"The Suicide Squad" Is Everything Its Predecessor Was Not
Starring Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Michael Rooker, Viola Davis, Nathan Fillion, Jai Courtney, Flula Borg, Pete Davidson, Mayling Ng, Sean Gunn
Rated R
Action, Adventure, Comedy
Run time: 2 hr, 12 min
Directed and written by James Gunn
In theaters August 6, 2021
For the last five years, if you mentioned the phrase “Suicide Squad” to a fan of comic book movies, you would have most likely gotten a groan or an eye roll in response. The movie of that name had fallen to what seemed to be a curse on the DC cinematic universe. It had a slightly misleading trailer, it was way darker (both literally and figuratively) than its colorful characters should have been and it was far too long. So when James Gunn was announced as the force behind a new movie of almost the same name, it was met with a great deal of wary optimism. Gunn was known for solid, comedic, bright hits like Guardians of the Galaxy. We weren’t going to be revisiting Jared Leto’s questionable interpretation of the Joker. We were getting Viola Davis and Margot Robbie back reprising their roles (easily two of the best parts of the original movie). It wasn’t clear if this was a reboot, a sequel or a remake. Even after watching it, I’m still not quite sure.
This time, the trailers aren’t very misleading, and we have that original basis to go off of when it comes to the concept of this film. Bad guys are in jail. Amanda Waller (Davis) organizes a team of them to do a dangerous task - hence the name of this squad - and if it’s completed as requested, the survivors get ten years off this sentence. It’s pretty easy to make the leap that a team of villains handling some super secret covert ops probably aren’t fully on the up-and-up and that the mission could have a teensy bit of a nefarious edge to it. However, some of these super-villains seem utterly ridiculous. Who actually thinks someone named Weasel, Ratcatcher 2 or Polka-Dot Man would be able to accomplish much of anything? Well, it seems that maybe underestimating them is going to be what helps them get things done. Or at least try to.
Let’s just go ahead and say it: this movie is utterly freaking ridiculous. But it’s supposed to be. It has as much fun and gore and insanity that the previous one lacked. There are legitimate laugh-out-loud moments, some death scenes that would almost be too much for Tarantino and a solid script that benefits a cast of great actors, rather than cripples them. After thinking about the movie for a while since seeing it, I’m realizing that it has a relatively unique position: it could only get better. When the threshold is “just be better than 2016’s Suicide Squad,” even just a functional, decent movie seems like an A+. And in the moment, when you’re laughing a few times you almost cry, when you’re getting to watch Idris Elba in his real Black Superman role (sorry, Hobbes & Shaw) and when the plot takes a couple of twists and turns way earlier on than you expected, a movie theater experience doesn’t get much better.
There are a few issues with the film, however. For one thing, it’s about 20 minutes too long. I know the standard superhero movie is usually hovering around three hours at this point, but that really should be the exception rather than the rule. I also just don’t know why a lot of things were happening in this movie. We have no idea how this evil villain thing (omitted here to avoid spoilers because the insanity was absolutely worth discovering in the moment) got to where it is now, why it ends up doing what it does or even where it came from. Maybe these aren’t things we even need to know. But one thing DC has struggled with is motivation, especially with villains, so it stuck out to me. When it all comes down to it, though, James Gunn has succeeded. He took some risks and managed to turn a comic book property from a bummer and a mockery to a worthy successor of Birds of Prey. Maybe the next reboot of Fantastic Four, whenever that may be, will accomplish the same.