My opinion on the Suicide Squad movie from 2016 has changed a lot over the years.
When I first saw the trailers for it, I became intrigued by the premise of supervillains being forced to go on covert government operations, so I made sure to read all the comics I could before the film released.
So, when it actually came out, I was already hyped for it and this hype really blinded me about the film’s quality at the time.
I was pretty much in denial and told plenty of people that I thought the film was good.
However, even though years have passed and multiple rewatches allowed me to finally realize the film’s many, many, many faults, it is still a guilty pleasure of mine and I do still think there are good things about it.
So, I was naturally excited for the film’s loosely based sequel, this time titled The Suicide Squad (because that’s not confusing at all), directed by James Gunn.
The only movies of Gunn’s that I have seen are his Guardians of the Galaxy films and I love those, so I was interested to see what Gunn would do with what was obviously going to be a more comedic take on the titular Suicide Squad, although a dark comedic take at that.
What was reassuring to know coming into the film was that Gunn had complete freedom, unlike Suicide Squad 2016’s director David Ayer whose vision for the film was ripped apart in the editing room.
And you know what?
James Gunn naturally pulled it off.
The Suicide Squad is a much better film that its 2016 counterpart, delivering on plenty of exciting, funny, dark, and sometimes even emotional moments with style.
The plot follows Task Force X, who are tasked by the ruthless Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) to infiltrate the fictional country of Corto Maltese and bring an end to the mysterious Project Starfish.
Leading this version of the squad is Robert DuBois, AKA Bloodsport (Idris Alba), an assassin who put Superman in the ICU with a Kryptonite bullet, and becomes a part of Task Force X’s latest mission to protect his daughter.
So, he’s basically Deadshot.
Despite the two characters being extremely similar, though, I actually do prefer Bloodsport with this film because the bond with his daughter is much more interesting, even with only one scene, and his character arc is actually pretty great.
The rest of the Squad in this film is just as interesting.
We have the ironically named Peace Maker (John Cena), the extrememly messed up Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), the kind hearted thief Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), and the man eating, yet loveable idiot King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone).
Also returning from the previous film is Margot Robbie who is still perfectly cast as Harley Quinn, and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg.
I would like to signal out Flagg in particular because, even though I do find enjoyment in the original Suicide Squad film, Flagg was not one of these enjoyable things, being quite a bland character.
Well, in The Suicide Squad, this version of Flagg is ten times better, with a fantastic character arc that really made me care for him, hence the emotional parts of the film I mentioned previously.
Along with the emotion, another feature this movie pulls off excellently is the comedy, especially the gags of the dark variety.
I burst out into uncomfortable laughter on numerous occasions.
This is easily one of the funniest movies of the year.
It is the characters and their journey that really brings it all togethor though.
I remember back in the first Suicide Squad where one of the characters talked about them being a family, even though they had just met and didn’t really have that much of a bond by that point.
By the end of this film, however, I felt the comradery between the characters completley and wanted to see where they would go in a future film.
How likely this is, I’m not sure because the movie apparently bombed, most likely based off the reputation of its predecessor and, you know… Covid.
That said, I hope the studios see the positive reactions to this film and realize there is a great potential for sequels.
James Gunn did a fantastic job breathing a comedically dark life into The Suicide Squad and I hope to see more of it the future.
THE REVIEW MONSTER 