Film Review: THE SUICIDE SQUAD (2021): James Gunn’s Vision Significantly Improves Upon 2016’s Misfire

The Suicide Squad Review

The Suicide Squad (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by James Gunn, and starring Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Daniela Melchior, Peter Capaldi, Joel Kinnaman, Michael Rooker, Viola Davis, Sylvester Stallone, Nathan Fillion, Jai Courtney, Flula Borg, Mayling Ng, Pete Davidson, Sean Gunn, Stephen Blackehart, Steve Agee, and Tinashe Kajese.

When 2016’s Suicide Squad came out, critics were almost unanimously unkind even though audiences embraced the film with decent box-office dollars. We can be glad that film, which was a mess, made some money because it paved the way for director James Gunn’s hugely entertaining, if at times uneven, new picture, The Suicide Squad. With a large group of actors in the new film, Gunn gives many of his characters sufficient screen time so that important character development doesn’t get lost in the shuffle. This movie is, indeed, one helluva shuffle.

Viola Davis returns from the 2016 film as Amanda Waller who is the leader of Task Force X. The movie’s action begins with Waller getting together a group to go to a South American island known as Corto Maltese. Among this group is Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), Savant (Michael Rooker) and the hilariously awkward Weasel (Sean Gunn). This “suicide squad” seems to live up to that title as they get wiped out save for Harley Quinn and Rick Flag.

Enter the more-likely-to-survive crew. This group includes Bloodsport (Idris Elba) who is engaging in a cursing match with his young daughter when meet him. In order to keep his daughter safe, he is enlisted to participate in The Suicide Squad and, for his daughter’s well-being, he reluctantly agrees. Also in the aforementioned crew is Peacemaker (John Cena) and several other intriguing characters that include King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone) who has no friends and eats almost anything (and anybody) and Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) who keeps a cute rat on her shoulder.

This film is a lot of fun throughout. When Harley Quinn is taken prisoner, she winds up outsmarting her captors and kicking ass in a great action sequence where she shoots off the captors and proves her character’s strength and determination. Her team isn’t far behind her and, after she saves herself, she asks them if they want her to go back inside the building she was held in to be rescued again. Robbie is incredibly fun in this role and has a blast on screen. She’s the female counterpart to Idris Elba’s heroic Bloodsport. Elba is absolutely terrific in this part and makes the film feel more authentic despite its obviously crazy storyline. Elba has a relatable quality about him that works really well here and the fact that Bloodsport is doing everything for his daughter gives the film some humanity.

The part of the movie that is really hard to watch is a character known as the Thinker (Peter Capaldi) who has enough things coming out of his head to give Pinhead from the Hellraiser films a run for his money. Wait, there’s also a slew of rat scenes that could make some viewers turn away. But, never mind. If you’re going to see the film, there’s so many exciting scenes here that overlooking some rats seems like a fair sacrifice to enjoy the overall feel of the film. God knows what’s coming out of the Thinker’s head (it’s some kind of “thinking cap”) but Capaldi gives a solid performance nevertheless.

Stallone does an interesting job voicing King Shark and I found this character to be very enjoyable. King Shark bites people’s heads off but is still rather likable and we want to see him make friends as he does with Ratcatcher 2. King Shark is so much fun that he almost steals the show at times. Melchior is quite good as Ratcatcher 2 making her character one to root for throughout.

John Cena is an action hero to contend with whether his character here has noble intentions or not. A scene where Cena and company go to a club to await some action is particularly funny with Cena adding his signature charm to his performance. And, for those who like that sort of thing, he even appears in his underwear at one point.

The ending of the film includes a giant cotton candy colored starfish with a big eye and little starfishes that wrap themselves around people’s faces. The best scene in the whole movie comes when Harley Quinn attacks the big starfish. Only Quinn (and Robbie) could put such a big smile on our faces as she goes after her target. These scenes towards the end are well done effects wise and are very entertaining.

Stick around through the credits for some further plot development as well. One character from the beginning of the film makes a surprise re-appearance.

The Suicide Squad is director James Gunn in very good form. This film is an improvement over the 2016 film in that it’s more concise and more fun all around. Gunn’s character development is so much more detailed and thus we enjoy the film a lot more as a result. Is it perfect? No. Some scenes don’t really work as well as they should including a key character who sees his mother everywhere he looks. That bit felt a little flat for me. But, never mind. The Suicide Squad is a roller coaster ride with all the requisite action to make it well worth seeing.

Rating: 7/10

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