The Suicide Squad

This movie is surprisingly fantastic. Much has been said about it so I want to just add my two cents about universe building in movies. From the very first scene, Suicide Squad made it clear what it was. You understand the world you are in and the rules in place, or lack there of. It then follows those defined rules throughout. Comic book movies can take many forms from gritty realism like Joker all the way to off the wall zany like we see here. As long as the movie follows it's own rules, viewers are willing to go wherever the director wants. What an absolute blast of a good time this one is.

The smartest move DC ever made was to quit concerning themselves with cinematic world building and focus on making (mostly) standalone films that were simply entertaining...and didn't require a master's degree in Snydernomics to appreciate.

Their second smartest move was nabbing James Gunn for The Suicide Squad, and not just because the first film was terrible. Material like this needs Gunn's flair for irreverence, clever dialogue and, most importantly, instilling characters with engaging personalities. He may not have created Suicide Squad, but this adaptation has his stamp all over it.

And for the first time since his directorial debut, Slither, Gunn is unbound by the restrictions of a PG-13 rating, something else the material really needed. Hence, the film is vivid, violent and vulgar, yet at the same time, seldom feels pandering or gratuitous. Punctuated by gobs of gags and hilarious dialogue, the movie earns its dismemberments and f-bombs along the way. In fact, the whole thing plays very much like Guardians of the Galaxy without a filter.

And like Guardians, it's ultimately the characters that matter. Ironically, the one we're most familiar with - Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) - is the least interesting, perhaps because she's already been established with two previous films and there isn't much more Gunn could do with her. But everyone else is wonderfully realized and played perfectly by the ensemble cast. As Bloodsport, the de-facto leader of this new team, Idris Elba strikes the right balance of stoicism and uncertainty, while John Cena (as Peacemaker) once-again demonstrates he's more adept at comedy than pure action. Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmaichian) and Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) are also fun, each with amusing backstories. But King Shark steals every scene he's in, a perpetually hungry manfish who manages to be both monstrous and endearing (and a role Sylvester Stallone was born to play).

With the exception of Task Force X director Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the antagonists are perfunctory. Their plan, however, is gloriously insane; the dictator of Corto Maltese plans to wipe out America using a 30-year-old experiment gone wrong: Starro, a giant extraterrestrial starfish that spawns face-hugging offspring to re-animate & control the dead. This leads to a final act that's as hilarious as it is grotesque, aided by amusing visual effects.

Unlike the first film - which was mostly just bells & whistles - The Suicide Squad is the complete package, delivering an abundance of action, humor, violence and well-realized characters. James Gunn's playful approach is just what was needed, making it the best - and maybe the smartest - DC film since Christopher Nolan hung up his spurs.

Before I talk about the film, let me talk a bit about DCEU. The difference between DC and Marvel (and why Marvel is more successful than DC) is the people behind them. The people/company behind Marvel (Disney) know and plan everything. They even planned this whole MCU thing ever since 2008's Iron Man. They know what they are doing, where they are heading with their characters, stories, and films, and how to do them and write them right. That's why their Universe is more successful. But, for DC the people/company behind it (Warner Bros.) are ruining this beautiful universe that's filled with great characters by bringing the wrong people to direct/write their movies which brings chaos to the films and world of the DCEU. Or they create issues with the right director like Zack Snyder (which we all saw how he was building that big/creative universe in Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021) and where it was going). However, this time DC choses James Gunn to write & direct this film which if you're not familiar with, he directed Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 (2014) and Vol. 2 (2017). And this is the second proof (after Snyder's) that when having the right person/people behind a film, they will kill it. And THIS IS HOW "The SUICIDE SQUAD" STORY SHOULD LOOK LIKE. And that's all thanks to James Gunn.

So happy that the film got an R rating because the suicide squad story should be like that. It should be full of blood, comedy, craziness, violence, disgusting action scenes, and curse words. Thank god they didn't care about the film being PG 13+ or whatever so more people could see it. And I feel like James Gunn was behind that part. It's not a suicide squad film if there were no sexual, bloody, violent, and disgusting content.

The cinematography was beyond amazing and the film presented some new ideas. Like, in one scene (dw no spoilers) two characters were fighting and we were seeing it through the reflection of a helmet. Or in a specific fight scene, instead of "blood" coming out of the bodies, it was "flowers" which made the 3 or 5 min action sequence very colorful and fun to watch. The camera movements were also great and felt that they sometimes were steady handheld which was so unique. Also loved how the film picks slow motion in certain times only to show the chaos that's happening around and they were very limited which is a good thing.

For the third time, Margot Robbie proves that she is the best portrayal of Harley Quinn and I cannot imagine anyone other than her as Harley Quinn. She presents the beauty, craziness, and wildness of the character. Idris Alba really surprised me. His character was very well written and Idris played it so right. The real surprise was John Cena. Personally, I don't like Cena's acting. But, in this film his acting was alright and the thing that helped him is how good his character (Peacemaker) is written. Especially that Peacemaker has a huge impact on the story of the film and the future of DCEU. Daniela Melchior gave the film such a warm/soft vibe and her acting was well done especially in the emotional scenes. The whole cast was just amazing and each actor/actress played their role perfectly.

Really loved the music in the film. And if you have seen Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) you'd know that it has the same style/vibe. The costumes were brilliant and loved how James kept the original costume of each character from the comics which made the film/character even more special & real. Also, loved how the film jumps back in time suddenly to explain where a specific character is or how things ended up that way and there was something different about it which I can't tell what it is.

My rating is 8/10 WATCHED: in an IMAX Theatre.

You can tell that everyone involved in this project was having fun and it transfered into the audience.

I remember as if it was yesterday my utter disappointment in 2016 when I purchased my tickets to watch Suicide Squad back then. No hate towards David Ayer, the studios definitely meddled with his film to the max, I would LOVE to see his version but nonetheless, what we got was such a terrible film.... Fast forward 5 years & Warner Brothers turns the tables and makes what is probably one of the GREATEST comic book movies of all time. The film is very ballsy, violent & full of heart. The characters are eye candy & I'm VERY happy that James Gunn kept what worked in the original. Because it was a bad movie but there were some good in it. This film James really respects David Ayers film by keeping what worked while just sticking to what needed to be done. The R Rating was needed, I'm also glad the studio acknowledged that. I'm VERY Tired of seeing studios go for a PG-13 rating so they can get more views. Like cmon now, grow a pair please. Sony doing it with Venom & all other types of examples of studios fearing the R Rating... I think ever since Joker Warner Brothers has discovered that they can really get the same numbers if not more regardless, Then Birds Of Prey happened, which I enjoyed too. BUT my point is ALL of this led up to this movie RIGHT HERE. So again, kudos to Warner Brothers for the R Rating!!! Now first things first, The action is GREAT & the twists are even more magnificent. The Comedy is SPOT ON, and lands when it needs to, the use of dark comedy and balance of character development is done so well that it doesn't feel out of place or that one is taking over the other. BloodSport carry's this movie, his performance was SCREAMING Will Smith for me, (meaning the role just looks like it was meant for him because he had daughter issues too) but I gotta say, Idris Elba grew on me more than Will Smith did. His performance is GREAT and he has amazing chemistry with another character and it just feels special. Polka Dot man was absolutely hilarious yet gave me a bittersweet taste in my mouth, but in a good way. King Shark was an amazing joy to watch on screen. Peacemaker was awesome too. Now what I mean by awesome is off their importance, performance and role in the movie. Some of these characters are not like able... mind you... and some things will happen over the course of events and make you not like characters more and that's where this movie shines. It's VERY unpredictable. And when you feel like you think you know where the movie is going it pulls the rug from under you hard. Very enjoyable ride. When it was over I wanted to watch it again.

*Pros* Well written characters / performances Comedy/Action (is not repetitive) Effects/CGI Story / plot / script

*Cons* Thinly written Villain Climax for the ending felt just a bit thin wish it would have required more "teamwork" and not one character being the reason they won (you'll see what I mean) Some Characters I felt died a bit too soon and would have liked a little more depth before they went.

WB needs to keep this up and we will continue to want more. If they understand the character they should know the direction needed to continue the character. Superman doesn't need to be dark and suicide squad should never be PG13. Not saying these are "impossible to do" but just saying if you REALLY understand the character you should know what works and what doesn't, and as far as I see it... this is the RIGHT direction for The Suicide Squad Peacemaker show is something to look forward to! And I will be more than happy to call this Film an "The REAL Academy Winning Suicide Squad" because it deserves the title more than the 2016 one... #releasetheayercut.