The Suicide Squad is the latest DC offering, directed by James Gunn, and it presents a much more wild, raunchy, ruthless and fun version of Suicide Squad as compared to the one we got earlier in 2016.
The Suicide Squad Movie Plot
The Suicide Squad follows a bunch of convicts with superpowers, taking on a Spanish Militia and eventually uncovering the dark conspiracy that lies beneath.
The Suicide Squad Movie Cast
- Idris Elba as Bloodsport
- Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn
- John Cena as Peacemaker
- Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag
- David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man
- Sylvester Stallone as King Shark
The Suicide Squad Movie Review
The Suicide Squad is purely riveting in how it gives complete freedom to a filmmaker in making Polka Dot Man one of the most likeable characters in the entire movie. Seriously, all things considered, this movie never felt like it belonged to a pre established IP for some reason.
It has the classic James Gunn spin to it, dialled to 11 and the character banter is ridiculously raunchy and fun. But the most surprising element of this R-Rated superhero movie is how much heart it packs in those 2 hours. It gives liberty to actors in outperforming their characters because of the fact that this is a one and done sort of a movie.
There is no scope for anything afterwards (other than the fact that we are getting a Peacemaker show), so the writers go ham with all of them, giving us some of the most jaw dropping, visually surreal moments that are oozing with blood and gore.
The plot basically revolves around the squad taking on a rogue, Anti-American, miltia in Corto Maltese. Why does this matter? Well, that’s because America has a long history with the place, and specifically, a tower called Jötunheim which houses something known as Project Starfish.
So with that, Amanda Waller tasks The Suicide Squad, which comprises of Bloodsport (Played by Idris Elba), Rick Flag (Played by Joel Kinnaman), Peacemaker (Played by John Cena), Ratcatcher 2 (Played by Daniela Melchior), Polka-Dot Man (Played by David Dastmalchian), Harley Quinn (Played by Margot Robbie) and of course, King Shark (Played by Sylvester Stallone). After a rather unfortunate distraction which takes place in the starting 10 minutes of the movie, the main squad gets on the mission to infiltrate Jötunheim and destroy all the evidence of Project Starfish.
Harley has her own business, falling in love with the Presidente General of the Militia and Rick Flag has befriended the Rebels. Their paths collide and one thing leads to another until they all team up and tackle the humongous villain which is Project Starfish (Starro).
The Suicide Squad Movie: The Squad Banter
Now as I said earlier, the character banter is what James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad thrives on. While it has some of the same characters from the first botched up offering, the film also has to manage forming new relationships with a bunch of new, unheard of, comic book characters that have suddenly become very integral to a story.
If you were to tell me that Ratcatcher 2 is going to become one of the most important characters in a DC movie, I would have been unpleasantly surprised to say the least. Just because of the fact that half these characters aren’t even familiar to average comic book fans, let alone the Movie Audience. But that’s where James Gunn twists the situation in his favour.
The thing with rich, pre-established comic book characters is that they have a very defined personality, and the movie has to be more or less authentic to their comic book aura, but when you take someone like Polka Dot man and put him in a big budget superhero movie, there are no rules that apply to him. It depends completely on the writers as to how they want to project his character in a way which adds personality to the movie.
Enough of this rambling, the bottom line being, these characters work extremely well wherein they get to have all the little fun moments combined with hardcore jaw dropping sadism, and occasional in-depth emotional arcs that make the journey quite worth it.
In case of Bloodsport, we discover his scarred relationship with his daughter early on and even when that isn’t particularly unique in a superhero movie, it paves way for his particularly cute relationship with Ratcatcher 2, and his fear of Sebastian only making their dynamic cuter.
King Shark clearly steals the movie, which was obvious looking from the trailers and promos, but he truly is one character who can pass of as equally cute and menacing in an organic way. Like even with all of his dumb one liners and even that moustache bit, he just never feels pretentious.
Its so fun watching him befriend people and occasionally try to “nom nom” those people. Polka Dot man is a breakthrough that I never saw coming. Without trying to spoil too much, I will say that I have had an incredibly difficult time trying to get his mothers image out of my head, so in some ways, I get where he is coming from.
To talk about the deeply personal moments that are prominent in The Suicide Squad, Harley’s monologue on how she can’t trust men with red flags really got to me, considering how it actually acknowledges the things Joker put her through. Margot Robbie’s performance in those few minutes does so well in tying her character through the different DCEU movies.
The Suicide Squad Movie: Pitch Black with a Hint of Red
The action and the amount of gore really does deserve its own paragraph, but to be honest, there isn’t much to go on, other than well, there’s blood. A lot of it. You will see it as King Shark rips a man in half, as Starro crushes a man in million pieces, as a stab wound pierces the heart in the most Mortal Kombat-esque way. They have doubled down, even trippled down, on the R-Rating in a lot of aspects and I am all for it.
Much like Deadpool, the violence obviously has a dark humor undertone which makes it all the more fun to watch. Little things like Bloodsport and Peacemaker competing on the ridiculous uniqueness off their kills is equally Fun and Ruthless. The Antagonist was already ruined for a lot of us who saw the trailers, I would have much preferred going in the movie blind, but the subtle hint of character in Starro towards the end was eye opening. But yeah, I maybe would have liked a bit more emotion in its arc.
The Suicide Squad is truly the most original superhero movie of 2021 which could hardly care about setting anything up. It has one story to tell with a huge amount of characters, and almost always, it achieves that with grace.
The Suicide Squad Movie Critical Reception
The Suicide Squad stands at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes with the consensus being, “Enlivened by writer-director James Gunn’s singularly skewed vision, The Suicide Squad marks a funny, fast-paced rebound that plays to the source material’s violent, anarchic strengths.” It has a Metascore of 74.
The Movie Culture Synopsis
The Suicide Squad is the most ridiculously fun superhero movie you will ever see. While it doesn’t necessarily wow you with the actual plot, it has a lot which will keep you absolutely hooked to the blood red screen.
