The Suicide Squad Review: Is It Great or Almost Perfect?

Suicide Squad has become one of the most hated but yet successful films ever to come out of the world of cinema. While it did really well in the box office, it won an Academy Award and spawned a sequel that nobody asked for but we 100 percent needed. Now sometimes studios make some huge mistakes and in order to fix their mistakes they either re-do everything or acknowledge their mistakes. Marvel screwed up big time with Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine and years later created a Golden Globe nominated film after the comic book character that to this day in considered one of the greatest comic book films ever. Sony put out the trailer for Sonic the Hedgehog movie in 2019 and fans of the video game character were disgusted by the character’s design in the film so they pushed back the film and a new trailer came out later that year with a new look for the character that looked photo realistic to the character. Hell DC/Warner Bros. knew that Justice League wasn’t a great film despite it doing well in the box office but they gave Zach Snyder a chance and in 2021 the Snyder Cut of Justice League came out and I guess you can say it was better and did successful. But sadly and fortunately it wasn’t the best DC/Warner Bros. film that got a second chance. While David Ayer’s Suicide Squad might of did well, the film didn’t have all of Ayer’s passion and he didn’t have full control of what is in the film; hence why many people beg for a David Ayer Cut. Thankfully that probably won’t be happening thanks to James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad cleaning up the mess that DC, Warner Bros., David Ayer and Joker Leto made. The film was one of the top grossing films in a Covid-19 slated theatrical run but it also was one of the more successful films to stream on HBO MAX. James Gunn didn’t disappoint us as his film gained so much praise from critics, fans of the comics, movie lovers, pretty much anyone with great taste with movies, but unlike Ayer, Gunn had full control with everything for this film including the editing, cinematography, the characters chosen for the film, the choice of people to play said characters, the soundtrack and pretty much everything. Now I could just spoil the whole review and I am going to do that because The Suicide Squad was my favorite movie of 2021 and I have been dying to review the film and talk about why I loved it so much. So as the title of this review says: Is The Suicide Squad Great or Almost Perfect?

*SPOILER WARNING AHEAD*

As I said about a couple of sentences ago, The Suicide Squad was directed by James Gunn. James Gunn is simply a genius and he has gotten better and better for each film he directs or writes. We’re talking about a guy who was the screenwriter for both live action Scooby-Doo movies and the Dawn of the Dead remake but also the director for the cult classic horror movie Slither and a little movie about some guardians from a galaxy. You give Gunn something to work on, he will give you 100 reasons why he is a genius and while I consider Guardians of the Galaxy his baby, The Suicide Squad is his Magnum Opus. The film or any film rather would be nothing without its cast and this film’s cast is quite frankly one of the most perfect casts in a film. The cast includes Idris Elba (Robert DuBois/Bloodsport), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), John Cena (Christopher Smith/Peacemaker), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Daniela Melchior (Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2), David Dastmalchian (Abner Krill/Polka-Dot Man), Sylvester Stalone (Nanaue/King Shark), Viola Davis (Amanda Waller), Michael Rooker (Brain Durlin/Savant), Jai Courtney (Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang), Peter Capaldi (Gauis Grieves/The Thinker), Alice Braga (Sal Soria), Pete Davidson (Blackguard), Nathan Fillion (T.D.K), Sean Gunn (Weasel/Calendar Man), Flua Borg (Gunter Braun/Javelin) Mayling Ng (Mongal), Steve Agee (John Economos), Jennifer Holland (Emilia Harcourt), Juan Diego Botto (Silvio Luna), Joaquin Cosio (Mateo Suarez), Taika Watiti (Ratcatcher) and Julio Cesear Ruiz (Milton). This is such a huge cast that played there characters perfectly well and while a couple of these characters were just here because well reasons we will get to soon I do have to say the actors/actresses playing said characters did really great with their roles. Now I mentioned earlier about Gunn having full control of the soundtrack and just like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Vol. 2, The Suicide Squad soundtrack is phenomenal and Gunn’s choices for the songs and where they were placed in the film was perfection. Gunn mixed the film with some not so familiar songs into the soundtrack but that’s the beauty of it as were not here to listen to chart topping songs; were here to watch a film that surprisingly has a neat soundtrack that works well with the film. Plus he mixed up and coming artists like Jessie Reyes, K.Flay and Grandson with some pretty huge well known names like The Pixies, Kansas and Johnny Cash. I’m just saying this film would have felt a lot different without this soundtrack. I have to talk about the costume designs for a second because each character looks like they came out of the comics like they look stunning and perfect. Kudos to Gunn for keeping the film seem like its coming out of the comic book and keeping the characters design look extremely realistic from the comic books. Also the CGI/visuals in this film look fantastic. King Shark looks like an actual shark is walking and talking on screen. It looks like he is actually on the set and not being played by an actor with prosthetics on set. Also I need to talk about Starro because there no way this character would had worked in any film and not only does he look incredible and life like in this film but Gunn makes the character work in the most perfect way. Plus you kind of feel bed for the starfish monster in the end of the film as he isn’t a villain/monster but an alien who was tortured and was a prisoner for many years thanks to The Thinker and many Americans. Alright let’s get on with the review section of the review and what I liked and loved.

Now before I do I will possibly heavily spoil some big parts/plot points of the film. But much like myself in the beginning of the review, James Gunn warned us about certain aspects of the film. He flat out tweeted and told many people in interviews to not get too attached to every character in the film as there will be many deaths so there could be a possibility that a certain character you might like will die and honestly this is genius. He shoots for the stars in this film and pretty much flat out tells us that this film is going to represent Task Force X, better known as the Suicide Squad, perfectly. Suicide Squad was formed because they were going on missions that will get them killed and is pretty much suicide and trust me we see a lot of death in this movie. Just in the first 15 minutes alone we see so much death. The beginning of this movie is genius as we are not introduced to these characters fully as we are only told their names and that’s it. The reason why is well….they aren’t our main characters, with exception to Harley Quinn and Rick Flagg. But these characters were kind of used as a scapegoat as we believed they were going to play a big part of the film and in actuality they were the ones who pretty much we shouldn’t have gotten attached too, something James Gunn mentioned when promoting the film and on his Twitter. But they were also in beginning of the film to show that this film isn’t like the 1st Suicide Squad, it actually will be adapting the comic book and not telling the viewers at home or in the theater what is going on but rather showing us and making us realize what is going on and what the film’s story will be centered around. It’s like that for most of this movie but the beginning does this in such a perfect way. We are watching each character die a gruesome death and we don’t really need to show remorse because they aren’t well known characters to us and they are being used here to set up our real movie and actual characters who we meet seconds after the final member that isn’t on the main poster dies. Honestly this could have made or break the film but thankfully it worked really well and it was thanks to the genius directing from James Gunn.

Now while our “scapegoat” characters are mostly not known characters, our main characters are also not so well known. Harley and Flagg are pretty known at this point but characters like Bloodsport, Peacemaker or Polka-Dot Man would not be seen in the same film or work and yet they do. King Shark is pretty known now thanks to him being adapted in multiple DC shows and the Harley Quinn cartoon but he is also not well known considering he isn’t a big baddie like Joker, Lex Luthor or Darkseid. But these characters all work for this film because while they all seem pretty different, they are quite similar. Bloodsport is a cold blooded mercenary who is badass as fuck but on the inside he is a father who kind of abandoned his daughter and has to hold that emotion in prison while also having a hatred for everything because of his childhood life. Side note he also in this film has a fear for rats because of a traumatic moment with his father but that also explains why he became what he became, an assassin. But he has emotions as well as while at first he doesn’t want to lead a team of nobodies; he later becomes this leader who shows care and love for his team. Peacemaker is pretty much the same character but better, at least that is what he says in the film. Peacemaker’s story/arc isn’t well known but he pretty much is Captain America but less care and more kill. He will kill anyone to make peace and that includes woman and children….just so there could be peace in America. While we watch Peacemaker go from being a goofball that kills people to a heartless man who kills people because he thinks his logic for peace is correct, we don’t learn much about his past really. Thankfully the spinoff series Peacemaker helps us with this and humanizes him a bit more than what the film does and thankfully that was the plan from the beginning. Peacemaker’s thought process and the way he acts is the way it is because of his upbringing and the way his father treated him. His father is pretty much a Neo Nazi but you only learn that from watching the show so defiantly watch the show if you want to know more. Polka-Dot Man was experimented on by his mother as she was trying to create superheroes and she used her children as experiments. Gunn knew and said that Polka-Dot Man is the dumbest character ever so he decided to make him a tragic character in the film and it worked. He is mentally not well and has mommy issues as he literally pictures his mother everywhere and it is perfectly shown in this movie. King Shark is lonely and that’s pretty much why he eats everyone. Everyone sees him as a monster and treat him like one but inside is a living being who wants to be loved and have friends. He doesn’t understand the meaning of friendship and we can see how lonely he feels in this world and it is very sad. Plus his character is very loveable because of how he is written and I honestly love his character the most cause he is quietly the most amazing character in the film but he also has a very sad history of loneliness. We already know about Harley’s character and her history but she still holds that history close to her as the film tries to hide everything from the original film but Harley’s character foreshadows her dark past with Joker. But then there is Ratcatcher 2/Cleo. Her character isn’t a killing machine like Peacemaker, a creature like King Shark and a science experiment who has mommy issues like Polka-Dot Man, she is an innocent girl who yes was a thief and that is why she is in prison but she doesn’t deserve to be in a prison like where most of these characters are. She has a very dark past as her father was her idol and hero but he too has some dark features including being addicted to heroin, which leads to be his demise and she inherits the Ratcatcher name and his equipments that help communicate with rats. Cleo’s character is the heart of the film pretty much as she bonds perfectly with Bloodsport, becomes King Shark’s first friend and even has some fun moments with Polka-Dot Man and Peacemaker but also it is her character arc from being this depressed young adult who has no purpose or motivation in life to pretty much being a hero, without her this film wouldn’t be as incredible as it is.

We are introduced to each character perfectly and throughout the film. The 1st Suicide Squad introduces us to each character but they do it in multiple scenes where everything is explained to us at one time. This film does it throughout most of the film and does it slowly so we can get somewhat attached to the characters until we fully learn about each one and can be fully attached and love each one. Each one is different but similar as I explained earlier but to finish this explanation from before; each character has something about them that make them the outcast or not sociable with the world. Harley and Flag are also an exception with that but with a certain extent. Each character has a big flaw in their lives/childhood trauma and it defines their character. All these characters work well with each other and bounce off one another perfectly. None of that would have been done without the phenomenal performances from the cast but also the creative genius James Gunn.

Now I know I have spent a huge amount of time with the characters but there is a reason as they play a big role with the key plot points and the entire story. Their main mission was to go to Jotunheim and destroy “Project Starfish” and in the end their mission kind of becomes the backbone of the film as yes our centered plot is still the mission but in order for us to get to the mission we need character development, some left and right turns and a subplot with Harley as she only with the squad in the end of the 2nd act and the final act of the film. But what is “Project Starfish”? Well that is where Starro comes into play. I mentioned earlier that Starro isn’t really a villain per say but he kind of is since he is a huge alien creature destroying a city and taking over the bodies of the folks who live in the city. But at the same time Starro was a victim as he was experimented on for many years after being captured by the U.S government and this led him to become the huge monster that he becomes in the finale of the film. But the dark truth of this creature lies beneath the U.S. The U.S government secretly funded the experiments on Starro and used the Corto Maltese citizens as test subjects. Task Force X was sent there to destroy the lab but not because they held experiments and an anti-American regime, but because they needed to destroy U.S government funding and anything that can lead back to the United States, which was pretty much everything. This is kind of why Rick Flag’s character switches as he loves America but the one thing he was fighting for (the United States of America) became the enemy in a sense and he was fighting for the people who pretty much caused so much murders in the town of Corto Maltese. Hell this is the first time he ever went behind Waller’s back as while he never fully liked her techniques in getting anything done, he still was her leading soldier and right hand man. He loved the United States and in a way he felt betrayed for what the US government did and was ready to leak the evidence to the world. This unfortunately leads to his downfall as Peacemaker fights and eventually kills Flag to get the evidence as Waller sent him to the mission to cover-up the United States’ involvement with everything. Honestly this is a smart decision in a narrative stand point and character arc standpoint as Peacemaker and Flag both represented something from America but were very different character wise. However once Flag learned the U.S had involvement he felt betrayed and wanted nothing to do with the mission and wanted to show the world how the U.S was corrupt in a way but Peacemaker still followed orders of the mission and made sure he got the job done for America or in this case Waller and did anything to get the job done, thus him murdering the one person Waller trusted the most but in this case and with this mission she couldn’t trust her main soldier and needed to go with a man who would do anything for America even though he was blinded by the truth. I really liked this approach for making Peacemaker kind of the main bad guy as everyone else is bad but doesn’t feel threatening, except Starro as it’s an alien life form out for blood at this point. Peacemaker is a cold blooded killer and will do everything and anything to make sure he achieves peace for America.

Which now leads me to my favorite plot point and that is “Family”. Now you might be wondering how is “Family” a key plot point to this movie and no I am not trying to parallel this to any of the Fast and Furious movies. Anyway if you look really close to the characters, the story and James Gunn’s direction and storyboarding then you can see that the Squad is more than just a Squad on a Suicide mission, they become quite frankly a family. This is all centered on both Bloodsport and Ratcatcher 2 as both kind of create this huge family bond the Squad has for each other. Bloodsport’s life is very dark and he abandoned his only child because he didn’t want her to end up like him and prior to that he grew up with a father who literally made him into this killing machine and prior to this mission that is all he is seen as. Waller sees him as a leader but he doesn’t because of his past and how he has been treated his whole life. For Ratcatcher 2 it is quite the opposite. Her father was the only person in the world that she loved and her father had demons that eventually caught up to him but he before he sadly died he taught his daughter lessons about life and how humans and rats are somewhat alike as they both have purpose in life. Ratcatcher in this squad is kind of the odd woman out as she isn’t a killing machine and she also is probably the most innocent member but she is similar to each member as each member has had trauma in their life whether it was the past, present or their whole life. But she and Bloodsport have a deep connection as we see them both gradually become each other’s saviors. Bloodsport and Ratcatcher share a moment with each other where they tell each other a life story of their darkest times and both characters tell each other that they will make sure they keep each other alive throughout this mission. Bloodsport saves Ratcatcher from Peacemaker and Ratcatcher saves Bloodsport from Starro. In a way Ratcatcher was Bloodsport’s second chance at being a father and Bloodsport was Ratchatcer’s father figure throughout the film and in the end she comfort’s him in his most vulnerable time of his life but also made sure she saved her father from his demons. This is truly why this Squad is like a family because throughout the film they started out bickering and having issues with each other but in the end the remaining members became close to one another and had a bond with each one another. Gunn has done this before with Guardians of the Galaxy as he had multiple outcasts in life form a family in the end and the same can be said with this movie but in a different approach. It’s a much more darker approach that also involves gruesome killings, intense back stories of trauma in each characters life and a Great White shark who wants friends and not to be lonely, but in the end it works perfectly.

There is so much I want to talk about with this film but can’t because then this review will be longer than the Holy Bible and I don’t think I need to spoil every detail but here are some key factors in the movie that I truly loved. The kills in this film were very gruesome and intense. This is one of the most graphic comic book films ever. Comparing it to Deadpool and Kick-Ass, this might be the most goriest comic book film to date. I also loved how James Gunn used the environment in the movie and settings as a way to go onto the next chapter of the film and using the environment as text letters. It is visually stunning and wasn’t needed in the film at all but for some reason it works well and without it might have made the film feel different. I love the cinematography in this film as there are certain scenarios we are seeing a certain moment of a scene on an object or we are watching a certain scene with a character’s perspective. I also love that this film is more comedic than dark like most of the DC Universe films. Shazam kind of used that approach first but it lands way better with The Suicide Squad. Finally I love the fact that James Gunn had full creative control for this movie because he improved everything the original Suicide Squad did and raised the bar. No longer are we complaining about how bad Joker Leto is, how sexualized Harley Quinn is or how the certain plot points of the film feel out of place and weird. Hell we can’t even blame David Ayer for all of that because he had made a film that was plagued with Warner Bros. changing things up from the script to the tone and then editing wise took it out of his control too. Gunn had full control to make this movie his own and he did it perfectly.

This now leads us to the beginning question from the introduction of this review. Is The Suicide Squad Great or Almost Perfect and honestly I can say it is 97.898989% Perfect. The film didn’t need to have a couple of characters but after that personally speaking this movie is a perfect cinematic masterpiece. This was my favorite movie of 2021 for a reason and I know a lot of people questioned that reason. Many would think I would had put Spider-Man No Way Home as the best film/my favorite film of 2021 and honestly it wasn’t’ as the film did have a couple of problems with me but even so it was an incredibly fantastic film. But here is the thing; The Suicide Squad was ten times better. Visually it is stunning, it has a very incredible soundtrack, each actor in this film adds so much to their character that they are playing that they do it in such a perfect way and James Gunn really blew me away personally with the cinematography and the story. Warner Bros. took a chance with James Gunn and let him do what he wanted and with doing so you are pretty much flipping a coin and choosing heads or tails and you must take that risk of it possibly being a bad film or a good film and thankfully they choose the right side of the coin and have themselves a cinematic masterpiece. This is honestly the best Warner Bros. film since Joker but it’s kind of hard to compare a dark film like Joker, which is also not a part of the DC Universe, to a film like The Suicide Squad. That being said this is the best film under the DC Universe. Say the Universe has yet to exist, the first Suicide Squad never happened and neither has the Justice League. This film comes out and you couldn’t even manage to believe that it was in a cinematic universe. This film is honestly a masterpiece and is outstanding and sure it won’t be nominated for Best Picture or get it’s needed appreciation, but if you give it a chance and exclude everything from the DC Universe and just watch this film as a whole, you may see not only James Gunn greatest film to date and his Magnum Opus, but you would be watching one of the most perfect adapted films ever.

Final Review: 4.89 out of 5 Stars, 99 out of 100.