My Review on ‘The Suicide Squad’: Meet the Infamous Supervillain Bunch

"What's the like? Living life as a punchline?"

When Warner Bros. was not satisfied with the critics of the preceding Suicide Squad (2016), they didn’t joke around. Instead of creating a tight-to-its-predecessor sequel, they tried to revive what has been ‘dead’ and hired another director to helm the soft-reboot movie: a standalone sequel starring (almost) new faces, now hitting theaters and HBO Max under the title The Suicide Squad.

At the moment, this movie is holding a solid 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Most critics praise its entertaining ride and gore elements that strengthen the movie. Directed by James Gunn as the DCEU’s 9th installment, is The Suicide Squad making its way up in the comic book movies industry?

Directed by: James Gunn

Written by: James Gunn

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures

Running time: 132 minutes

Rating: R

Short synopsis of The Suicide Squad:

Belle Reve never lets their worst prisoners to take a rest. Amanda Waller recruits her new team for another journey. Now led by the master mercenary Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Task Force X is sent to Corto Maltese, an island in South America, to finish what they did not start. Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Peacemaker (John Cena), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), and King Shark (mocap by Steve Agee, voiced by Sylvester Stallone) are also up for the deadly mission, where they have to face a giant alien starfish known as Starro the Conqueror.

Short introduction of the characters:

ROBERT DUBOIS/BLOODSPORT: A Black British mercenary who was incarcerated in Belle Reve for shooting Superman with a kryptonite bullet. He is armed with bunch of technologically advanced weapons and gadgets attached to his suit.

DR. HARLEEN QUINZEL/HARLEY QUINN:  A former psychiatrist turned skilled and insane criminal.

RICK FLAG: The former leader of Task Force X, and a military member.

CHRISTOPHER SMITH/PEACEMAKER: A cold-blooded killing machine who willingly murders everything for peace at any cost.

CLEO CAZO/RATCATCHER 2: A rat-controller and the daughter of the original Ratcatcher.

ABNER KRILL/POLKA-DOT MAN: A criminal who dons a Polka dot suit and throws explosions from his suit.

KING SHARK: A great white humanoid shark who eats “everything”.

Let’s dive into the main part.

In short, The Suicide Squad delivers a bunch of interesting elements in the movie, thanks to the horribly beautiful mind of James Gunn. From its humors, gory sequences, awesome action sequences, cool suits and weapons, great ensemble casts, the movie is a good example of what an R-rated DCEU movies should look like. The characters are getting a more developed character writing, although some of them are just purposely wasted simply for Gunn’s interest.

For the most part, the fast-paced story functions well with the film tone; they are funny, silly, and touching–coming all in one. John Murphy’s instrumental in the background always puts the movie into a better place. It’s less ear-catching, but still fits. Even though I expected a little bit music reference from Steven Price’s Suicide Squad soundtrack, Murphy still did a good job on this work.

Some parts that take the movie’s spotlight is the emotional sequence that could blend well with this supposedly brutal superhero film. It seems so pure to see it on the screen. Had to admit that Gunn is a master when it comes to stuff like that. Not just a meaningless villainous action scenes that go nowhere, he decided to add backstory to the characters which creates more sense to the movie. It also features the beautiful and friendly relationship of certain characters that I won’t mention it, but if you have watched the trailers, you will know which characters I’m referring to.

The casts’s performances are my number one favorite, particularly Idris Elba’s Bloodsport. He nailed the role very well. Glad to see him putting on the Xenomorph-like helmet and super cool suit. Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher 2 easily becomes the beacon of this movie. She gave a brilliant performance. David Dastmalchian’s Polka-Dot Man is hands down one of the best characters. His backstory and characterization are massive wows. I’m amazed how Gunn turned those originally worthless C-list characters in the comic to become the most highlighted aspects in The Suicide Squad. Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag did their assignments successfully. John Cena’s Peacemaker also kills his role a lot. Oh, and King Shark is such a cute beast in this movie.

I think what’s weak from this movie is the way Gunn easily abandons certain side characters. With Gunn having the freedom to decide who dies and survives, I don’t think that he could just waste those characters just like that. He had warned us from the beginning–“Don’t get too attached”, but still some of the characters’s deaths felt forced. Like… Really? Maybe he could better than this? Maybe not, hmm…

Last, I happily give this movie an 8.6/10 rating. A recommended piece to watch. Gunn always excels when it comes to directing a superhero movie that is favorable to the masses, like the one he did on Guardians of the Galaxy movies. Would love to see more of his DCEU projects in the near future. And the most important part: tune in for post-creds in the end of the movie! Also, feel free to drop your thoughts in the comment section.

Watch The Suicide Squad “Rain” trailer here: