The Suicide Squad: An Absurdly Silly And Immensely Fun Summer Blockbuster
Writer/director James Gunn makes his triumphant return with the absurdly silly and immensely fun summer blockbuster, The Suicide Squad. Working the same magic he did with MCU’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, Gunn gives the DCU a refreshing boost, delivering a fun-filled cinematic experience full of entertaining stupidity, viscera, weirdness, laughs, and heart.
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.
After Disney foolishly tried to drop James Gunn from the massively successful Guardians Of The Galaxy franchise (which he helped to build) over old tweets, Warner Bros. did the DCU a solid by scooping him up. They clearly recognized his talent for making commercially viable, big-budget weirdness, and they seized the opportunity to take advantage of Disney’s poor executive decision making. Of course, Disney finally came to their senses and allowed Gunn to make Guardians Vol. 3 (his alleged final film for Marvel) — but not before DC could pour some salt in The Mouse’s self-inflicted wound. Now that Gunn is the first filmmaker to walk freely between these rival camps, he’s noted a difference between how the two conglomerates do business: “I think the current batch of folks over at Warner Bros. are really interested in building out a world and creating something that’s unique to the filmmakers.” And there’s a lot of validity to that statement.
With The Suicide Squad, Gunn once again proves his penchant for making superhero movies that move to their own rhythm — and he seems to be marching with minimal studio interference. It is undeniably a James Gunn film, and it harks back to his juvenile roots with Troma (penning the script for 1997’s Tromeo And Juliet) as well as solidifying all the work he’s done in the superhero realm (with The Specials, Super, and Guardians). He has a firm grasp on the disposable nature of corporate, fast-food cinema, and as much as he leans into that, he also makes the genre more resinous with his character-centric focus, humanity, and infectious heart. To make up his ragtag bunch of villainous rejects, he takes some of the dumbest and weirdest 2D characters DC has to offer, but he makes them three dimensional; they’re all troubled, flawed, and broken, but they feel real despite the bonkers non-reality that surrounds them.
The inclusion of the article (“the”) in the film’s title kinda lets you know up front that it’s not exactly a sequel (and that it’s attempting to right some of the wrongs of its predecessor). In fact, one of THE Suicide Squad’s most refreshing aspects is how it kinda ignores both 2016’s Suicide Squad and last year’s Birds Of Prey entirely. The specifics of the plot (which centers around the tasked destruction of a Nazi-era laboratory located on the South American island nation of Corto Maltese which holds a secretive experiment known as "Project Starfish") aren’t really important; it’s the characters and how they relate and react to one another that is — and Gunn gets that. The story is filled with as much carnage, explosions, and CGI madness as possible, but a lot of emphasis is placed on the smaller, quieter moments which play just as loud a bomb’s detonation. It’s a very funny film, but not all of its humor lands — there’s some dud jokes and some cringey moments — and some of it feels like a slight retread of Gunn’s Guardians films (CGI critters, parent/child relationships), but none of that can really detract from how much fun The Suicide Squad cooks up.
Although there’s a few familiar faces in the bunch, Gunn largely introduces us to a whole new cache of kooky characters for this absurdly silly adventure, and they’re embodied by a talented cast of performers, including Idris Elba, Viola Davis, John Cena, Daniela Melchior, David Dastmalchian, Sylvester Stallone, Michael Rooker, and Margot Robbie. There’s not a bad performance in the bunch, and it’s hard to choose a favorite; however, Idris Elba’s Bloodsport and his relationship/chemistry with John Cena’s Peacemaker and Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher 2 serves as the backbone of the film. David Dastmalchian also does a fantastic job churning the Polka Dot Man (who Gunn described as "the dumbest DC character of all time") into an achingly beautiful comic tragedy. As far as direction goes, The Suicide Squad is a big step forward for Gunn. His direction is constantly in flux and visceral, and a lot of that is due to the Red cameras he used to film, which increased his crew’s mobility and opened up new creative doors for the veteran filmmaker.
If you thought Army Of The Dead would be the biggest, silliest blockbuster we’d get this year, think again; The Suicide Squad is here to deliver on the good, the silly, and the weird! As much as it plays into the tired superhero tropes, it also mocks them and subverts them in really fun and entertaining ways. At times, it’s so insane, you’re not really sure how or where a superhero film might end, which is a rarity. It’s a big-budget, bonkers bonanza, sure, but it’s not as disposable as you might think. It’s really the film’s palpable heart that wins the day, and Gunn finds such a softly sweet and comical final moment to underscore that.
Recommendation: If you’re a fan of James Gunn and/or are down for an insanely silly, gory good time, definitely pop some corn and give The Squad a watch!
Rating: 4 side-splitting gags outta 5.
In the mood for more James Gunn?! Check out the link below:
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 review
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What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!