The first time I’ve watched a film on its release date since Rise of Skywalker. The popcorn in my living room is highly superior to the popcorn at Brenden Theaters.
Anyway, I guess there has been some sort of controversy around this film. Not that it’s too gory or overtly sexual, or that it is pushing cinema out of the general consciousness to make room for yet another super-hero popcorn film, but that it got made by James Gunn. At least I think that’s the controversy. I’m not really sure; my definition of controversy does not involve angry hate nerds dancing their fingers across their keyboards to “review bomb” something. I hear they’re mad because James Gunn isn’t Zack Snyder and these same nerds love the Snyder Cut of Justice League (full disclosure: I also very much liked the Snyder cut). Why this necessitates writing poor reviews for a movie before it is released, I do not understand. I’ve looked into reasons why Snyder snobs are doing so and only become more confused. For what it’s worth (in this context, nearly everything), I’ve seen this movie.
Is this film a sequel to the original David Ayer film, or a reboot? The official answer is the latter, but Gunn brought back characters from the first film, played by the same actors, and it is certainly implied that they know each other. Each of Harley Quinn’s (Margot Robbie) interactions with Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) strongly suggest these characters have dealt with each other before.
Speaking of Harley Quinn… Harley Quinn is in this movie. The character still looks and sounds like the Harley Quinn I remember from the animated series and video games and comic books (Robbie embodies her extremely well), but I do not necessarily recognize her. When did she become a trained fighter? Who trained her? She wasn’t granted magical or superhuman powers that I’m aware of, so how is she able to pull off some of these maneuvers? Isn’t she more of a guns and sledgehammers kinda gal? After contemplating this during a 10-minute stretch of the film, I decided that it wasn’t particularly important to know the answer. It looked cool; roll with it and enjoy the film, Ebert. To paraphrase the wife, the question posed to her: “She knows how to do this stuff because she’s a popular and marketable character who the Hot Topic girls dress as for Halloween.”
I became aware of Suicide Squad director James Gunn through his work on Troma Films like Tromeo and Juliet and Terror Firmer, although I didn’t specifically know them as James Gunn films* at the time. His name stuck with me later because of his work on the video game Lollipop Chainsaw. Gunn got his huge break writing/directing Guardians of the Galaxy for Disney. That film gives you a pretty good idea of what you can expect, tone-wise, from Suicide Squad, except the absurdity is turned way up and the gore, almost non-existent in the Disney-owned MCU, is gratuitous. I mean this as high praise. The movie is stylized in a way that is unrealistic even for a superhero movie, and there is one fight scene (involving Harley Quinn, naturally) that could have been pulled directly out of Lollipop Chainsaw. This movie is fun to look at, and quite a departure from a DCEU that can often be downright bleak.
The soundtrack is fun, I don’t remember a ton of orchestral, cinematic score, but the music of the Pixies and the Fratellis is used to great effect at points in the story.
Unbelievably, John Cena and Sylvester Stallone are scene-stealers, no easy feat when sharing a screen with the vivacious Ms. Robbie or the excellent Idris Elba. Elba’s portrayal of Bloodsport is effective because the character doesn’t let us forget that these protagonists are not “good guys”. Don’t get me wrong: no Oscars are going to be handed out. There was one point when I thought to myself, “I cannot believe they convinced Viola Davis to be in this movie,” but with the exception of some very cheesy dialogue (Quinn’s thoughts on rain), I didn’t get pulled out of the film by bad acting. An aside: I never thought I would ever hear John Cena say ‘fuck’.
The villain: It’s hard to even comment on this without spoiling it. The villain is definitely not who you think it is going to be, and even after you find out who it is, you might be wrong.
So, should you see this film?
Can you handle/do you enjoy over-the-top gore? This movie earns its R-rating there, most assuredly. Do NOT watch this children. Are you weirdly dedicated to Zack Snyder, to the point where you can’t enjoy anyone else directing a DC Comics film? Are you a fan of slightly strange, not-too-serious superhero films, or do you only enjoy the straightforward nature of films like Avengers: Infinity War and Justice League? If you answered yes, no, and “yea, I like slightly strange,” you should. It’s a tad on the long side, and some of the scenes gave me deja vu of the first film, but it’s fun! If a 5 is an average review, I’d give this one a 7-ish, keeping in mind that is on a scale of superhero films, not cinema overall. And seriously, if you haven’t checked out Gunn’s Troma work, go do that right away. You will not regret it.
7/10
* He wrote those films, they were directed by the very legendary Lloyd Kaufman.
A Fool Speaks Loudest 