The Suicide Squad

Who would have thought that just adding the definite article could transform a film from dire to pretty good? That (as well as changing director, script and tone) seemed to be all that was required. James Gunn's The Suicide Squad has rebooted the 2016 (unarticled) version from David Ayers, and the result is the best DC Extended Universe film by a long margin (I'm not including Joker). Oddly, a few of the actors from the first one return here - Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn, obviously enough; Joel Kinnaman's Rick Flag, less so. Will Smith's Deadshot has been superseded by Idris Elba's Bloodsport, and Elba is fantastic as the jaded, reluctant father figure. 

The film seems to start too abruptly, like it's missing an opening reel, until you realise what's going on. The whole introduction sequence is gory, bloody mayhem but the less said about it the better. The nominal plot sees the group quietly invading a South American island nation, in the best historical U.S. fashion, but this is all just a pretext to have the characters bounce off one another and indulge in some suicidal bloodlust. It gets along at a serious click, with nary a slow spot, and each new 'journey' deviation is cleverly titled in seaweed or smoke, or whatever was 'visually' at hand.

The squad is made up of some batty folk. Try these on - a girl who can command rats called Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior - Taika Waititi played her flashback father, the original Ratcatcher); Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), a weedy psycho with mother issues who can do strange things with colorful dots; King Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stallone, a perennially hungry land shark; T.D.K (Nathan Fillion), whose sole skill is in his initials (no spoilers here); and Weasel (played by the director's brother, Sean Gunn), who is a human-sized weasel. Incidentally, Weasel's intro was the moment I realised we were in safe hands. Flag has to reassure others about him by saying something like, "Don't worry about Weasel, he's harmless. Well, he's not actually harmless, he's killed 27 children, but you know what I mean...". Simply using the word children, rather than people, for example, makes the scene buzz a bit creepier.

This is also the film that I think deals with Harley Quinn's mental state in the best manner. She's not as lost as she is in her own film, Birds of Prey; and not as leered over as she is in the Ayer's version. Her choices make sense, in a nonsensical way, and the scene of her cutting loose, with a floral explosion accompanying the slicing and shooting, is the barnstormer her character deserves. She also gets the best line in the film (I won't ruin it but it's near the end). 

Gunn's lightly stylish action scenes are ratcheted up a notch from his Guardians of the Galaxy films, primarily due to the excessive blood letting. One set-piece midway through almost pushes it too far but the pay-off was probably worth it. The set-up of having two very similarly skilled members - Bloodsport and John Cena's ludicrous Peacemaker - trying to outdo each other by killing in the 'coolest' way, deflates at the end of this slaughter into a morbid black-comedy cringe.

Themes of solidarity, friendship and responsibility are included but, crucially, not to the detriment of the shits and giggles. Ratcatcher 2 asks King Shark if he would eat a friend, Bloodsport grows into his boss role, Polka-Dot Man comes out of his shell and the lowliest, most despised creatures are also shown to have a purpose. The weighty issue of abuse of power is broached but not until the end and then, not exactly put across with any degree of importance. The old conditional "We know this and if anything happens to us, blah, blah.." trope pops up, but is over so quickly, it doesn't have much time to affect the enjoyment of the film in any concrete way.

Oh, I haven't even mentioned the whopping great MacGuffin that drives the squad onwards. It's suitably weird and formidable but there's still space to paint it as the victim that it clearly is, a kind of 'Echinoderm' Kong. On top of all this fun is the best use of a Pixies song in a film since Fight Club, but it's Gunn, so some cracking tracks should be expected. I've been chewing over the star rating for this but after four days or so, I'm still recalling it with fondness and I would gladly watch it again. Can't say that about too many flicks.

See also:

There are many similarities to Zack Snyder's underrated Watchmen (2009) and why not check out the blueprint for suicide missions, Robert Aldrich's The Dirty Dozen (1967).

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