The Suicide Squad Review (Film, 2021)

content warning: gore, blood, foul language, gun violence, violence against women, animal abuse, mental wellness

Note: I was invited to an advanced screening of the film by DC Universe for the purpose of this review.

The Suicide Squad is what an adaptation of this comic should feel like. This is an over the top, silly, gross, and violent series where anyone can die at any point for any reason. That’s the point. This is a mashup series where DC’s deep catalogue of villains are sent on incredibly dangerous missions because their lives are expendable. If the mission goes south, it’s officially because vile criminals broke out of prison and tried something stupid; if the mission succeeds, they get years taken off their prison sentences.

Writer/director James Gunn gets to put his gross out comedy and splatter film skills into the DCEU and it works. He knows how to write a big ensemble film that feels like every character matters. That’s especially tough in a Suicide Squad story that will find any and every excuse to destroy characters for the punchline. The Suicide Squad has a higher body count than most slasher films I’ve seen, including Gunn’s own slasher films, and the deaths of the Squad hit hard.

The Suicide Squad is a sequel to the 2016 Suicide Squad film. Not every character returns in this story, but the ones that do pick up right where they left off. Harley Quinn and Boomerang are sent on another dangerous mission by Amanda Waller. They’re led on the field by Colonel Rick Flagg, whose own mission is to make sure the villains follow the rules. If they don’t, Amanda Waller can blow them up with the press of a button. The mission goes wrong right away, putting the Suicide Squad into survival mode as they attempt to destroy a dangerous research project run by a tiny island dictatorship.

The new characters are wonderful. This is James Gunn putting his stamp on some underused characters in DC film adaptations. I’m going to shout out my favorites because this whole review could be analyzing how Gunn reinvents all the characters for this story.

The most well-known new addition is Killer Shark, who is just looking for his next meal and maybe a friend. This is the dumb and dangerous version of Killer Shark, not the eloquent Killer Shark of the Gail Simone comics or the new Harley Quinn series, and he’s perfectly used for comedic relief. What’s not to love about a shark with legs who will just eat his enemies whole? Nom nom, indeed.

Polka-Dot Man, the villain best known as a joke character in modern comics, is brutally dark comic relief. He’s mentally shattered, struggling to perceive reality through the lens of his childhood trauma that led to his polka dot generating powers. I’m not going to spoil the most successful running gag of the film, but it works every single time it comes up thanks to David Dastmalchian’s performance.

Ratcatcher 2 is a new spin on an old character. She is the daughter of the original Ratcatcher and is able to use technology to control rats. She is the heart of the film, finding ways to get a dangerous cast of villains to come together as a family. The more she uses her powers, the more you realize how someone so kind and sweet wound up involved in the Suicide Squad at all.

Even the office staff surrounding Amanda Waller gets more character development this time. They’re introduced as betting on which villains will survive the initial landing on the beach, Cabin in the Woods style, before scurrying off to their observation stations. They get to be the voice of the audience, commenting on the absurdity of the entire Task Force X system. There are surprises that Amanda Waller did not account for because of the success of her program since its original mission a few years ago. Her office is tired of her attitude and let her know it throughout the film.

One of the most rewarding decisions made by Gunn is the structure of the film. This is a time-skipping narrative like Birds of Prey with multiple storylines. There’s Waller’s office, Harley Quinn’s adventures, and a variety of missions all unfolding at the same time. These stories all have their own unique style that layer into one of the most entertaining action climaxes in modern superhero films.

The Suicide Squad is a great action/comedy/superhero film. It’s everything a comic book adaptation should be. James Gunn adapts the concept, style, and tone of the comic in a way that makes sense onscreen.

The Suicide Squad is in theatres and HBOMax on 6 August.

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