The Movie: The Suicide Squad
The Director: James Gunn
The Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson, Joaquín Cosio, Juan Diego Botto, Storm Reid, Nathan Fillion, Steve Agee, Sean Gunn, Mayling Ng, Flula Borg, Jennifer Holland, Tinashe Kajese, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis
The Story: Supervillains Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X as they are dropped off at the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.
The Review:
So DC has gone full steam ahead with their disconnected universe where each movie stands on its own and is not meant to connect with any of the other movies. The Suicide Squad is not a reboot of Suicide Squad and it's not a sequel. It's a stand alone movie that has nothing to do with its predecessor and also makes no reference to Birds of Prey which features squad member Harley Quinn played by Margot Robbie. This is basically DC and Warner Brothers' way to salvage a flailing franchise that wasn't making any sense anyway while allowing them some freedom in creating unique stories without trying to directly compete with Marvel's intricately woven shared universe.
If that was all confusing, don't worry about it because none of it really matters when it comes to being able to enjoy this movie. The style and tone of the movie will feel very familiar to fans of the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise which it should because director James Gunn is responsible for both. The fun and quirky style translates very well from one to the other although Gunn takes the Suicide Squad into some very rated R territory when it comes to the violence and a bit of the subject matter and all of it works beautifully. Gunn clearly knows how to handle the group dynamics of a super hero team and especially when they are actually super villains and anti heroes.
At the forefront of course is the aforementioned Margot Robbie as the increasingly iconic Harley Quinn who gets some fantastic material to work with and one of the best fight scenes you will find from any of these type of films. Robbie is so good with this character, you can tell she is 100% invested and gives it her all in every scene and with every detail of the character. As always, she is full of surprises and you can never count her out no matter how high the odds are stacked against her. The story is also full of surprises and one of the keys to this iteration of the franchise is that characters will die so don't get too attached. This of course being a comic book movie even death may be just an illusion or a temporary setback so you really never know what's going to happen.
I think what's most important about this movie is that it is non stop fun from beginning to end. Gunn makes sure to keep the pace upbeat and energetic and allows the personalities of the characters and the people playing them to drive the movie forward. One of the main characters you will enjoy, depending on your tolerance of bathroom humor, is Peacemaker played by WWE champion turned thespian John Cena. What he does with the character should cement him as a superstar beyond the squared circle and well into the Hollywood spotlight. Considering the character is getting his own HBO limited series, you can see and you will see a lot more of Cena as peacemaker down the road.
I'm sure we will see more from this franchise although who knows what it will look like considering everything I mentioned at the beginning of this review and I don't really care just give me more. I mean whoever thought we'd get a kaiju versus super villains movie?
The Verdict:
The Suicide Squad is everything I hoped it would be. James Gunn takes things to the edge with a rated R, superstar filled movie that is as big and bold and colorful as a comic book movie should be while also going all in with an attitude adjustment that takes super hero violence and crude humor to a whole new level.
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