The Suicide Squad (2021) Review

 "I cherish peace with all my heart.  I don't care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it."

-Peacemaker

After a coup overthrows the government of a small, South American island, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) sends in her Suicide Squad to destroy a laboratory on the island, which threatens the safety of the United States.  These wackjobs, both old and new, must learn how to work together if they want to survive the mission.

What Works:

This is what happens when a studio sits back and lets a talented filmmaker actually make a movie.  James Gunn was given pretty much free rein to make this his movie and he managed to rescue this franchise from the trash.  Gunn makes this movie his own and its one of the more unique superhero movies out there.  It's not perfect, but boy is it refreshing.

There aren't many R-rated superhero movies and I'm so glad that Gunn demanded to make this one R-rated.  This thing is gory with gnarlier kills than most horror movies have.  These are villains and anti-heroes, who, for the most part, have no qualms about killing people.  Of course it's going to be a bloody mess.

The best part about this movie is the cast.  Everyone does a fantastic job.  They brought back the two best characters from the first Suicide Squad with both Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), who are both still great, plus all the new characters are awesome as well.  We get Sylvester Stallone playing a shark/man and a weird weasel creature played by Sean Gunn.  I'm here for this weirdness.

The two biggest standouts are John Cena as Peacemaker and David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man.  Cena is always fantastic when he is given comedic roles, but he also does a great job in the more serious moments.  And Dastmalchian manages to take one of the most pathetic comics characters of all time and make him a truly tragic figure.  I wasn't expecting to feel so badly for him, but I did.

I think what took me most by surprise was the tone of this film.  I was expecting it to be mostly a comedy, but it's a lot more serious than I thought.  There are actually emotional stakes, with some serious character development.  Characters die and you feel something when they bite the dust and they grow and change as people over the movie.  Don't get me wrong, there are funny moments, though most of them are extremely dark and some people probably won't find it funny, but it's definitely more focused on the dramatic elements.

Finally, the 3rd act final battle is bonkers.  The final villain is truly unique and incredibly stupid, but in an endearing way.  Gunn knew exactly what he was doing here and it makes the finale incredibly memorable, if a bit surreal.

What Sucks:

If you watch the trailer for this movie, there are tons of recognizable actors and interesting characters.  I was incredibly hyped to see all of these character interact, especially Weasel.  Unfortunately, most of them don't get much to do in the film.  Only 6 or 7 matter to the plot.  It's disappointing that we don't get more of them, especially with them being so heavily marketed.

Verdict:

As far the as the DCEU goes, this is definitely in the top-tier.  While we don't get enough time with all the characters, what we do get is awesome.  The cast is fantastic, the direction is unique, the 3rd act is a ton of fun, and the movie as a whole is very refreshing.  I really hope studios take note of this and let filmmakers make the films how they want, instead of playing it safe.  The Suicide Squad has definitely got it going on.

 9/10: Great