«The Suicide Squad» movie review – shockingly brutal but brilliant

First off: this review contains no spoilers. You’ll only read what can be seen in the trailers.

Redemption. Second chances. That’s something director James Gunn knows all too well. In 2018, he lost his job as the director of «Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3». Some nasty, highly questionable tweets of his from ten years ago – which he had long since deleted – resurfaced. Cue the mea culpa. After a years’ break, Gunn has been allowed to return to the set of «Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3», after all.

In the meantime, he briefly changed sides from Marvel to DC. Redemption? A second chance? There’s no doubt about it. There’s already a «Suicide Squad» movie from 2018, which was DC’s biggest failure to date. Gunn took on the failed movie. He put his heart and soul into it.

The result is «The Suicide Squad», a superbly entertaining sequel that breaks new ground. Its new R rating means the movie is more of a soft reboot.

A story of second chances

«Task Force X» – that’s the actual name of the government-sanctioned black-ops unit, which is made up of imprisoned miscreants that no one would miss should death befall them. The unit was founded by ruthless ARGUS director Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). Her plan: send the miscreants on suicide missions in exchange for mitigated prison sentences, all while keeping the government’s hands squeaky clean.

«I’d do anything to get out of this hellhole,» says one of the detainees.

«Welcome to ‘anything’,» answers Amanda Waller.

A second chance that’s doomed to death. Hence: the nickname Suicide Squad.

The source of the problem this time: a fictional island nation reminiscent of Cuba. After a military coup, the new, evil government has got its hands on «Project Starfish» – a superweapon that could potentially be used against America. The Suicide Squad’s mission: get in, destroy the project and any evidence, get out.

Without attracting attention.

As if!

A trip down Gunn’s gloriously awful imagination

It’s as if James Gunn was born for this directing job. The fact that he’s capable of more than generic big-budget superhero movies has been obvious since «Guardians of the Galaxy». As is the fact that he likes to push the boundaries of good taste with ultra-violent scenes. His 2010 movie «Super» proved that.

«The Suicide Squad» is a mix of both.

You need look no further than the opening credits. The movie title in spelled out in the blood of a freshly exploded head, garnished with the leftover scraps of flesh and brain. Who would come up with something like if not the terribly talented and at least equally crazy Gunn?

This is just the beginning. «The Suicide Squad» is not for the faint of heart. Believe me. Not even the ultra-brutal superhero pastiche «The Boys» can fit so much blood and guts into so little time. And torn, shredded and otherwise severed body parts. Just describing it is nasty. Imagine seeing the bloodbath with your own eyes – and not being able to stop chuckling at the sheer abstruseness of what you see.

But that’s Gunn for you. That’s «The Suicide Squad». Intentionally so. The deal Gunn plays with is essentially this: you want morally ambivalent antiheroes? Then you’ll get them – at the cost of having to realign your own moral compass here and there. And ending up on the road to hell for it. Anything else would be too easy.

Too cheap.

«We’re bad guys. It’s what we do,» says Harley Quinn in the first «Suicide Squad», played by Margot Robbie, who reprised the role. It was pure lip service there. It’s business as usual here – in just about every second of the movie. For example, the Peacemaker (played by Jon Cena) says things like «I love peace with all my heart – and I don’t care how many men, women and children I have to kill to achieve it.» And he puts those words into action.

Haha. Wait. No. Oops. This is no laughing matter.

Characters – lots of characters

Among the violence – which is ever-present, but never degenerates into an end in itself – there’s a movie with a heart and soul. This borders on a miracle, really. Gunn manages it because he never forgets his characters. Unlike in the first part, everyone actually gets a backstory. It’s so cleverly told and harmoniously interwoven with the main story that «The Suicide Squad» feels totally seamless.

For instance, there’s Ratcatcher 2 (yes, the number is part of her name), played by Daniela Melchior. She doesn’t appear in a single trailer but plays the heart of the squad in the movie – someone caring and empathetic. Or take Bloodsport, played by Idris Elba. His performance is so grounded that even his scenes with the two-legged King Shark seem as if they could happen in real life.

Sylvester Stallone is the voice behind King Shark – a stupidly sympathetic CGI creature with a vocabulary that’s anything but scarce. He’s reminiscent of Vin Diesel’s Groot from «Guardians of the Galaxy.» But funnier. And weirder. Speaking of weird: have I mentioned the tragicomic David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man shooting glowing tumours?

I could go on and on. I’ll limit myself to this: Gunn already knew how to bring together a bunch of weird characters as an ensemble cast in «Guardians of the Galaxy» – and give each of them enough screen time to make a lasting impression. There’s no comparison to «Justice League», which needed an epic four-hour-long director’s cut to finally bring everything together.

In short: this movie really puts the «Squad» in «The Suicide Squad». And it does so impressively.

Verdict: more soft reboot than sequel

What Gunn did was also clever; «The Suicide Squad» doesn’t deny the existence of the 2016 «Suicide Squad». Instead, it simply makes use of the few elements that worked and adds those that were missing. For example, the «suicide» in «Suicide Squad».

Movie studio Warner Bros reportedly gave James Gunn carte blanche to kill off any character he saw fit.

On the other hand, Harley Quinn already worked well in «Suicide Squad». So, she was kept on – but even more unhinged. As it should be. But she’s sometimes also a bit awkward. Especially in the moments when she’s reduced to Gunn’s infantile mouthpiece: «I like the rain. It’s like angels ejaculating over us.» Um... ok then.

A little gaffe here and there is bearable. For the most part, «The Suicide Squad» is simply a delightfully absurd and entertaining movie in which the ensemble cast’s characters and their story are the focus – not the excessive violence. Of course, I can’t deny the existence of the violence. And I don’t want to. It’s there to be scandalous. It’s there to offend. Just like the Suicide Squad.

They’re antiheroes, after all. Proper antiheroes.

You can watch «The Suicide Squad» in cinemas starting 28 July 2021.