The Suicide Squad (2021) Warner Bros./Action-Adventure-Comedy RT: 132 minutes Rated R (strong violence and gore, language throughout, some sexual references, drug use, brief graphic nudity) Director: James Gunn Screenplay: James Gunn Music: John Murphy Cinematography: Henry Braham Release date: August 5, 2021 (US) Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Daniela Melchior, David Dastmalchian, Viola Davis, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Pete Davidson, Nathan Fillion, Sean Gunn, Flula Borg, Mayling Ng, Juan Diego Botto, Joaquin Cosio, Storm Reid, Julio Ruiz, John Ostrander, Steve Agee, Tinashe Kajese, Jennifer Holland, Taika Waititi, Stephen Blackehart, Fernando Martinez. Box Office: $55.8M (US)/$168.7M (World)
Rating: *** ½
Forget that David Ayer mess from five years ago; James Gunn’s half-sequel/half-reboot The Suicide Squad is the definitive movie about DC Comics’ team of antiheroes forced to undertake black ops missions on behalf of a government that keeps them locked up until they’re needed. It carries an R rating leaving Gunn free to bring on the bloody violence full tilt boogie. And does he ever! I’d expect nothing less from a filmmaker who got his start at Troma under the tutelage of Lloyd Kaufman (who has a brief cameo). The R also allows Margot Robbie (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) to really cut loose as Harley Quinn, the reigning “Queen of Crime” in the DC Universe. The descriptive term “sexy, crazy bitch” comes to mind. For these reasons and others, I really like The Suicide Squad.
Gunn, who also directed the two Guardians of the Galaxy movies for Marvel, starts things off just right by pulling a fast one on the audience. He introduces a team of criminal types tasked by their handler Amanda Waller (Davis reprising her role from the first Suicide Squad) with sneaking onto the South American island of Corto Maltese to await further orders. Led by field leader Rick Flag (Kinnaman, another returning cast member), the team includes Savant (Rooker, Guardians of the Galaxy 1 & 2), Captain Boomerang (Courtney, yet another returning cast member), Blackguard (Davidson, SNL), T.D.K. (Fillion, Firefly) and Quinn. Oh yeah, there’s also an anthropomorphic weasel named Weasel (the director’s little brother Sean). It isn’t long before most of them get wiped out by a waiting army. Surely this isn’t the end of the movie already? Keep reading.
It turns out they were just a decoy for a second team, the real team, to sneak onto the island undetected at another location. They’re led by Bloodshot (Elba, Thor 1-3), a mercenary and cold-blooded killer who only agrees to lead the mission in order to help his teenage daughter (Reid, The Invisible Man) stay out of jail. He’s joined by Peacemaker (Cena, F9), an ultra-patriotic sort who kills to keep peace; Ratcatcher II (Portuguese actress Melchior), a young girl with the ability to control rats; Polka-Dot Man (Dastmalchian, Ant-Man), a tragic sort (mother issues) who throws deadly polka dots and shark-human hybrid King Shark (voiced by Stallone).
Their mission, one they have no choice in accepting, entails infiltrating a not-so-secret laboratory in order to destroy a giant alien starfish with mind-control powers. Yes, you read that correctly. Scientists have been conducting illegal human experiments for years and it’s up to the Suicide Squad (aka Task Force X) to put a stop to it. Of course, there’s an ulterior motive for their mission.
It looks like the entire cast had a blast making The Suicide Squad. I certainly enjoyed watching it. It’s a lot of fun. Once again, that naughty minx Harley Quinn proves she’s the life of the party. She’s also quite dexterous. Let’s just say she has some talented toes. Robbie, playing the character a third time, is great in the role. I can’t imagine anybody but her in the role. Elba shows he has what it takes to be an action hero and leading man. Maybe he would be a good James Bond. Cena is as wooden as ever, but it’s the right way to play his character. Melchior is a total find as the girl who inherited her gift from her late father (Jojo Rabbit director Waititi). If The Suicide Squad has an emotional core, she’s it. Stallone is surprisingly good as a CGI character.
Last week, I criticized Jungle Cruise for its ridiculous overuse of CGI. I was afraid The Suicide Squad would suffer from the same malady. DC movies tend to go crazy with the CGI. Their latest movie is no exception; there’s a lot of it. HOWEVER, the big difference is that it’s good CGI, especially in the finale when it turns into a kaiju movie. On the downside, it’s becoming redundant to show superheroes in a tall building collapsing around them. Gunn, who also wrote the screenplay, couldn’t come up with something else? Eh, it’s no matter. He makes up for it in a big way. He never once allows his characters to get lost in all the mayhem. It’s always about them, not the FX.
I LOVE how The Suicide Squad puts a subversive spin on the superhero genre. It has a comedic, playful tone in the midst of all the carnage and chaos. It isn’t just violent, it’s INSANELY violent! Heads explode, people get huge holes blown through them, limbs are torn from bodies and people get ripped in half. The Suicide Squad is clever, funny, brazen and unapologetically bloody. Only the writer of the Troma classic Tromeo and Juliet could accomplish such an incredible feat. It is a true stand-out in a field that’s becoming overcrowded. We could use more antiheroes like Harley Quinn and the Suicide Squad. If they’re as good as this one, I welcome them with open arms.
P.S. Be sure to stick around for an end-credits scene.
