James Gunn's Brilliantly Twisted Mind Has Given Us Something Awesome in "The Suicide Squad"

I could not have been more excited than I was last night before seeing James Gunn's latest romp The Suicide Squad. I'm a big fan of Gunn's work - outside of his larger comic book films - and when it was touted that Warner Bros. and DC essentially let the reigns out and allowed Gunn to do whatever he wanted with this film, I was excited. (Although, that would have been a wonderful way to work with Zack Snyder, whose experience seems to be completely opposite of Gunn's, but that's a larger discussion for another day). An unleashed James Gunn is a wonderful James Gunn, and The Suicide Squad is easily one of DC's best. It's gory, violent, hilarious, epic, and full of way more heart than I had anticipated. 

Talking about this movie without going into spoilers will be tough, but I'll do my best. This movie tells the story of hardened criminals Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Peacemaker (John Cena), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), and many, many others as they are forced into the secret task force known as Task Force X. They're commissioned to destroy all remnants of a secret operation in Corto Maltese, and from the opening moments of the movie, Gunn immediately informs us of multiple things: 1) Don't get attached, 2) This isn't going to be what you think, and 3) Brace yourselves. The Suicide Squad is an utter delight from start to finish. You don't need to have seen the 2016 David Ayer film to know anything about this movie. It's not a reboot or a remake in anyway; this film is very much its own thing and it works both independently as well as connectively within the larger world of the DCEU - even though there aren't really any direct links.

This movie is wild. The story is a lot of fun, and the host of characters are a blast. Margot Robbie slays it once more as Harley Quinn, and there are a couple of really awesome, stand-out scenes with Harley that I think fans will absolutely love. John Cena as Peacemaker is hilarious, and seeing his performance here makes me excited to see James Gunn's Peacemaker series on HBO Max, coming soon. Daniela Melchior gives a wonderfully heartfelt performance as Ratcatcher 2, whose story provides much of the central heart and message of the film. Idris Elba is awesome in just about anything that he does, and Bloodsport is a wonderful character...even though his abilities, motivations, and characterization feel very reminiscent to Will Smith's Deadshot from 2016's Suicide Squad. I could go through all of the characters, but I'd be here for days doing so. My personal favorites were King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone) and Polka-Dot Man, played by long-time comic book actor David Dastmalchian, who has been in everything it would seem, from TV's The Flash to Marvel's Ant-Man. Polka-Dot Man is wonderfully weird and I found myself giddy every time he was on screen. Same goes for King Shark, who I think will be one of the more favorable characters of the bunch for fans. These characters ultimately work because the story they're in also works. 

The writing is so smart and funny; Gunn's stamp is all over this thing. The guy knows how to balance a host of characters brilliantly, as we've seen in his Guardians of the Galaxy films, and every character seems to have their own moment to shine - which is crazy because there's a lot of them, and never once did their moments take away from the central story. With that writing, Gunn's direction and knack for balancing heart, comedy, and action are weaved throughout the entire piece. This movie is violent, and Gunn doesn't hold back with the blood and gore. But beyond the insanity, there is a lot of heart to this movie, A LOT. I think that's what surprised me the most. These characters are villains; we're supposed to not like them. However, by the end of the movie we're rooting for them, which seems absurd. But once you realize what the main theme is, expressed beautifully through a flashback scene, you realize that these characters - though flawed - are at least deserving of our consideration. There's purpose to be had outside of their devious deeds. I found it immensely satisfying as an overall experience; this felt like an event movie, and the infusion of so much heart elevated this above just being a silly film.

The Suicide Squad is one of DC's best films to date. I won't compare it to the 2016 film because there's really no need. Many people will, but at the end of the day, we should just consider ourselves lucky to have experienced both. There's something truly worthwhile in giving a director carte blanche with a project, and if DC and Warner Bros. can continue to do that, they'll probably end up with more hits on their hands like this one. This movie was a freaking good time, and I can't wait to watch it again. If you feel safe to do so, get yourself out to a theater. The movie was meant to be seen on the big screen, and it's a blast in that format.