The Suicide Squad Movie Review: Let's start with my base opinion on the film - The Suicide Squad is it a ton of fun. Following Task Force X, they are sent to Corto Maltese to find out and destroy any record of a project starfish. What leads is one of the best things that DC has ever done since The Dark Knight. It’s like Warner Brothers approached James Gunn and gave him carte blanche for The Suicide Squad. The Suicide Squad Review: James Gunn’s Superhero Film Is ‘Nastily Enjoyable’ and a Blockbuster, Say Critics!

With how disastrous the first film was, The Suicide Squad rights the wrongs of the previous by not making it characters feel like cliché archetypes. Everyone has their own personality and is not trying to be “edgy” for the sake of it. Although an exception over here can be John Cena’s Peacemaker, but rather him being edgy just fits right for the character, because well, he is a pretentious douche. Idris Elba’s Bloodsport and Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher II are highlights of The Suicide Squad. The Suicide Squad: John Cena Reveals the Reason Why He Wanted to Do James Gunn’s DC Film.

Their characters bring such heart and this sense of humanity to the movie where you are able to relate to them. King Shark is also one of the better CGI characters that I have seen done in recent times. David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man also, such a silly character from the comics is given an impressive amount of depth over here. While of course the new characters are a great addition to the squad, let’s take a look at the returning ones. James Gunn gives Amanda Waller this commanding presence.

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Whenever she is there in the room, she feels like she is in charge of everything and Viola Davis chews up the part. Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag also has a surprising upgrade. Over here he feels like an actual human with emotions rather than the government stooge the first film made him out to be. Of course I can't go without mentioning Harley Quinn. Margot Robbie is the best ever in the role that she has been and proves again that she should be inducted in the realm of perfect comic book castings.

The Suicide Squad does even lives up to its name. The stakes are up, its violent, its gritty, the mission genuinely FEELS like a suicide mission. There are some shocking deaths along with some fun kills and it just feels right. Even down to how the story is divided into chapters, it feels like you’re going through issues of comic books with an unraveling story. It’s literally a Suicide Squad comic adapted to the screen, and that’s no surprise considering how Gunn took a lot of inspiration from John Ostrander’s amazing comic run.

The visuals are some of the best of Gunn's career. It has all of Gunn’s signature styles like body horror and portraying some really absurd powers but still making them seem cool. The comedy is also done well, the jokes are balanced out and it never undercuts an emotional moment.

Talking about silly stuff from the comics, James Gunn adapts Starro the Conqueror in his entire glory. The pink and blue starfish from outer space feels like he was stripped right out of the comics and serves his purpose to the story very well.

Gunn frames the scenes like a canvas which are beautifully filled up with splashes of blood. They feel weighty and have some great shots that don’t make it look choppy. Everything that happens, you can see it in the frame and it isn’t hard to follow. Also not to mention Gunn’s exquisite taste in music that fuels these highly impressive action scenes.

If I have just one nitpick about the film is that the third act can slow down quite a bit in the middle. But it’s just for a few minutes. The craziness and carnage picks right back up after you get into the thick of the story again.

Yay!

- New and returning characters are great

- Great soundtrack

- James Gunn's Direction

Nay!

- Issue with 3rd act’s pace

Final Thoughts

With The Suicide Squad, James Gunn has achieved the same and more with what he did with Guardians of the Galaxy back in 2014. Throw a splash of depth, heart, and a whole lot of blood and you have DC’s best film since The Dark Knight.

Rating:4.5

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 06, 2021 08:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).