This is one mission that I would not mind doing again and again!
The Suicide Squad Written and Directed by James Gunn follows a ragtag group of supervillains known as Task Force X (The Suicide Squad). The Villains are convicts held at the very dangerous Belle Reve Prison. The Cons work at the behest of a super shady Black Ops government agency that promises time will be cut from the prisoner’s multiple life sentences if they successfully carry out missions for the agency. The operation at hand is located in the very hostile country of Corto Maltese that has just been overthrown by a Political Coo. Humor, Violence, and ridiculousness ensue immediately as the group is dispatched on their objective to infiltrate a sinister science lab that houses a bioweapon known as Project Starfish.
Right off the bat, James Gunn grips you with his very unique stylized cinematography that makes this ridiculous world somehow feel very much grounded by flawlessly skating a razor’s edge between tones. This film is no Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 1 or 2. This film is its own unique offering that dives deep and takes full advantage of its hard R rating. The cast completely owned their roles and many benefited from James Gunn’s direction for instance Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Joel Kinnaman’s Colonel Rick Flag felt more grounded and fleshed out bringing so much life and development to these characters, which felt somewhat mishandled in previous iterations. Viola Davis returns as Amanda Waller and absolutely nailed the menacing tone of this character showing the complete depths of depravity she is willing to go to accomplish her mission.
The new additions to the team are Bloodsport (Idris Elba) and Peacemaker (John Cena), who bring the action comedy up to its peak. The banter between the two was spot on and not for a second felt forced. Daniela MelChior is probably one of my favorites and absolutely shined as Ratcatcher 2. She paired perfectly with Bloodsport to provide emotional gravitas to this film and give it a lot of depth and heart that didn’t get lost at all in the absurdness. Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) is a surprise gem, every moment of screen time he was given was wonderfully weird and brought heart to the film. Then there is the larger-than-life CGI character King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone) who easily becomes an instant fan favorite with his larger-than-life presence but deep down, he has a caring soul.
All in all this film is deliriously entertaining and insane from start to finish. I absolutely loved every moment. This is easily DC’s best outing since The Dark Knight trilogy and I would love to see James Gunn continue to play in the DC sandbox as he has proved he is perfectly capable of comic book films and thrives with an ensemble cast. This isn’t a movie that should be watched on the small screen (via HBO Max) and deserves a movie theater experience. Go check it out at your local theater. Get yourself some snacks from the concessions, sit back, and enjoy this wild band of misfits on their crazy, bloody, vulgar, and insane mission.