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Not so much a sequel, but a spiritual companion to David Ayer’s scrutinized 2016
outing “Suicide Squad,” James Gunn’s gleefully irreverent second stab at the
infamous DC comics property, “The Suicide Squad” is a better, more realized film
in that it understands the type of self-aware zaniness it’s yearning for and
isn’t afraid to rip off limbs and feature a gigantic sea creature in a bonkers,
unforgettable finale. In fact, “The Suicide Squad” looks exactly like the
big-budget comic book movie you’d get from the director who’s career started in schlocky B-movie fare ala Troma Entertainment. However, most know Gunn for
helming Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, but his hard R-rated,
not-entirely-family-friendly rendition of DC’s C-grade characters (among them is
Polka Dot Man) feels like a refreshing dose of sarcasm in a genre that often
takes itself too seriously.
You don’t need (nor would you want) to watch Ayer’s 2016 version to appreciate
the character dynamics in “The Suicide Squad,” which wears its ultra violent
bloody carnage like a gratuitous badge of honor, and Gunn forgoes awkward intros
and gets the action flowing. He opts to bring certain characters back from the
previous iteration: chief among them Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flagg who is fleshed
out and given more to do; Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang; Viola Davis’s snarky
Amanda Waller, and, of course, Margot Robbie’s fan favorite Harley Quinn, the
only salvageable element of 2016’s “Suicide Squad.” Gunn’s plot, more or less,
stays true to the source material where a group of hardened, villainous,
bad-guys locked away for life are given the ultimate get out of jail free card.
Waller, in a do or die ultimatum for the felons, brings together an unorthodox
group of capes, including T.D.K. (Nathan Fillion), Blackguard (Pete Davdison),
Javelin (Flula Borg), Weasel (Sean Gunn), who is basically the drugged-up
version of Rocket Raccoon from the “Guardian” movies, to lead a beach front
siege off the shore of a South American island: Corto Maltease. In the same
sequence, Gunn shifts to Idris Elba’s front and center general Bloodsport, John
Cena’s awkwardly goofy but amusing Peacemaker, David Dastmalchian’s strange
Polka-Dot Man (yes, he shoots polka dots), Daniela Melchior’s charming
Ratcatcher 2, and who could forget King Shark (voiced by Sylverster Stallone)
who walks around and says “nom nom” whenever he’s hungry. But don’t get too
attached to these characters, because unlike Marvel where individuals could
sustain their own franchise or series thus making any thought of demise mute,
Gunn is given creative freedom to lay the axe wherever he sees fit. And folks,
there is a-lot of death, a-lot of mayhem, and buckets of blood, but it’s also
completely ridiculous and over-the-top in the most refreshing way imaginable.
“The Sucide Squad” doesn’t waste character potential nor do they get stranded in
a convoluted narrative either. Whether it’s Bloodsport struggling with newfound
heroism (and a disgruntled daughter at home) or Polka Dot Man’s hatred of his
mother who we find out injected him with an intergalactic virus, “The Suicide
Squad” plays to its strengths, and those strengths are the performers who
breathe life into an otherwise wacky property. And their camaraderie comes in
handy during the film’s latter stretch which may or may not involve a nefarious
plot to control the world population with face-hugging organisms. It’s a silly
departure from the realm of most comic book franchises, but it can seem too
familiar. Again, we watch buildings get demolished like LEGO’s without much
blowback in a series of CGI fueled nonsense. But Gunn, a filmmaker who balances
his comedic tone against big spectacle better than anyone, steers the ship
towards an eventual conclusion built on emotion rather than world-building.
Not often do creative disappointments get a second wind five years removed from
their initial release, but Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” makes the case that
perhaps maybe they should. It’s fascinating watching a director at the top of
his game reconfigure a franchise on life support and deliver one of the better
films in the DC canon. When everyone is having fun making a movie (and you can
tell that’s the case here), it bleeds on screen. A feature desperately missing
from Ayer’s version, which he now claims was taken over by the studio and didn’t
have his blessing. Though it wouldn’t be the first time Warner interfered with a
project, there’s a rhythm and attitude in “The Suicide Squad” that can only come
from Gunn’s particular wavelength. He understands these are bad guys, but even
bad guys deserve some respect.
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