neutered. The whole thing was a mess and it’s been a long time since I had walked out of a theater feeling that disappointed. I remember telling my wife, “It seems like they had a movie made, saw the success of Guardians of the Galaxy, and brutalized the cut to make it fit that mold.” which later we found out was basically true. So for the second Suicide Squad film, instead of copying Guardians of the Galaxy, they just hired the director.
The film starts out with several of the characters from the first tale still riding into battle, but James Gunn quickly lets the audience know this is a brand new kind of Suicide Squad with a hard left turn to another team, and let me tell you, this new Suicide Squad is fun as fuck. Harley Quinn is our main returning villain. Idris Elba plays Bloodsport, a master assassin with a fear of rats. Unfortunately for him, Ratcatcher 2 is also on his team, and she can control rats. Daniela Melchior absolutely steals the show in this role. John Cena plays Peacemaker, Bloodsport’s team rival. King Shark is a walking, talking shark just looking for food, and finally, Polka Dot Man rounds out the squad as a villain who throws polka dots and has severe mommy issues. Every character gets their moment to shine, and we actually get to see significant growth in Harley Quinn.
Gunn leans right into the R rating. This movie is bloody as hell and unforgiving. People get smashed, eaten, blown to bits, and chopped to pieces. It also leans heavily into the comedy that the first Suicide Squad failed miserably at, but Gunn is just too talented to miss. There were several laugh out loud moments here and the dialogue was always very quick and witty. The action is plentiful and really fun. Gunn’s script uses the tropy ‘We need to battle a threat that could end the entire world’ motivation, but it never felt that way, which was a nice change for a movie with enormous stakes. The visuals are really great as well, and the way text was used on the screen to convey information was stunning, particularly one shot that used rooftop clutter to let us know where we were headed.
The End.
This is exactly what I’m looking for in a rated-R superhero film. Pack it with great actors who are ready to give us some cheese. Give me fun, unrelenting action. Go for the hard-R rating. Give me some surprising deaths, and give me an interesting villain. Suicide Squad was an absolute blast. If I had to level any complaints, it’s that the script is pretty predictable after the first twenty minutes and it is a little long, but I was never checking my watch.
Here’s to hoping James Gunn directs a sequel with the Weasel.
