The Suicide Squad

The Suicide Squad is not a reboot, nor a direct sequel, but another story of the Squad in a different spot in the timeline. Using characters, and the same actors who played them, from Suicide Squad (2016) loosely ties the two films together and shows that they are in the same timeline.

This time around it is James Gunn at the helm to tell this new story of the Squad. With returning characters like Amanda Waller, Rick Flagg, Harley Quinn, and Captain Boomerang, we have a frame of reference and familiarity of this new iteration of the Suicide Squad. In the comic series, this is a common theme having new characters join the Squad as they embark on different missions. The addition of new main characters such as Bloodsport, Polka-Dot Man, Peacemaker, King Shark, and Ratcatcher 2; the cinematic world of Suicide Squad is expanded and improved upon. There are other interesting characters that are introduced as well that weren’t in the first film, but these are the main ones.

Again like last time, Amanda Waller sends the Squad off on a secret mission that only Task Force X can complete and as usual she requires complete obedience to her orders, or BOOM! she sets off the bomb implanted in that Squad members neck. This time the mission is to go to a Third World island to destroy Project Starfish by getting rid of all of the data related to the project.

Spoiler filled review ahead:

The Good

With the introduction of these new Squad members, I was excited to see them work together and to see their powers and abilities as they figure out how to work with one another. One of the many things I liked about Squad 2016 was that we got to see these villains with different abilities team up and figure out how to work together. I was looking forward to seeing this new incarnation and was glad to see that there were many more members that were introduced in the beginning of the story.

I was so glad to see Rick Flag back. Flag is a big part of the Squad, in Squad 2016 and in the comics. He is the In the Field Leader of the Squad with Amanda Waller calling the shots back at HQ. Flag is a more than capable leader and the glue that holds the team together. He allows the Squad to improvise and use their talents to complete the missions. His experience and expertise make him a capable and effective leader. To see Flag back on screen with Joel Kinnaman playing the part once again was a big selling point for me with this new film. But while watching the movie, I felt that this version of Rick Flag was a big downgrade from the previous version in Squad 2016.

Also having Amanda Waller back with Viola Davis portraying the character was a big deal too. Viola Davis brings gravitas and her immeasurable talent to this no nonsense character. While I feel Amanda Waller from Squad 2016 is better written and directed than she was in this movie, Waller is still a force to be reckoned with. Anyone else playing Waller would fall short in my eyes.

Harley Quinn is back! With Margot Robbie reprising her role as Harley from Squad 2016 and Birds of Prey is a no brainer. Just like in the previous films, Robbie brings her ‘A’ game and in my mind is the definitive Harley Quinn. Her character is consistent across the films, but there isn’t much character growth with her in the film. While she does state a good point in the film about getting rid of abusive people in your life, I feel like this is a lesson already learned from Birds of Prey and she is just reiterating it here. But her scenes were great and Robbie is a legit action movie star, as well as dramatic actor and she brings it all to the table in this film.

The inclusion of Captain Boomerang again played by Jai Courtney is a no brainer as well and a great choice to have him back. He IS Captain Boomerang and does such a great job with this character. We got to see some great boomerang action in this film by him too.

We have the additions of King Shark, Ratcatcher 2, Polka-Dot Man, Bloodsport, and Peacemaker in big roles in this new Squad. Although there are other new characters, we don’t see much of them because interestingly enough they are killed off in the first few minutes of the film. But I’ll get to that in a minute. These new guys are great and work well with the previous Squad members, Rick Flagg and Harley Quinn. The rivalry between Peacemaker and Bloodsport was entertaining at first, but then got old quick. The trio of Peacemaker, Bloodsport, and Rick Flagg was a great combo and could’ve continued on for additional movies, until it wasn’t possible anymore because of stupid story choice by Gunn.

King Shark and Sylvester Stallone’s voice acting was a highlight of the movie and one of the few bright spots in a terrible movie. I hope we are able to get more of King Shark and Stallone in future films, either in a standalone or another Suicide Squad (without Gunn’s involvement). I’d love to see King Shark and Killer Croc in a movie together, that would be a lot of fun to see them work together or against one another. There’s a lot of potential with that idea.

Polka-Dot Man was great too, as he overcame his hesitancies and lack of self confidence to become a hero in the end. Too bad Gunn had the great idea of killing him off just as he came into his own. (*sarcasm)

The visuals in the movie were really good and fun to see. While I enjoyed the dark and gritty tone of Squad 2016, I understand that not every Squad movie or even DC film needs to have that dark tone. I enjoyed Shazam! because it brought that fun and happy go lucky vibe to the DC film universe. Aquaman brought a lot of color to the film universe as well. This Suicide Squad film brought that flavor too and I liked it.

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The Bad

I’m sorry to say, but there is a lot of Bad in this movie and it overshadows the good. Let’s start with the obvious things, the film is rated R not because of intense, dramatic scenarios that bring weight to the story. But because of the constant scenes of intense gore and desecration of the human body. While watching the movie and with the constant bloodbath and increasing body count, I was reminded of the old Friday the 13th movies where it seemed like the director’s main purpose was to come up with different ways to kill a human being instead of actually telling a good story. One of my takeaways of this film is that James Gunn has a twisted mind due to his obsession with killing people in different ways.

Another constant theme of this film is the pervasive use of the ‘F’ word, over 50 uses of the word. Now I know it’s no Wolf of Wall Street and I don’t mind some swearing, but c’mon. For me it’s more about that I’m noticing this word (and it could be any word really) that’s constantly being repeated over and over and it takes me out of the movie as a result.

Peacemaker. Yeah I can’t believe he’s getting his own series. This character was ridiculous and his purpose seemed to only be a nuisance for Bloodsport. Then Peacemaker kills Rick Flag because he has to follow orders, which was a ridiculous story choice by Gunn. (See my previous assessment of Flag a few paragraphs ago) There isn’t anything Peacemaker did that could’ve been personified or accomplished by another character. The constant banter between Peacemaker and Bloodsport got old once they left the prison in the first act, and the dialogue about eating d**** (penises) was some of the dumbest stuff I’ve ever heard since Jr. High School. I was so glad when Peacemaker got killed off, but mad when he survived even though he clearly suffered a mortal wound by Bloodsport.

Bloodsport is a poor man’s Deadshot. Even while writing this review I’ve had to really focusing on writing Bloodsport and not Deadshot. These characters are so similar, from the father/daughter storyline (Deadshot’s was better), to their ascension to a leader of the Squad, to their change of heart at the end for the greater good of humanity that it makes me think that they were hoping Will Smith would come back for the Deadshot role up until it was too late to rewrite the script. There were rumors at the beginning of production that Deadshot had been recast with Idris Elba, and watching this film makes me think that these rumors were true as the characters are too similar. While watching the movie in the theater, I kept comparing the two due to their similarities. I ultimately decided during the movie that Deadshot was a better character. Then there was Bloodsport’s weapons that had some sort of nanotechnology or perhaps magical element to them that was just too convenient for him as he was able to just add pieces to his weapons to make them bigger and more powerful. Plus his helmet is dumb.

I’ve already alluded to it previously, but killing off half of the Squad in the first few minutes is a stupid move. I’m sure Gunn thought he was being clever, but it really is so stupid. Why introduce these new characters if they are just a distraction to be killed off by a Third World Country’s military? That combined with killing off more Squad members as the movie goes on makes me hate this movie even more. I was pissed off to see Captain Boomerang killed (but the Weasel can live for some reason) and then when Flag was killed that was the last straw for me. While in the comics Flag was killed in one of the storylines after infiltrating the Jotunheim, he was found later by Waller to be alive. This film made it clear that Flag is dead. I’m surprised Amanda Waller made it alive to the end of the movie.

The Ugly

The introduction of the bizarre and ugly Starro was pretty ballsy. Before seeing the movie, I wasn’t sure how that was going to work and if I would buy into a giant starfish being the big bad villain of the movie. But Gunn pulled it off and I really liked the giant, alien, mind controlling starfish. I believe it was a competent villain for the Squad, a little weird, but a good match for them.

Rats! Rats are ugly and gross, but with the introduction and character development of Ratcatcher 2, this character was the highlight of the movie for me. Daniela Melchior was amazing in this role and brought a real humanity to this blood filled gore fest. She was a bright spot as she played opposite Idris Elba and the strong personality of Bloodsport. Melchior held her own with grace, a strong sensitivity, and some inner strength against the over the top testosterone filled members of the Squad and in my opinion outshined them all. With this strength she was able to save the day and help Harley Quinn save humanity from an out of control alien starfish.

Overall I didn’t like this movie and I doubt I will watch it again, but with the bright spots mentioned before, especially Daniela’s portrayal of Ratcatcher 2, I give the movie a 6 out of 10.

I really hope James Gunn doesn’t come back to DC films and that DIsney/Marvel keep him busy with their films for awhile.