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“We all long for Eden, and we are constantly glimpsing it: our whole nature at its best and least corrupted, its gentlest and most human, is still soaked with the sense of exile.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien
Movies could be meta when it's done well. Obviously it doesn't have to be the only characteristic of a product, because it could also be the downfall of it.
Here we have a movie which has been made to redeem the image of a concept which include characters in search pf a redemption. The feat is hard because it's hard to make people forget about the past, especially if the past is named Suicide Squad and it has one of the worst Joker in it. Warner Bros has struggled to change the perception of his movies and is trying everything to distance itself from its crap, past and present. This is why they asked James Gunn, the mind behind Guardians of The Galaxy, to do a soft reboot of Suicide Squad. The interesting thing is that he used this movie to return in Disney's grace, after his cul-de-sac due to a weird and despicable history of tweets. He was also on a road to redemption. This is why Disney rehired right away (also because he's too profitable to waste).
This movie tells the story of different people who redeemed themselves, a tale which goes beyond the silver screen.
PLOT
"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" or "DC tries to be like Marvel".
SCRIPT
Unfortunately this is where the movie falls short. A great first and second act, made of characters development and worldbuilding are almost destroyed by a mindless, cgi bloated and messy finale. Sure, most character archs are resolved but some choices doesn't make sense, especially the one regarding Peacemaker.
I like a lot the fact that the first movie's segmet is used to show us what are the stakes and to distance itself from its previous iteration by (almost killing) all the characters which were present in the first (failing) one. It's used to show us that this movie is on another level and it works, because it is. I like the cgi villain motivation but I find the human villain a bit of a clichè, especially the Tinker.
The themes, which are imperialism, self confidence, friendship, responsability, sacrifice and family are used almost without flaws. I just find the imperialism theme the best aspect of this movie, because it isn't just used to show the American way but also to accuse our species apathetic approach to the unknown.
Amanda Waller is the worst character because he doesn't have a motivation for being an angry black woman, which is a racial clichè.
This movie has also another weird problem. Even though it's mostly entertaining, the pace is a bit off putting to the point that this movie drags a lot. I'm disappointed because I've expected more from a James Gunn's movie.
Overall this is a pretty mediocre script with good moments and a bad finale.
The scene post credit and the type of humour make it a Marvel-ish movie and it's not good for me.
Script: 6/10
ACTING
Well, at first it's below mediocre and it's kept up by Margot Robbie. But then, after all the characters are introduced properly, the movie ascends in terms of acting quality. Well, not all the actors deliver a good performance, and I think that out of them all, Daniela Melchior is the weakest one. The best players here are Idris Elba, David Dstmalchian and Margot Robbie. I think that they're able to deliver an ample range of emotions and I think that they are perfectly casted, especially Margot Robbie. Unfortunately there're a lot of actors, besides the core's ones, which are pretty underwhelming. Overall is good but not good enough to say that it's impressive.
Acting: 7/10
PHOTOGRAPHY
This is the best aspect of this movie. Vibrant, meaningful colours and an interesting use of light make this flick a delight for the eyes. The point is...that it doesn't feel like a DC movie. It's good but it makes this movie like a Marvel product. This dichotomy creates a weird sense of uneasiness, because all of it has been already done and is usually used by someone else. Seems like DC is trying to get itself out of the hole by copycatting the Marvel formula, which is completely different and defines the MCU, I can say that it's one of pillars.
It's hard to give complete credit to a movie which uses a technique which is characteristic of a whole cinematic universe. Nonetheless is competent.
Photography: 7/10
EDITING
I like a lot the editing of this movie, but I find the Slow Motions scenes a bit corny and redundant. Gunn entertains us with multiple kind of shooting techniques, which elevates this movie from a standard superhero flick to an almost awesome movie. I like how the director uses the editing to make scenes more dramatic or comedic depending on the context. Well done.
Editing: 7/10
SPECIAL EFFECTS
The CGI isn't the best I've ever seen but the VFX are well done, especially the one about Thinker and Mongal. Sure, the CGi works well sometimes but it isn't as competent as this movie's budget would make you think. I like the decision to substitute blood with a flowery stream in a scene, because it makes a good female empowering scene. Overall is barely over mediocre but not enough to say that's good(always considering the budget).
Special Effects: 6/10
SOUNDTRACK
It's good, even though it isn't original anymore. This is Gunn who tries to rehash a winning formula which was applied to a far superior Marvel movie. I like the choice to blend pop music, carefully chosen, and instrumental to create a movie which is a delight for your ears. It isn't a memorable soundtrack but it works. I've just expected more from a DC movie. Usually they have the best soundtracks. Times are changin'.
Soundtrack: 7/10
COSTUMES
I like Bloodsport, Harley and Polka-Dot Man costumes. I find them original and memorable. Peacemaker and Ratcatcher have mediocre suits but they fit the characters. I think that overall this movie offer good and coherent costumes, which help us differentiate every character. I like the fact that they don't wear their costumes for the movie's entirety, to make their perdonality more dynamic and adaptable. It's done also for the plot and to respect the source material.
Costumes: 7/10
CONCLUSION
Script: 6/10
Acting: 7/10
Photography: 7/10
Editing: 7/10
Special Effects: 6/10
Soundtrack: 7/10
Costumes: 7/10
AVERAGE: 6,71
An enjoyable movie which is just a reharshing of another franchise. Even though it has a lot of flaws, it's good and it can let you have a great time. Watch it to appreciate one of the best movie of the DCEU and appreciate Gunn's style.
By @the_owlseyes
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James Gunn's The Suicide Squad was a blast to watch. I call it justice from what David Ayer gave us, I watched The Suicide Squad then yesterday I watched Ayer's Suicide Squad. Both of them have good stories, plots and character's.
A new team of Task Force X is recruited with new member's. Amanda Waller sends this team to the island of Corto Maltese for another suicide mission, the team's objective is to destroy a project called Starfish and save the world.
This movie had a way better story then Ayer's. Ayer's Suicide Squad is simply a team of villain's, not heroes, that come together to face off a bigger villain than them combined.
Gunn's version gives us more character background, the character's that are more important and a story that, to me, has more layer's of what mainly a suicide squad film treatment should have.
For this film your given the same energy and excitement. When you watch a new superhero film you start watching it's trailer's and the hype come's from when you see costumes, characters and cast, this film doubled that energy with it's costumes, character's and cast. We got excited seeing that Gunn did a way better King Shark then what Ayer did with Killer Croc.
Character's were so much better then the last Suicide Squad. Team was bigger, better and well casted, King Shark was really well done as they gave his backstory better than what was told with Killer Croc. Reading some comic strips online has shown me that treatment in look's on this character were accurately made and a bit cute looking, Sylvester Stallone did an incredible voice performance. Speech and dialogue we're too campy and very little, yet it made this character such a good and hilarious version.
John Cena playing as Peacemaker really surprised me with his performance. I'll honestly say the performance made me actually want to watch his spin-off TV show by HBO Max, when I learned Cena was playing anything related to comic's I wasn't hyped of his casting but like I said his performance was well done.
Jai Courtney really amped up his Captain Boomerang as well. he got so much better with his voice I felt I was watching the animated and comic counterpart's of Captain Boomerang, his Australian accent was stronger as well as his characteristic's from the comic's were brought to life.
As far as what's been said of Margot Robbie's Performance in this film I'll say it's true. Robbie has really been doing an outstanding work playing Harley Quinn, in this film she made the Harley fans of the comic's come to know and love. Viewer's of her last two performances know that she was already doing this with her performance the voice has been done so well even how she does the crazy and unpredictable side of Harley.
Idris Elba's Performance as Bloodsport was really well done as well. His character's background was almost the same as Deadshot's when Bloodsport was recruited his daughter was used, anyway Alba put some good performance showing the struggles Bloodsport was going through and had the characteristic's of Bloodsport were shown differently by Elba.
This film definitely had better comedy then Ayer's film as I didn't really find any part of it funny. Not that a film based on a comic especially when it comes to DC always need's comedy, I still found this as an element needed and was well performed for this film to be the fun it was to watch.
Score and soundtrack were well done and fitted this film. Maybe I wasn't paying attention but this film had holes for character theme's needed, as character's that have returned needed a theme.
Though this film was so well done and gave the biggest justice to The Suicide Squad comics, this film has holes and I'll be covering It all in my Spoiler review.
9.5/10
By @infinitefilmreview
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Hovering somewhere between a sequel and a soft reboot, This movie is a huge improvement over its 2016 counterpart. Gratuitously violent, vulgar, funny and most importantly, a ton of fun - This is exactly what a Suicide Squad movie should be.
I hated the first movie. Of the 100 movies I watched in 2016, it ranked 96th. With James Gunn taking the reigns, and news that this one was going for a hard R rating, I was intrigued. I knew it couldn’t be worse, but how much better could it be? Well, a full six and a half point score difference should tell you exactly how much better it is.
I love that this movie never takes itself too seriously. Yes, the stakes are high, but this is a ridiculous movie full of ridiculous characters, and Gunn never forgets it. That’s not to say this movie doesn’t have a few serious moments - it’s actually got a lot of heart. This is a character focused movie, and they’re all written surprisingly well. The mere fact that I could get emotionally attached to a CGI shark voiced by Sylvester Stallone speaks volumes about how well rounded the characters are. I expected Margot Robbie to steal the show again, but Harley Quinn never overshadows the others. I loved some of the new characters like Ratcatcher and Bloodsport, and everyone got a deserving amount of screen time.
This movie is really funny, but there’s also a lot of humour that simply doesn’t land. There are plenty of jokes that had me rolling my eyes, including a running visual gag involving Polkadot Man. Thankfully, the humour that does work is hilarious and makes up for the duds. The comedy is immature at times, but it pairs perfectly with the tone of the movie.
Visually, this movie is a real treat. The creative and colourful character design looks like it was torn straight from the pages of a comic book, which is the highest compliment I can give a movie based on one. The special effects are also top notch, which gives the movie a true summer blockbuster feel.
This is one of the best movies of the summer, and in my opinion, the best movie in the DCEU. Go see this on the big screen if you can. It’s well worth the price of admission.
8.5/10
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The DCEU has ben a rollercoaster ride of successes and tragedies. Can their latest outing, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad save the DCEU from its bad reputation? Can James Gunn bring to DC what he brought to the MCU?
No one makes superhero films like James Gunn. It’s been a long time since a DCEU film I liked was released, even the highly praised Shazam and Birds of Prey were quite disappointing to me. But with the suicide squad Gunn brings his unique energy to the films screenplay and style, and the result is what I think superhero films should be – creative, bold, and its very own thing.
Its obvious that in this film WB allows the director to take full control of the film, you can see it in the amount of gore and playful decisions made throughout the film, especially an opening sequence that is further proof of zero studio interference. The films narrative style is so distinct among superhero films that it could even be called experimental. Yet it is thanks to Gunn’s brilliant screenplay that all this doesn’t end up a mess, instead it’s a film that juggles effortlessly between heart and humor, with fresh and unique character lore that is aided by Gunn’s direction and the charisma of their actors. Despite its large scale and big team up, it feels grounded, not something so wild it is swirling out of control. Gunn manages to make every single character special and unforgettable in its own way, while the actors gave soul to their characters and it is to say that none of them disappoints, all perfect casting for their roles.
Now let’s talk about the fact that this film is R rated. The greatest thing about its rating is that Gunn gets to have full freedom of how he wants to represent the action, and now I am convinced that all superhero films should be R rated (don’t quote me on it though). The films hyper-violence is exactly what makes the film so entertaining and gritty, which also fits the tone of its source material, and thus it feels like a graphic novel come to life. The violence is emphasized to maximum effect thanks to the playful camera moves that drops you in the middle of the action, crafting an experience that is immersive and compelling in every aspect. The violence also helps underline the humor and some clever mis directions made in the film.
Amid the action, gore, and the exhilarating fashion of the film, is the sincere emotion that finds its way through the relentless thread of fun, never pretentious, or cheesy. Every moment represents the humanity and inhumanity behind every character, and the core of the suicide squad. The suicide squad, overall just a disposable weapon used to achieve political goals, but the humanity of each character makes their actions all the more relatable, and their motivations more than just the mission they were assigned to. All this is magnified by the inimitable and uncompromising style of the film. Thus, the film, unlike most other superhero films, doesn’t feel as if its run by a machine, rather, a film that is run by passionate people, that every actor, cast and crew worked on the film with irreplaceable passion, and I believe that is the key to making a good superhero film, and is the closest to cinema a superhero movie will ever get. This, is what all blockbusters should be : vibrant, and alive. Films with soul.
Now to the flaws. Some themes aren’t coherent, brought up at one point but never further explored, making the audience wonder why they even bothered bringing it up in the first place. At times, the tonal balance between comedy and drama isn’t tackled so well, making audiences confused whether they should think or laugh. True, the mash up of comedy and drama is what makes this film special, but if it could strike a more consistent tone, it would be easier to follow the rhythm of the film. Also, some may complain that a few characters feel wasted or cliched, especially Viola Davis’ character, but I think if the film tried too hard to develop and craft all its characters at the same time, it would turn out exactly like the tragedy of 2016’s Suicide Squad.
In conclusion, this is a film that is best to watch at a theatre with a big audience, laughing at every joke, cheering at every kill, and if there’s anything James Gunn proved, it’s that he’s both a master and a savior of the genre. While Marvel spent the last couple of years filling its films with repetitive superhero tropes, the suicide squad twists them on its own head so cleverly the result is a game changing superhero film like no other before it and let’s hope like every single one after it.
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The Biggest plus point of this movie is its R rating, this movie wouldn't have been even remotely good if it didn't have the Darkness it possessed (And I am talking about thematic darkness otherwise it was quite bright). The movie really feels like a James Gunn movie and it really feels like he was given complete liberty over the movie. From humor to the music to violence everything is quite creative and Gunn-esque (If thats a word). The movie got every type of violence that can be characterized as Fun, it is unapologetic and brutal but it never leaves the fun bubble Gunn had created. The characters are fleshed out even if they aren't fleshed out they are still used in a very appropriate way... the jokes are all well written, mostly adult but handled pretty well, that don't really bother you that much, a shoutout to the whole "No more Toxic Boyfriends" scene of Harley, that was like Peak Humor in this movie, hints toward the arc of Harley in a perfect way.
This is like the first time I personally gave a damn about Harley Quinn's character and To be honest this was Peak Harley Right there while everyone else nail there roles as well.... (I'll call them by there character names cause I don't know some of the actor's names and I am too lazy to google rn) Idris Alba as Bloodsport was really great to witness, even after being a supervillain, Idris brings this righteousness in his character and although you know he is a villain you still care for him alot.... John Cena as Peacemaker in the starting felt like some robot, with no expressions but gradually as the time passed he kind of grew on me.... King Shark was quite fun to witness and although they really could've done this movie without the character but still He was really a fun addition... lastly Ratcatcher 2 and Polka Dot Man, I loved both of them insanely. Ratcatcher 2 being Millennial for like most of the time was cool and the Sadness of Polka Dot Man really added to humor of the movie. And Although this movie had fair share of Comedic layers, it doesn't really disappoint in Emotional sector, be it Ratcatcher or Bloodsport's Daughter the Emotional Quotient in this movie is well balanced.
The music of the movie is very well done and every song used was well placed. Every song served a purpose and was used efficiently. The Action was well choreographed.. the very first death told us this movie is not gonna joke around, I mean it does joke around but I mean this in case of deaths, nobody is safe, like that... Shoutout to Pete Davidson, you will be missed Chad and a huge shoutout to Quinn using Javelin, I mean that might be my favorite gender from now on. The Negatives, Like RICK FLAG, I didn't care about him at all, sure he got a few good scenes but he felt like the worst characterof the movie, a place where a few of them didn't even have a backstory, rick flag felt underused, maybe underdeveloped as well, his final fight was tiring af tho.
the editing at few places was sloppy, some scenes really felt like dragged and they really couldve made the scenes more effective if the scenes were trimmed a bit, especially in the third act, Lastly the trope of taking them back in time, like "8 minutes back" felt ok at first but towards the end felt like they could've presented it better than that.
Overall The Suicide Squad is really well made DCEU movie and just like Gunn left his Mark on Marvel he successfully leaves his mark on DC.
The Suicide Squad is Unapologetically Violent Fun Ride that shows you what DC characters really can do.
9/10
THE REDEMPTION OF HARLEY QUINN
Let me be clear, The Suicide Squad was the first time, I resonated with the character of Harley Quinn and although I can say Margot has been brilliant as Quinn and despite having two previous appearances of the character, this is the first one that gets the character right. First one sexualized the character alot, presented her as an Object and that was evident, second one presented Harley as a character rather than an Object, Desexualize the character and that's a good thing right? yes! but it takes Harley to Feministic road, Harley is not a Feministic Ideal and Birds of Prey really tries to make her the character she is not, yes its fun to witness but that's not Harley. Now, Gunn brings Harley to the suicide squad and lets her be there, doesn't force anything on her, doesn't turn her into any kind of agenda and lets the character free, And that right there makes the portrayal perfect, she isn't an Object and she isnt any flag bearer and thats what makes her great, she just wants to have fun... Let her have fun and you have the perfect portrayal of the character.
By @cinemaa.wiz
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The Suicide Squad opens in a prison, and immediately sets up the plot - a team of anti-heroes with bombs in their heads going on missions for the government - and within 5 minutes the audience is squarely in the middle of an absolute bloodbath. And what a fun bloodbath it is. The opening alone is some of the most fun I've had at the movies in a long time. Characters we were just introduced to get littered with bullets, because, in The Suicide Squad, no one is safe. There's a genuine sense of tension throughout the movie, as it really feels like anyone could die at any time. Deaths are often played for laughs, but when the more serious ones kick in, they actually land emotionally, which is no small feat considering the large ensemble cast. Tension and unpredictability are some of the biggest strengths of the movie, keeping it fresh and engaging, especially in comparison to recent Marvel movies. There's truly nothing else like this, and for that reason alone I loved it.
I'd be remiss if I didn't talk about the action scenes. They were really well done, and packed to the brim with gore. The Suicide Squad takes full advantage of an R rating, with people getting torn in half, blown up, stabbed, eaten, shot, crushed by a giant starfish, and more. I mentioned unpredictability before, and that definitely extends to the action scenes. I can guarantee that you've never seen people die like this. Holistically, the action is really well staged, with excellent choreography. Luckily, that excellence extends to the cinematography. There's no quick cuts or shakey can here, but rather a ton of long, wide shots, which ensure there's always clarity to the action on screen. Geography is well established, as you can tell exactly who's getting shot, and precisely where they are. This is the polar opposite of something like The First Purge, where they basically said "Well, we have shots of people shooting, and shots of people falling. Let's add some blood in post and call it a day." I'd argue that establishing geography (where people are, what the environment is like, etc) is key to a good action scene, and The Suicide Squad does a great job at establishing this. The editing here is also sublime, with great rhythm and an understanding of when to focus more on character beats or dialogue versus the action at large. As an action movie, The Suicide Squad fires on all cylinders - it's creative, colorful, and comical, all without sacrificing clarity or geography. The cinematography in general here is gorgeous - it's got a ton of creative shots, dynamic camera movement, and it just works really well stylistically.
The story here is decent. It follows 2 squads invading an island as they attempt to get information on Project Starfish on behalf of the U.S. government. One squad gets (mostly) massacred in the opening, and the surviving members are captured. From there, the second group has to rescue the captured members and try and break into the facility with the necessary information. In and of itself, it's a fairly standard macguffin plot line, but it's bolstered by a non-linear structure and some really solid characters. Expanding on the structure, the movie has a ton of flashbacks to various points, including a pretty memorable one to "8 minutes ago." Since there are 2 teams for the majority of the movie, it uses the dual narrative (and resulting flashbacks) to keep things interesting for the viewer. Another thing of note here is the creative text throughout the movie. From the opening credits being spelled out in blood from an exploded head, to "Mission: Starfish" being smelled out in smoke from an exploded vehicle, there was clearly a lot of effort into making everything engaging, down to the text.
None of this would work without characters to care about, and The Suicide Squad does an excellent job briskly establishing characters while still giving them depth and purpose. You can actually understand the motivations for a lot of these characters, and especially for a large ensemble piece, that's pretty insane. Everyone gets some development, and I wound up being genuinely invested in a lot of them. I got sad when certain characters died, and a bit stressed out when I thought some of my favorites might bite the dust. There were a fair few standout characters for me. Ratcatcher 2 was probably my favorite, bringing emotional weight to the film in a fantastic performance by Daniela Melchior. She was funny, oddly relatable, because she was always tired, and overall really fun to watch. King Shark was also an absolute joy, bringing a lot of the humor, despite limited dialogue. Polka Dot Man was great as well, and he provided my favorite joke (a certain sight gag near the end) in the whole film. His deadpan delivery and care towards the minor characters really made him likeable, even if his powers were simply bizarre. I can't commend James Gunn's script here enough - it was insanely efficient in setting up plot and developing the characters, hilarious, surprising, and it did a fantastic job balancing the myriad of character beats.
Overall, The Suicide Squad was probably the most fun I've had in a movie theater in a long time. It was gory, darkly comedic, emotionally investing, beautiful to look at, and overall just an absolute blast. The script and directing were pretty remarkable, balancing the legion of characters really well, while still keeping everything tense and surprising. This is undoubtedly one of the best movies of the year, and I can't wait to watch it again.
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8/10
★
James Gunn's new DC project brings hope to the a repetitive movie genre.
Plot:
Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) is back again as head of the Suicide Squad in a new mission. This time, she reunites a whole bunch of criminals under Colonel Rick Flag's (Joel Kinnaman) watch, in order to break down a scientific project.
Overall opinion:
I would say that this movie figures among the best films of the DC Cinematic Universe. Most critics and audiences have praised James Gunn's work and I couldn't agree more. The film feels refreshing in a movie genre that needs new formulas. It's no news that some of the last superhero movies haven't been remarkable, because they don't bring anything new. And even though we still have "good guys" versus "bad guys" here, this film goes so much deeper than that. I think it redefines what does it mean to be a hero, just like one of the characters shouts by the end of the film. Can you become a hero even if you have done horrible things? I think this films gives a clear answer to such a question.
I think that one of the strongest points of the film is definitely the R rating; I've read somewhere that some people felt some influence from "The Boys" TV Show and I agree. I had that feeling when watching the movie, mostly because of his satirical tone.
Characters and Performances:
Most of the characters were actually amazing. My favorite was undoubtedly Peacemaker; I think he mixes very different elements to build some sort of anti-hero. You get to hate him because of his actions and I loved that. I was surprised by John Cena's performance and I'm really hoping to see him in future projects.
Another character that I fell in love with was Amanda Waller, played by the amazing Viola Davis. We had the opportunity to meet her in the 2016's movie, but I think she really gets to shine in this film. Despite the fact that she doesn't have much time on screen, her scenes were enough for me to absolutely love her evil side. She was so much more severe this time, demonstrating she was willing to do literally anything in order to reach her goals.
Apart from them, there's King Shark's issue, who's voiced by Sylvester Stallone. At first, I was very doubtful regarding Gunn's version of the character from what I saw on the trailers. I mean, this character is supposed to be scary and I wasn't sure that this new "dumb" personality was going to work out. I'm glad I was wrong. I absolutely loved every single one of his scenes; it's so hard not to love him since he so damn adorable. And the best part: he's still strong and voracious.
Now, what I didn't precisely liked about the film...
The first team. My problem is not the team per-se or even their fate, my problem's rather related to their time on screen. I get that they were made to introduce the tone of the film, but there were some good actors and I would've to see a little bit more of them.
Finally, I recall Starro's last words: "I was happy floating, staring at the stars". That little scene really hit me, because I saw the pain in Cleo's eyes. It was a fucked up situation, because they were doing their job, but it's always the same when humans intervene: killing and destruction.
In summary, we really need more Gunn's projects in DC and if Warner Bros want to keep the universe alive, they should start looking at him.
Year: 2021
Director: James Gunn
Script: James Gunn
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy
Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, John Cena, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Viola Davis, Sean Gunn, Jai Courtney, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, Pete Davidson, Peter Capaldi, Flula Borg, Alice Braga, Joaquin Cosio, Mayling Ng, Storm Reid, Taika Waititi
Runtime: 2h 12 min
Qualification: 8/10
By @vreviews
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4/5
Action-Comedy/Comic-Book Movie
The ruthless Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) assembles her new team of supervillains to deal with the dictator of Corto Maltese, a small and fictional, yet incredibly dangerous, island off the coast of South America.
MINOR-MODERATE SPOILER WARNING
In 2016, David Ayer’s Suicide Squad was released, and it was frankly a colossal mess. After the underperformance of Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, and the success of Deadpool, heavy studio interference led to a major voice on the direction and execution of the film being the company that had worked on the teaser, Trailer Park, leaving the film as a horrible Frankenstein(‘s monster) of overused licensed music, unnatural transitions and cuts, uninteresting and underdeveloped characters, and awkward pacing. While Ayer has repeatedly said that this wasn’t the film he’d intended to make, it was unfortunately the one that the audience got. Practically the only good thing about the film was Margot Robbie’s performance as Harley Quinn, and she reprises her role in James Gunn’s follow-up/rebrand, so the 2016 film has nothing good that this new artfully violent and raw experience, from Gunn, hasn’t brought us. To summarise this paragraph, this particular franchise can evidently be something great, when it’s in the right hands: unless you’re a naïve DCEU completist like me, just skip the 2016 film.
So, time to talk The Suicide Squad (note the freshly definitive article)! James Gunn has always been a stylistically defined director, and this was the perfect film for him to be assigned to; he had the opportunity to unleash all of his idiosyncratic creativity, with the irreverent character interactions, graphic and sensationalised violence, and often macabre sense of humour. The Suicide Squad is outrageously entertaining, and there wasn’t a single point where I was bored. One of the best aspects of this film is that it feels like the most comic-accurate adaptation that I have ever seen. From the distinctive visuals to the absurd powers and villains put onscreen, The Suicide Squad feels faithful to the medium of its source material. Comic books can be cheesy, and possess stories and logic that are ridiculous, and Gunn fantastically transfers these things to the big screen, while infusing them with ultraviolence, and relevant political undertones.
So, who are the members of Amanda Waller’s motley crew? US government agent Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) is once again heading up the team, in the actual front lines, and he has a lot more to do here. Kinnaman is allowed the chance to be more charismatic in this movie, and he thrives in his role as a leader who genuinely cares about his eccentric (to put it one way) subordinates. Waller herself is driven by a great turn from Davis, as she becomes even colder and more conniving than in her appearance in the 2016 film. By the end, it interestingly feels as if Amanda Waller is the real antagonist of the film, with her shocking disregard for life at the expense of the mission. Margot Robbie is at her best as Harley Quinn here; she’s perfected the nuances of the character and has completely escaped the shadow of her toxic ex-boyfriend, who you just might’ve heard of before. The Suicide Squad uses what Robbie was already nailing about the character, but it sheds the PG-13 barrier that often relegated her unhinged insanity to comic relief, and Harley’s playful unpredictability and violent tendencies come to light here. One of my favourite scenes in the film comes around halfway, in an exceptionally violent sequence with Harley, that began to display flowers almost as a replacement for blood. (Note for those that have seen the film: Margot Robbie apparently, and if so, impressively, did that trick with the key herself!) It was all so inventively choreographed, and gave a clever insight into her twisted mind.
Idris Elba exceeded my expectations, and was great as Bloodsport, the main anchor of the team, other than Flag. While his ability to turn anything into a weapon sounded derivative and quite familiar (cough cough, Bullseye from Daredevil, cough cough), Elba was a standout, and surprisingly a driving emotional force in this film. Not that that emotion is the priority or main focus in The Suicide Squad, however, it’s nice to have some background and eventual character development for a central staple of the team. Bloodsport’s history of putting Superman in the ICU with a Kryptonite bullet also feels like a cheeky one-up on Will Smith’s Deadshot from the 2016 film, who was a decent character but is ultimately a less interesting version of Elba’s new mercenary. Elba’s Bloodsport shares an entertaining back and forth with fellow team member Peacemaker (John Cena), a morally perverse version of Captain America, who claims to “cherish” liberty but doesn’t care “how many men, women and children” he ‘has’ to kill to achieve it. The irony is largely played for laughs, but it also serves as sharp social commentary on major, powerful governments like the US, and the extremes that they go to, in the name of ‘defending their country’ and ‘protecting their people’. I’ve never understood why studios seem to love Cena but he’s actually pretty good in The Suicide Squad, particularly in a dark confrontation towards the end.
Other standouts are the shy and sympathetic Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), and the downbeat social outcast Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), not to mention the MVP himself – King Shark (Sylvester Stallone, voice). The latter is none other than a walking, talking shark, in stretched, Hulk-like shorts. These characters are perfect case studies of why The Suicide Squad works. Gunn completely leans into the wacky campiness of the comics but maintains the heart by crafting these kinds of outlandish characters that show relatable human weaknesses and emotions. Despite it being the Portuguese actor’s first major studio role, Melchior is fantastic and brings a lot of the heart, through her pleasantly surprising familial-like dynamic with Bloodsport, and her sympathy for and friendship with King Shark. She brings a unique, charming energy that helps hold the team and tonal balance together. Like in Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, we get to see the members of the squad becoming an unconventionally kind-hearted family. The theme of ‘family’ never becomes saccharine or on the nose, like a certain other 2021 summer release (cough cough Black Widow cough cough), it’s rather that Gunn balances the comedy and absurdity with the humanity very effectively, making the characters ones that we actually like and want to follow. Dastmalchian has shown himself to be a talented performer in the past, and that’s continued here. His superpower is so ridiculous that it’s a commendable miracle that Gunn makes it work, coherently and visually.
The character has possibly the weirdest and most psychopathic personality out of the bunch but this is so subtly played by Dastmalchian that we even genuinely root for him. However, King Shark stole the show for me. The concept is as simple as it sounds, and he fits brilliantly into the team. With practically the mind of a young child exploring the world, I can’t stress enough how immensely lovable he is, despite his bursts of innocent ultraviolence. The fact that Gunn gets the audience to view an anthropomorphic shark as they would a new-born puppy is especially impressive. I suppose you could say that Gunn makes good use of fish out of water comedy… did that one land? I think it was pretty solid.
Narratively, The Suicide Squad is simple and effective. The explosive opening scene sets the tone effectively, with the eccentric personalities and superpowers, extreme language and violence, and actually tactfully placed licensed music. It gives a nice taste of the type of zany comedy in this film, and I especially lost my s*** at Nathan Fillion’s character, and Margot Robbie’s onscreen reaction. All of the characters share great synergy, and the interactions are always a lot of fun.
The Suicide Squad does have a fantastic ensemble cast, and it was a lot of fun to see actors like Peter Capaldi and Taika Waititi show up, despite them in particular being underused in the film. As the story progresses, it works well to flesh out some of the characters, and the film tackles its ensemble of characters in a slightly different method to usual. I’ve heard people comment on how it feels as if it’s structured like a comic book, and those people aren’t exactly wrong. With flashy title cards and some characters spinning off into different narrative directions, The Suicide Squad seems heavily inspired by the way that comic books and their arcs flow. This doesn’t completely translate to the big screen and some pacing is inconsistent, but this is easy to ignore when all of the scenes are so much fun. It does have some solid political messaging too, regarding the lengths to which a government will go for self-preservation, and what actually makes it unjust and immoral. However, this never becomes heavy-handed in its handling and The Suicide Squad fully maintains its exciting, electric energy.
The second act is where The Suicide Squad lingers a bit to give its characters some depth, and this is where the jokes are especially prominent in the film, when I look back to what was memorable about that section. Most of them land, and I did find myself audibly laughing in the cinema. Fortunately, none of them feel distasteful, so they’re always somewhere in between hilarious and ‘meh’. There’s quite a lot of self-aware humour in the film, as it commits illogical plot points that are cliches and then immediately light-heartedly criticises them. (A good example is the “Milton” gag, for anybody who’s seen the movie.)
The third act is dominated by the final battle and is brilliant at utilising the Chekhov’s Gun Theory, which states that if a gun is introduced in Act 1, it should be fired by the end of Act 3. The last act of The Suicide Squad is an array of so many different concepts and character moments paying off, and it’s incredibly satisfying. Whether it’s Polka-Dot Man achieving self-validation at long last, or King Shark finally getting to go “nom-nom”, Gunn forgets practically no prior detail, and all are eventually revealed to possess importance. This demonstrates Gunn’s methodical focus and thinking, and the commendable level of attentive craftsmanship on display here, overall.
Unexpectedly, The Suicide Squad shows off some very strong visuals. The vividity of the colours bursts onto the screen but isn’t overwhelming. I thought that that Halloween episode of WandaVision was as comic-accurate as superhero/supervillain costuming could get before becoming solely distracting, however, this film is on another level. Gunn is one of the few filmmakers who could have pulled off the visuals here, and they absolutely stand out. They wisely mark a different tone and style to the original, which was trying to be visually grey and gritty. However, The Suicide Squad shows the realisation of Gunn and co that dark saturation doesn’t mesh with such a ridiculous and cheesy comic-book franchise. In this way, The Suicide Squad is bold, and it functions exceptionally well in the movie. The cinematography and camerawork was above average – the cast and crew are evidently not amateurs – but these aspects don’t seem overly pretentious or annoying, they just complement the film well, and enhance the visual storytelling. I’m not sure how necessary all of the licensed music was, but it mostly works effectively with each scene. I liked the use of Johnny Cash’s ‘Folsom Prison Blues’ to open the film, in particular. The score assisted the atmosphere and was a lot of fun. There’s nothing ground-breaking in these departments but they’re executed well and add to how entertaining The Suicide Squad ultimately is.
Overall, The Suicide Squad is a blast and one of my favourite DC films. It’s fast, funny, and fresh, and there aren’t any blatant missteps. I think that James Gunn was the perfect fit to adapt the source material, and Marvel clearly made a financial blunder in firing him. His offensive comments on Twitter were obviously unacceptable, however I won’t go down that rabbit-hole, since this is just a film review. I recommend it specifically to those interested in an antihero comic-book movie with an outrageous sense of humour, as long as the viewers can stomach the extreme gore and violence.
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The only thing the newest iteration of the Suicide Squad had to do was be better than the original, which isn't an impossible feat. But what I genuinely didn't expect was how great this film would be! This is everything and more I wanted from the original film. The cast, the color palette, the visual effects! They were all there! It was the first time, in a long time, that I anticipated a DCEU film and wasn't let down. And the way Marvel is going these days, I think it's safe to say that my money is going towards the DCEU.
James Gunn At the Mantle
I think we can all agree that what The Suicide Squad needed to be successful was strong direction and writing, and James Gunn supplies both in plentiful amounts! Gunn was born to bring niche characters to the screen, and he does it again with The Suicide Squad. I couldn't believe how wrapped up I was in these supervillains' lives. It was a complete turnaround from the travesty that was the original Suicide Squad's characters. Gunn did everything he could to make this a lovable adventure, and I couldn't thank him enough for it.
Harley Quinn
This time around, I really think that this film got Harley Quinn right. Unlike the previous films starring Robbie, this film doesn't paint her as some twisted antihero. In all actuality, she's a stone-cold killer, which leads to some hilariously violent moments from her and the rest of the cast. After three films, I think Robbie was seriously born to play this character and I don't really see anyone else being able to bring her level of charisma and talent as she does.
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The Suicide Squad
2021
15
director: James Gunn
Starring: Idris Elba, Margot Robbie, Sylvester Stallone, Pete Davidson, Peter Capaldi, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Michael Rooker, Viola Davis, Nathan Fillion, Jai Courtnay, Flula Borg, Mayling Ng, Sean Gunn, David Dastmalchian, Alice Braga, Daniela Melchior etc
The Suicide Squad is about a group of supervillains including Harley Quinn, Bloodsport and peacemaker and a bunch 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. Wow what an absolute thrill ride from start to finish.
My first few positives would be the cinematography, gore and fun set up. As well as the fantastic cast chemistry and performances, and fantastic action. This film had some of the most creative cinematography I have seen. It had its own unique visual style and it really showed. With some very creative scenes that I have never seen before, with some very clever transitions and use of text, as well as using flowers and rain to create such an interesting and impactful effect to the action scenes. The gore was also fantastic. It was over the top, gruesome and impactful. It really made the scenes stand out with the obsessive amounts of blood and it certainly isn’t for the faint hearted, the film was willing to take risks with its gore and I loved that. I also thought the set up was a lot of fun, they didn’t mess about and set the characters up on their mission straight away, throwing you into the action immediately, which set the tone well for the rest of the film. The action was also fantastic. Partly helped by the gore. The action sequences were thrilling, entertaining and brutal. The film very rarely allowed you to stop and breathe, the action sequences all delivered and got better and better as the film went on. The cast also had insane chemistry. Every single actor worked brilliantly together, the team dynamic was unique and fun. And the comedic chemistry between everyone was fantastic. The whole cast also did fantastic performances here. With my key standouts being Idris Elba, Margot Robbie and John Cena. And new standouts of David Dastmalchian and Daniela Melchior. They all delivered fantastic performances, going all out and you could really tell the hard work and how much fun they were all having.
My next few positives would be the fun opening sequence, the fantastic humour and character motivations. With excellent background to the plot, usage of powers and Soundtrack. The opening sequence was insanely fun. It was shocking, thrilling and a completely unique opening to any film I have seen before. The sheer amount of character deaths was shocking and a unique element to the film, you couldn’t get too attached to the characters and I loved that. I thought the film was hilarious. This is down to two main factors. Firstly, the insane chemistry and comedic performances from the cast, and secondly the fantastically written dialogue. It was witty, relatable and outside of the box and I laughed so many times. The character motivation for joining the team was excellent, especially focusing on Bloodsport. Amanda Waller was a fantastic villain. And the introduction of Bloodsport’s daughter and the threat and increased stakes she added for Bloodsport was excellent, and really shined a light on how the characters didn’t really have much of a choice when joining. I also thought the background into the plot was great. The film went into a good amount of detail with the characters mission, explaining the political situation in Corto Maltese well, as well as setting up the main plot point and final act excellently. The characters powers were also diverse and unique. It was amazing to see so many superheroes with such a huge range of powers. Ratcatcher and Polka dot man in particular were great. Finally, the soundtrack was also amazing, it fitted the films tone excellently, with perfectly times songs that were entertaining, created impact and was even used for some fantastic comedy.
My only slight tiny little nit-pick would be the Separate Storyline with Harley Quinn, you will see that’s it’s also a positive. But the film spent slightly too long in making you Think Harley was falling for the same old tricks with men as she has in the past, so therefore it felt out of place for her character now. It was fixed but I am still slightly undecided on whether it was needed.
My next few positives would be the development to the plot and how layered it was. The fantastic plot twists. The separate storyline and great villains. The plot was paced really well, it developed excellently and wasn’t one simple straight forward story, I loved the layers to it. At first it seemed like one simple mission, but I loved how the film would suddenly add a new layer and a new mission for the characters to complete, it always kept me invested. The plot twists were also excellent, there was always fun twists where the film would make you believe one thing and then turn it on its head. The twists were a mixture of comedic and very dark. And the final act twist with Amanda and Peacemaker was excellent and added another fun new layer to the film. I also did like a fair amount of the separate storyline with Harley. It bought some great visual and comedic moments. Gave the audience more information on the villains, whilst also giving Harley her independence. Setting up a lot of great things for the second half of the film, and continuing Harley’s arc of independence. The villains were great. I loved the fact that there was multiple. The generals were evil, cruel and did their jobs within the film well. And Starro despite being wonderfully absurd was also a fantastic edition to the film. With very dark and unique powers that paved the way for an insanely fun final act.
My final few positives would be the great character depth, the films unique tone. The excellent final act and rising of stakes, as well as the satisfying ending. I really liked the character depth sprinkled throughout the film. Especially for Ratcatcher, Bloodsport, Polka Dot man and Rick Flag. The film had nice personal moments between a lot of the characters, as you actually grew to connect with them as you learned more about their past. The bond between Bloodsport and Ratcatcher was one of the key standouts. I also loved the films unique tone. This film was completely different to any superhero film or any film that I have seen. It was never afraid to cross some boundaries, it had its own visual style and way of storytelling. And I really commend James Gun for his work here. I also thought the final act was incredible. It was entertaining, thrilling and completely unpredictable. With so many surprises. The building of stakes was excellent, so much so that I genuinely didn’t know who was going to survive. But I loved that feeling of unpredictability. Finally, the film ended in a very satisfying way, with the characters free and having stronger relationships. As well as setting up a couple of fun things within the post credit scene.
Overall, The Suicide squad is a thrilling, outrageous and over the top masterpiece. That isn’t afraid to cross some lines. It’s a completely unique and insanely fun experience. James Gun you have my full support with any film you do from now on. This is my personal favourite DC film.
Overall score 99/100
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Positives:
-fantastically lighthearted self awareness
-concise and meaningful characterization while the characters are handled smartly
-Well implemented dark humour
Negatives:
-Harley Quinn’s subplot is awkwardly executed and doesn’t fit with the other main characters
-not very memorable
Positive: Self Awareness
Within the films presentation is a lighthearted and chirpy self awareness. It never feels like it’s belittling itself by doing this or avoiding criticism by making fun of itself (which is often how self awareness is used to a movies detriment) rather it embraces all the inherently weird and sometimes corny parts of comic books and just has a really fun time creatively implementing it into the story. It’s very careful in executing this as well, it will constantly have fun with itself but while doing this it, it isn’t afraid to also bring depth to its character. Seeing the films lighthearted self awareness bleed into its more serious moments feels appropriate, becoming too dark all of a sudden just leads to an awkwardly balanced tone that asks too much from its audience. Rather, this movie tackles the absurdities of each character head on with both sentimentality and humour, this combination dampens how cheesy the sentimental moments can be and puts a lot of emotional baggage behind jokes which can be laughed at as well as understood and sympathized with. The R rating also plays a big role in the films self awareness in two big ways. For one, gore can sometimes be used for comedic purposes (Bloodshoot and Peacemaker having a competition for who can kill the most soldiers) keeping its brilliantly dark humour engrained in the scene. While also the graphic gore can be used seriously, indicating that this is a serious moment and even though jokes may still be used, the gravity of the situation will stay as a constant and hold the viewers attention and intrigue. The lighthearted self awareness is integral to this films critical success, it can have fun with itself on a surface level and it sets the tone for a fun ride, but beneath that is where the hard work can be noticed. Both interesting ideas and meaningful character development are carefully embedded in this tone, and hold a lot of power for how emotionally investing and intriguing they are. This elevates it past just being a popcorn movie, and into something with a lot more life and personality.
Positive: Characterization
Surprisingly enough, this film has a lot of heart, making a concise yet effective effort to give them something more than just an explosive personality and endless blood-thirst. This doesn’t feel forced either, the film holds onto its self awareness. Despite sharing some very dark backstories that ground the characters in a more gritty view, these moments are appropriately timed, executed with a hint of dark and silly humour while being short enough to deliver a quick emotional punch but not so long that it begins to disrupt the tone. There’s also fantastic character management, the film actually feels like it has weight to it due to the fact that it’s willing to kill off a seemingly important character on a whim. This is the Suicide Squad, it’s brutally unforgiving to the colourful cast of protagonists and antagonists as to make it never feel safe. This is a rush of adrenaline and anticipation most superhero films can’t deliver, these are obscure dc villains so it doesn’t matter if they die and it uses that fact to the best of its abilities. Aside from this, I found myself caring for everyone in the main cast for different reasons, but they all charmed me in their own ways due to a combination of great acting and how distinctly written they all are. Bloodsport is a flawed character (very appropriate for a villain) but seeing his positive aspects develop over the film makes for a satisfying character arc. He’s also brilliantly acted by Idris Elba, portraying him as grumpy and jaded while still showing character growth and come to life through the fatherly role he takes on for Ratcatcher 2 and the fun attitude that cracks through his unresponsive persona. Speaking of Ratcatcher 2, she brings out a more sensitive side in each character in a way that feels natural. Easily being the most empathetic character, her innocent world view contrasts nicely with the rest of the desensitized group for the better. It also acts as a testament to her strong will against all the unfairness in her life she’s experienced, which is subtly yet powerfully annunciated in her backstory. Polka Dot Man’s characterization is the best combination of wickedly dark humour and dark subject matter. His insecure nature is captured with sensitivity and sadness by David Dastmalchian, but it’s comedically timed and meshes with the rest of the squads conversations awkwardly to double as comedic relief. However, during his backstory (whose contents seem all too plausible in a world filled with idolized superheroes) all the insecurities and social awkwardness shown before is given a double, much more tragic meaning. Of course, right after this it brings back it’s comedy in an incredibly dark way that leaves the audience not sure whether to laugh or feel guilty for him, but either way Polka Dot Man’s internal conflict had been solidified and made for a much more interesting, charmingly maniacal character. I’d like to talk about every other other character and what makes them stand out, plus the unique bond the Suicide Squad forms but this section has gone on for too long, the characters are incredibly well managed and defined.
Positive: Dark Humour
This is where the R rating is taken full advantage of and it pays off in an enthrallingly funny way. This twisted sense of humour is a perfect match for the Suicide Squad, it simultaneously keeps the experience lighthearted while also conveying how morally twisted and merciless this film is. This is a good contrast, but it wouldn’t mean much if the film wasn’t actually funny, fortunately the dark humour is executed with a surprise factor, superb comedic timing, and well realized self awareness (which was already delved into on the earlier slide). As for the surprise factor, the movie does a good job at including surprises that impact the scene in very dark ways (which is where the R rating comes into play), being well designed to provoke a reaction of either shock or laughter or both. This could get annoying, but it’s done with such mischievously self aware personality that it fits in well with the rest of the film, never feeling like a desperate attempt to provoke emotion and more like a natural inclusion within the films established environment.
(SPOILERS START) The scene where the Suicide Squad invades an enemy base and Peacemaker and Bloodsport see who can kill the most people is a prime example of this. All the killings are played off for humour and are especially brutal, with King Shark eating one and Peacemaker shooting an fan electric fan into a persons bathtub. These deaths are played off in a blissfully uncaring way, with Peacemaker and Bloodsport having a petty rivalry while spouting one liners at each other as they find more impressive ways to kill people. This is dark enough, but this scene goes on for at least 3 minutes, each kill becoming more creative as they comb the camp and mercilessly exterminate every soldier (most of these soldiers are unaware the squads in the camp and are care-freely going about their day). There’s already enough humour present in this scene, and the audience begins to enjoy seeing what creative methods they use to dispose of people, but then it’s revealed all these soldiers were actually on their side and were planning to support them the whole time. After learning this, it’s dealt with in an incredibly solemn way. This is contrasted beautifully with how they were all killed so carelessly while the petty rivalry between Peacemaker and Bloodsport was filled with vulgarity and one liners. The surprise didn’t even need to be here to be funny, but having it changed the dynamic of the entire scene, further building on the dark humour to levels most films wouldn’t go, and being a reminder that despite being the main characters they’re still villains. (SPOILERS END)
Jokes are usually delivered with fantastic timing by both how the sequence of events is delivered and the actors line delivery (the scene I just described is also a good example of timing in a sequence of events. It draws the scene out to make it seem like the underlying joke is that they’re killing people, then reveals its twist to gain a powerful emotional response by subverting expectations, while staying funny throughout). As for the acting, all the actors have varied ways of executing their dark humour but it’s all effective. For one example, John Cena as Peacemaker has fantastic deadpan delivery that makes all his morally twisted dialogue both abrupt and in turn fun for how shamelessly delivered it is. King Shark, Poka Dot Man, and even Harley Quinn also have a lot of dark humour built into their characters and subsequently the scenes they’re in, it’s brought out by the actors performances and leads to characters with a lot more lively personality. Moving away from the dark humour, each scene has so many jokes infused into it, and then those jokes are further developed on and emphasized which leads to jokes being built on jokes throughout. There are a few jokes that fall flat, but there’s so many other well executed comedic moments within the same scene that the jokes which fall flat don’t negatively stand out since there’s so many being unloaded onto the viewer at once.
Negative: How Harley was handled
Harleys inclusion in this film seemed inevitable, being the standout of the first film and one of the DCEU’s most popular characters. Not to mention Margot Robbie is fantastic as Harley, being one of if not the DCEU’s strongest character performances, so it makes sense to try and utilize her as much as possible. However, her inclusion in this film felt much more like something James Gunn was forced into, and had to find a way to put the character in their story while dealing with the rest of the cast. The film begins to drag whenever she gets too much attention, the actual Suicide Squad has such a fun dynamic that switching to Harley just feels like a distraction from what’s actually going on, and it doesn’t help that her subplot is uninspired and disengaging. In 2016 Suicide Squad she was in a toxic (mostly toxic the depiction of Joker and Harley in that film was so confused that it’s hard to understand what the director was going for) relationship and in Birds of Prey she was trying to become independent from the Joker. This movie just goes over this again, except instead of it being with the Joker it was with a charmless nobody that had nothing interesting about him, rather just feeling like a vehicle to further Harleys subplot (he also explains the main conflict, killing any chance of this exposition being told in a creative way). It would also be nice if Harleys character could stop being attached to relationships so we can learn something new about her, of course it’s important to touch on this since being in an abusive relationship is a key part of her character, but this film didn’t really explore any new ideas surrounding this and after two movies it just feels like her characterization is going in circles. The subplot itself is also really directionless, watching Harley go on cute and over romanticized dates with her love interest is fun but there isn’t an end goal in sight and it’s way too self surface level to actually get invested in what’s happening. The rest of the movie is constantly building on the Suicide Squads characters and their dynamic between one another, fleshing them out through a mixture of humour and down to earth yet self aware drama. Harley on the other hand gets a trashy love story that stays surface level in an attempt to show how she’s over romanticizing the experience. Everything is cliche and hyperbolized to show how optimistic Harley is, but in turn the experience ends up actually feeling just trashy, any profound message in these scenes get lost in how overextended and obvious in its presentation it gets.
Negative: Not all that memorable
This is a very fun and overall very positive experience that provides great entertainment with its likeable, well acted and well written characters. Usually movies like these need to find a way to stay memorable, since the characters are good but their pretty straightforward in their presentation and majority of time just used for chirpy comedy, so there isn’t much to dwell on when the movies finished. Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t do anything else exceptional to elevate it to a higher level of memorability so when it was finished I found myself forgetting a lot of what happened, with the whole experience just meshing together. The plot is as straightforward as can be, it just feels like a very straightforward fetch quest that is livened up by its characters, but when laying out the plot structuring this movie doesn’t do anything clever with this. It doesn’t do anything bad as well, but this all just ends up making the plot feel really safe. The music is good and brings an explosion of personality to each scene it’s used in, but 90% of it is lyrical copyrighted songs so The Suicide Squad doesn’t have an iconic song to truly call its own. Overall, this point is more here to explain why this film didn’t and won’t ever get a higher score from me. It’s a fantastically entertaining experience at the time and it’s definitely worth rewatching for how fun it can be at the time, but it lacks the memorability to be deserving of a higher score.
Overall, The Suicide Squad boasts wickedly dark humour, a wide array of characters who each charm and connect to the audience in their own ways, and well realized self awareness that always keeps the film enjoyable. While it isn’t extremely memorable and Harley’s inclusion did bring the film down, it’s still a very fun time with enough critical prowess to be a successful comic book film, and my favourite DCEU movie as of now.
Critical rating: 7.5/10
Entertainment rating: 8.5/10
Final rating: 7.5/10
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Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn
I was pretty excited to see this, considering the really good work Gunn has done with Marvel in the Guardians of the Galaxy Series. Now does he hit the highs of the Guardians’ films? No. But I think he does create a better experience than Vol. 2. The Suicide Squad seems like a film that David Ayer was trying to make before WB messed around with his cut. James Gunn does go for a lot of the “soulful” beats that Ayer was going for, through the characters of Ratcatcher II and even Polka-Dot Man. And it turns out that these are my favourite characters. Daniela Melchior was a pleasant surprise, and David Dastmalchian continues to impress me! And while Peacemaker wasn’t my favourite character, I think John Cena was very funny, and has a lot of quotables. Overall, I think the humour was pretty good. Not great, and it wasn’t bad… it’s just there weren’t many moments where I was laughing out loud.
And on the topic of the action, I thought it was really good! I think the very stylized and gory action worked very well with these characters. I love how it never held back or turned away from some twisted shit. It was very easy to follow, and there was only a couple of moments where the editing was a bit overbearing (which for superhero films, it’s a good sign). The camera was always moving but it never felt too jarring - it’s hard to describe but the camerawork was simultaneously manic, but intentionally so. Some the set-piece highlights would be Harley’s escape, and then rescuing Rick Flag. Just some really cool set pieces that were executed very well on part of Gunn.
Something that I’m a bit iffy on is the pacing. It’s pretty weirdly paced - in that - the movie will be moving VERY quickly… and then all of the sudden it will halt to a grinding stop to do some (admittedly needed) character development. I get that it is structured like a *run* of comics (with the stylized titles & how they section off the movie), but it still feels weird in context of a film. However, I do appreciate the fact that Gunn and the crew includes these titles as visual flares. It helps to move one scene into another, without awkwardly shoving that info in the corner or some weird line.
This movie also uses music quite a bit to try to emphasize moments throughout the film. And for the most part, the music is just okay. Unlike the original Suicide Squad, the music isn’t insanely basic or egregious… here it’s just that most of the musical queues don’t make a difference, and it just adds a lot of noise. The opening sequence has a good number, and so does that scene with Harley Quinn, but that’s about it. And while I’m still on the topic of music, I really didn’t like the score. The actual musical composition was very loud and overbearing, and it really didn’t need to be. Especially when everything else (the colours, the acting, and the writing) are all very loud already. It was used in weird spots, and I just found *almost* every piece to be very generic or bad.
That’s probably my biggest complaint, if I’m honest. Most of my other complaints come from a point of indifference, if anything. All the casting was on point, the action was pretty awesome, and while the pacing was odd, I still had a fuck load of fun even when there wasn’t a bunch of action going on. Even though there is a Peacemaker series in the works, I would loooove to see more from Ratcatcher II, because that character was really great. Overall, I think this is just a great summer blockbuster. I feel like James Gunn’s style fits perfectly with DC and its wacky group of characters. I’m gonna give it an even 8/10! Even with The Condiment King not being in this movie…
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The Suicide Squad is in short, everything I wanted from a movie like this. Gunn has done the impossible and created a movie that not only blows the first one out of the water but excels at being an unabashedly wild story that is one of the most fun movie-going experiences of the past few years. And man is this film a blast, it's absolutely bonkers from start to finish and I did not expect it to go places it did, Gunn has fully committed to this unpredictable style of filmmaking that has resulted in something so weird and wacky, but passionate that I cannot help but admire.
I love that there are still filmmakers doing crazy shit like this and I never thought I'd say this but a Suicide Squad film has restored my faith in franchise filmmaking. Yes, it's loud, yes it's obnoxious, yes it's crass but I loved, loved, loved it, all the humour landed for me, the action is obviously simply wondrous, and it really delivers with a deliciously entertaining story with heart, with emotion and with insanity. The Suicide Squad probably fits into what is "maximalist" filmmaking and all the better for it cause it makes you go "goddamn!?" every 5 seconds. It's ultra violent, it's ultra profane and I get if this film didn't work for you, but what Gunn basically did was say 'screw it, we're going all out'.
This film has some of the most absurd characters and insane concepts creatively executed. It's exciting and it's fresh. I was on board with every decision. On a filmmaking level too, I love the practical effects and how well they blend with the cgi, the pacing is TIGHT af, and for a simple story it has its moments, and packs in a lot of satisfyingly wicked scenes that I can't get enough of. The Harley Quinn escape scene is utter brilliance. And, the trailer said it best, but I think The Suicide Squad is 'horribly beautiful', I love the weird charm it brings even with such distasteful characters and I mean there's people dying all the time, and dark shit like freaky illegal experimentation but the movie still finds this perfect tonal between balance gratification and revulsion.
The thing that Gunn was clearly most passionate about with this film, and the reason that made me love it so much more than 95% of comic-book movies out there, were the characters. First off we know this is called the 'SUICIDE' Squad and the 'guess who dies/don't get too attached' aspect wasn't purely a marketing gimmick, in fact it made me more invested when I knew the stakes were high, and that people were going to DIE. And Gunn made a lot of bold decisions with that (no spoilers) and they were excellent.
The heart of the film though, are these rogue, strikingly special characters. Ratcatcher II brought a very human element to the film, and a comforting presence, she was most people's favourites for a reason, Harley Quinn. Oh boy, what to say, she's Harley freaking Quinn y'know!? And she was crazy, eccentric and just so Harley in this. Bloodsport is a freaking badass and the coolest character in the movie. I was even invested in Rick Flag and Polka Dot Man. The depths of the character writing like they way Gunn completes their arcs was phenomenal. And needless to say, they ALL killed their performances. So yes, this movie goes hard.
By @starwarsd1
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Director: James Gunn
Screenplay: James Gunn
Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, Michael Rooker, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson
Soundtrack: John Murphy
Cinematography: Henry Braham
Running Time: 132 minutes
Budget: $185 million
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