Review: The Suicide Squad (2021)

The first incarnation of the Suicide Squad was a bit of a mess and continued the run of DC films that hadn’t quite hit the mark.  Wonder Woman being the exception.  Well, now James Gunn has been given the reins and things look much brighter.

Many will know James Gunn from the Guardians of the Galaxy films, but he has an extensive knowledge of the genre beyond that and is an alumni of the Troma film stable where he got his first big break.  With this pedigree and with a need to get DC’s films back on track, there was much expectation for this new version.

Thankfully, there needn’t have been any worries and Gunn has created what is a clever, funny, and at times silly (but in a good way) slice of comic book filmmaking.  As an admitted James Gunn fan I was very hopeful for The Suicide Squad and was not disappointed.  He has managed to build on the good elements of David Ayers iteration and deliver what is to my mind, a more deranged and irreverent film that had the right feel for the material.

That he does this while seemingly having a cast of thousands is impressive, and he manages to balance out all these characters without any of them being weakened.  It can’t be easy dealing with a list that includes Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Idris Elba (Bloodsport), John Cena (Peacemaker), Michael Rooker (Savant), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Nathan Fillion (T.D.K.), Flula Borg (Javelin), Jai Courtney (Capt. Boomerang), Daniela Melchior (Ratcatcher 2), David Dastmalchian (Polka-dot Man),  Taika Waititi (Ratcatcher), Alice Braga (Sol Soria), Pete Davidson (Blackguard), Peter Capaldi (Thinker), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), and Sylvester Stallone (King Shark).

That is a mammoth list, and it seems ludicrous even putting it down here, but it goes to prove the point of how much of a difficult task it must have been.  The Suicide Squad is coherent though, even with all these characters to track and cleverly employs some narrative twists to make it all manageable.

As the film opens, it is essentially led by Michael Rooker’s Savant, with the returning Amanda Waller putting together a team to infiltrate the island of Corto Maltese.  Recently taken over by a military coup, the island is now fervently anti-US, but also houses an old Nazi-era experiment which can’t be left in the hands of this new regime.  Two teams land on the island, one led by Rick Flag that includes Savant, and one led by Bloodsport.  After Flag’s team is ambushed, the survivors eventually meet up with Bloodsport’s team and continue on towards the capital.

To mention more than that would really be spoiling things, as there are some significant surprises that you wouldn’t expect and there are some twists and turns that demonstrate this is a director that has been given free reign.  Quite aside from the narrative, that is backed up by the choice of characters that Gunn has put in the film, some of whom are minor or ridiculous entries from the DC canon.

That belief in James Gunn from the studio is also evident in the visual style of The Suicide Squad, with it requiring an R Rating, and being more reminiscent of his Troma days with the level of gore than any of his MCU films.  Gunn is rightly unapologetic about this too, with the extreme violence and comic deaths fitting in perfectly with the high level of humour.  The switch between the two is well handled as well, and nothing is jarring about either.

Anyone worried whether this is any good or put off by the first version of Suicide Squad need not be, as this does have that James Gunn feel much like Guardians of the Galaxy.  A lot of the regular touchstone flourishes are present, and his regular contributors like Mikaela Hoover, Sean Gunn, and Lloyd Kaufman make an appearance.  This is a director who is comfortable and operating at his peak.

Effectively, this needs to be treated as a new entity, and you are better off ignoring the first version of the Suicide Squad.  While this doesn’t contradict the first one, and does sort of follow on, there is no need to know anything from before, and only a few characters appear in both.  So, the upshot is, if you like Guardians of the Galaxy type humour, and don’t mind a bit of gore, go see it.  You’ll be happy you did.