Rating of
3.5/4
Humor, Heart and a Lot of Blood
Chris Kavan - wrote on 08/12/21
It turns out James Gunn is as good as making villains entertaining as he is obscure super heroes (c'mon - you never heard of The Guardians of the Galaxy EITHER before it came out). Even if David Ayer has an alternate (better) version of the original Suicide Squad, I still can't imagine it would be better than Gunn's blood-soaked, snarky yet surprisingly moving new version that is the top movie of the summer by a long shot.
Gunn's Suicide Squad is not quiet a sequel, not quite a reboot but something in between. Characters seem to somewhat acknowledge the events of the original film (Harley Quinn, Boomerang and Rick Flag seem to be good friends) but don't really bring it up in a big way, either. What does return is the cold-as-ice Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) who, once again, is in charge of turning villains into reluctant heroes - in order to shave a decade off their sentences but always with a head-bursting explosive as a backup just in case things go south.
If you saw any of the trailers, you know that we get introduced to a new team very early - Savant (Michael Rooker), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), T.D.K. (Nathan Fillion), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Mongal (Mayling Ng), Weasel (James Gunn), Javelin (Flula Borg) and Ms. Quinn herself (Margot Robbie) - led by the implacable Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). Their goal? Infiltrate the heavily-guarded island nation of Corto Maltese (a banana republic) that has recently enjoyed a military coup along with being in possession of a dangerous weapon that could threaten the world. Now, me being the smart guy I am, also realized the trailers mainly focused on a DIFFERENT team - namely Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) and King Shark (Sylvester Stallone in a perfect vocal casting choice). So what I'm saying is.... The Suicide Squad pulls a Deadpool 2 - and if you get that reference, you know how things are going to turn out.
Our MAIN band has much the same mission, but are instructed to get into the city and take down Jotunheim - the structure housing the weapon - and to do so they will have to track down The Thinker (Peter Capaldi) - lead scientist who has access to the facility. Luckily he like to hang out at a local club. But they have to take a couple of side-missions first, namely rescuing both Flag and Quinn from their various situations. While Flag has been taken in by the local freedom fighters, led by Sol Soria (Alice Braga), Quinn finders herself pampered by the new presidente, General Silvio Luna (Juan Diego Botto), who informer her she is a hero to the people of Corto Maltese for her destructive, anti-American rebellious nature. It turns out, both interactions turn rather messy.
The fun in the film, however, really comes from both the characters and the interactions. Fillion's T.D.K. may have just a small role, but seeing him detach his arms and slap/punch the soldiers (to little/no effect) is just brilliant but it's just as fun to watch Peacemaker and Bloodsport see who can out-kill each other or debate whether "tighty whities" is a racist term. Meanwhile, Robbie's Harley, while clearly still very much crazy - is given more range and is probably the best representation of the popular character yet. It's all the more impressive given that she isn't the center of attention all the time.
While the movie certainly has humor - especially from Stallone's one or two-word Shark King contribution, the film also has some true emotion - and it comes from two of the least-known characters, Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2. Polka-Dot Man is changed from the comics - he doesn't make weapons from Polka-Dots, it turns out his mother experimented on him and his siblings with an alien virus - and now he must expel said Polka-Dots or he will be consumed by them. She wanted to make her children into superheroes - but she created monsters - and he hates what he has become, so much so that everyone he sees is literally his mother.
On the other side, Ratcatcher 2 is probably the most sympathetic character in the entire film. Raised by her father in poverty (played by Taika Waititi), he taught her how to harness the power of the rats - "the lowliest and most despised of all creatures" as he puts it - but serve a purpose none-the-less, as do we all. After trying to rob a bank - and the rats considered deadly weapons - she finds herself in prison. She seems like the least evil of the group, with a cute pet rat - who constantly creeps out Bloodsport who has a phobia of the creatures - and not a hint of bloodlust in her - though she will use her power when it comes down to it. Also, she really likes her beauty sleep.
Make no mistake, the film also delivers when it comes to its R-rating. There is a lot of action and buckets of blood to go along with it. Gunn himself likens this film to a Vietnam-era war movie - and it shows. Lots of gunfights, explosions and hand-to-hand goodness to satisfy any of your preferred action cravings. Don't worry, there's also a giant monster too. The film has just a great mix of action, comedy, motivation and story - it's all there and Gunn balances it just right. It's by far the best DCEU film yet and easily one of the better comic book movies out there.
