So I just got back from seeing The Suicide Squad on Saturday and it was awesome. The movie is a great time and a great watch. There are some amazing action moments in the film and some great creativity. Also there may be some unintentional Spoilers here. I’m not going to say exactly what happens in the movie, but there will be some stuff implied.
The story in the film is pretty good, with some good character twists and some unexpected moments. If I could boil down the film to two “themes” it would probably be family and the dangers of American imperialism. The reason i feel this was is that a major component of the characters is their familial relationships that drive them. As for the second “theme”, a major component of the world and the plot of the film is how far the dark aspects of the American government reach, and how far they are willing to keep these reaches a secret. I’ve heard Gunn say that this film is not unlike a 70s era Vietnam war film with the characters and comedy of James Gunn, and I would say that is a pretty accurate description of the film.
Speaking of the characters, I did enjoy the characters that the film featured and focused on. Everyone stands out in their own ways and has some great moments. First we have Bloodsport, played by Idris Elba. I enjoyed his character and he does stand out on his own and makes him feel more than just a replacement for Will Smith’s Deadshot. He gave a great performance and has some great character moments throughout the film, especially his relationship with Rat Catcher 2. His suit is awesome and all the weapons that are around it are amazing and I wish we would get them in figure form. I guess my only issue with his character is that it does at points feel similar to Deadshot from the first film.
Next is Rat Catcher 2 played by Daniela Melchior. She was great in the film and really brought a lot of pathos and emotion to the film. As said earlier she brings a lot with her relationship with Bloodsport as a stand-in for his relationship with his daughter. She serves as the glue for the team as she keeps everyone together and even helps Bloodsport out in some way. Her performance is amazing and her abilities and costume are awesome. It’s interesting how her relationship with her father allows her to help the other characters in the film who may not have had as good a relationship. She can be pretty badass throughout the film as well. Also her friend Rat Sebastian is amazing and adorable and funny.
Next I’ll talk about Peacemaker, played by John Cena (AND HIS NAME IS JOHN CENA). Another great character in this film who brings the kind of rivalry with Bloodsport throughout the film. He also kind of plays with that dark side of American imperialism in that he is willing to do anything for liberty, at times it’s played for laughs throughout the film, but we do see just how far he’s willing to go. His performance is pretty good and fits the character well. He’s pretty badass and his costume is amazing in how close it is to the comics.
Next is Polka-Dot Man, played by David Dastmalchian. He was great in this film and brought some more kind of fun to the film with the way things happen for him, I don’t know how to describe it without spoiling a lot of the laughs throughout the film. His past helps bring out the family “theme” in the film as someone else who lost their family and has a bad past with them. He’s a pretty good adaptation of the character from the comics in terms of his costume and abilities, which are pretty cool in this film. He may seem silly, but his abilities are pretty strong.
Next is returning favourite Harley Quinn played by the incomparable Margot Robbie. She was amazing as always and brings some needed fun to the film. A lot of the fun and visually interesting sequences in the film belong to her. Her performance is great and she’s badass as usual.
After that is another returning character in Colonel Rick Flag played by Joel Kinnaman. This film did something that the first film kind of failed to do in that I care about the character more in this film than I did in the first one. He’s great in this movie and kind of butts heads with Peacemaker in that he’s kind of like Captain America in morals, in that he’s a heroic character that has done everything for his country but is willing to question or go against it when they go against his morals. Again he’s badass and his costume is awesome. His performance was also really good in this film.
Last but not least we have King Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone (continuing Gunn’s trend of getting big name well-known action actors as CG characters) and he’s another great character. He’s a fun character in this film, and brings a lot of fun and heart to the film. He’s definitely the groot to this film. He is able to have some great moments in this film (also where a lot of the gore comes from).
The other characters in the film are all amazing as well. Viola Davis is back as Amanda Waller and is as perfect as always, everyone else was great as well (also hi again John Ostrander). And Starro is here (it’s in all the trailers so) and I feel like he’s such a good villain or final battle for the suicide squad as it’s something they can realistically overcome. The Thinker was cool as well and Capaldi brings equal parts Doctor Who and Malcom Tucker from The Thick of It.
Moving on to the technical aspects of the film. This is one of the most visually fun, interesting, and beautiful super hero films out there. The cinematography is incredible.
The effects in the film are all amazing and work very well. King Shark and STARRO THE CONQUEROR looked amazing in the film. The gore was amazing and violent as well. The action and fight scenes were all amazing, including a big fight and turning point fight which was done in an interesting way. The soundtrack and use of music was well done, I mean it is James Gunn so of course it’s going to be good.
Some faults. This is a James Gunn film, what I mean is that if you aren’t into his style then you probably won’t like this film. This isn’t the James Gunn we got with studio input in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, this is a bit more of a free James Gunn, more like Super or Slither. Especially with the gore, if you don’e like blood and guts in your super hero films than you won’t like this. This leads to one of my only real main issues with the film, that it feels like it doesn’t have the heart that the Guardians films do. A smaller issue is that there are some moments in the film that will startle you and kind of jolt you a little bit, which may affect your experience with the film.
Over-all I did enjoy this film and think it’s worth a watch. It’s fun, full of action, and is very bloody. I give it a two thumbs up! It’s worth watching in the theatre.
Andy's Thoughts 