James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is the newest addition to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and serves as a sort of soft reboot to the 2016 Suicide Squad film. The film features a wide ensemble of both the old cast and new, with Margot Robbie and Joel Kinnaman reprising their roles as Harley Quinn and Rick Flag respectively, and new characters with John Cena’s Peacemaker and Idris Elba’s Bloodsport.
Rooting for the weird and underrated
I think it’s safe to say that this film is received much better than the 2016 version by both the critics and the general audience alike. James Gunn once again proves that he can handle a wide ensemble of mostly C and D-list characters and make us root for them. Maybe it’s because we know little to nothing about these characters that becomes an advantage in making this film. Like his work on Guardians of the Galaxy, Gunn takes a group of wacky and non-iconic comic book characters and reshapes them into something amazing, making us invested in them despite their bizarre names and abilities.
Margot Robbie kills it once again as Harley Quinn. Every film she’s featured in makes her an instant stand-out. Fortunately, she does not take the sole spotlight. Almost every character in this film plays their part so well and bounces off so well with the rest of the cast. Idris Elba brings the cynicism of Bloodsport and clashes it with John Cena’s douchebag-bro attitude as Peacemaker in a macho competition of their skills. David Dastmalchian’s awkward shyness as the Polka Dot Man and Daniela Melchior’s friendly and teenager-esque demeanor as Ratcatcher 2 makes you care about their characters despite having what would seem to be weirder-than-usual abilities.
And let’s not even forget the cute but deadly Nanaue/King Shark voiced by Rocky Balboa himself, Sylvester Stallone. Who knew how excited we all would be every time King Shark’s on screen and his childish behavior that we can’t help but go awwwww even when he’s ripping people to shreds.
A wild and fun bloodfest
The plot is simple enough: a group of skilled villains are tasked to infiltrate the island of Corto Maltese and destroy something called Project: Starfish. But with a group of ex-convicts forced to work together, you know it’s not gonna be as simple as it seems. The team are thrown into the fray with action sequences that are both comedic and gory at the same time, earning its well-deserved hard R rating, which I think helps for a film like The Suicide Squad with its cast of characters who have little to no morals doing a job that requires being outside the code of superheroics.
What makes 2021’s The Suicide Squad so great for a “superhero movie”.
Basically everything about this movie is awesome. I love the stylized and creative cinematography, along with its soundtrack. James Gunn’s Suicide Squad soundtrack landed where the 2016 version missed. Instead of just using famous licensed music for its sake, The Suicide Squad’s Soundtrack uses its songs to enhance the scenes they’re used in. There’s even some good political commentary that I can’t expound without spoiling the film, but I can say it depicts the stark realities of global politics.
The Suicide Squad feels more of a standalone movie than part of DC’s (messy) extended universe, but this isn’t to say that it wasn’t a fun and enjoyable film. The movie is loads of fun and almost every joke lands in perfect comedic timing. It doesn’t take itself too seriously but still manages to make its audience at the edge of our seats at pivotal moments. James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad earns its rank among one of the DCEU’s top films.
