The Suicide Squad | Average Guy Movie Review

A new batch of convicts - as well as a few originals - are under the thumb of Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who's once again offering years off their prison sentences in return for completing a few jobs for Uncle Sam. This time she's sending them to the island nation of Corto Maltese. There they must infiltrate the capital and destroy a top secret research facility. Sounds easy enough.

Task Force X is back, and with James Gunn at the helm things are madder than ever! The Guardians of the Galaxy director has taken what David Ayer started and blown the roof off of it. But he has done so in a way that is respectful of what has gone before. Fans of the original (of which there are apparently few) will have no trouble going from Suicide Squad to The Suicide Squad. And yet, the new movie stands quite happily on it's own two feet. Rather than making them drastically different, the returning characters simply feel like they have grown a bit. Well, maybe not grown, but adapted, to life working for their country rather than rebelling against it. Lets face it, if you were stuck in Belle Reve prison you'd do pretty much anything to get out too. Even Colonel Rick Flagg (Joel Kinnaman) has loosened up a bit. Maybe it's because he has finally accepted how ridiculous it is to try and control this band of raving lunatics. 

As for the rest of the squad... well they're still learning to get along. Margot Robbie has really settled into her role as Harley Quinn. She nails Harley's off the wall/kid in a candy store insanity, and an adrenaline-fueled corridor fight scene proves that she can handle the action too. Idris Elba's 'Bloodsport' makes an interesting replacement for 'Deadshot', even if he doesn't feel like a replacement. Thanks to his reluctance and cynicism he is a riotous laugh, but it's his vulnerabilities and flaws that draw you into this well-rounded character. It also helps that he has this monumental rivalry with 'Peacemaker' (John Cena). Cena is perfect as what he describes as a "douchebag Captain America"! Pretty much everything he says is despicable, and that helmet is something else - between that and his gun it's possible he maybe compensating for something. Despite all that, you can't help but love him. 

The real heart of the team, however, is to be found with 'Ratcatcher 2' (Daniela Melchior) - and her rat, Sebastian - thanks to the bond she develops with 'Nanaue', A.K.A. 'King Shark' (voiced by Sylvester Stallone). The King may be a great source of humour thanks to some magnificent observations and a desire to eat pretty much everyone, but the way Ratcatcher tries to teach him about friendship and the difference between right and wrong (or at least who he can and can't eat) is actually quite heart-warming. No doubt there's a message in there somewhere, about seeing the good in people, or something.

That said, there is a downside to having all of these larger-than-life characters - like 'Polka-Dot Man' (David Dastmalchian) and his  hysterically epic mummy issues - in one movie. Which is that some kind of feel left out, or aren't given time to explore their abilities/powers. Although it does help to emphasise their expendability. Take 'The Thinker', for example. Peter Capaldi is brilliant as this slimy but intelligent worm of a man, and he looks dangerous - and possibly a little deranged - with all the cogs and wires sticking out of his head. But we never really get to appreciate what he is capable of - apart from some of the horrifying results of his experiments. He doesn't even have to be 'The Thinker' to do what he does within the movie. You'll find yourself waiting for him to conjure  up some dastardly plan to outwit the team (or at least someone), but it never happens. Nary a blinking light from that impressive dome.

Nevertheless, what really sells this new Suicide Squad - apart from the extra three letters - is the unpredictability. Because thanks to James Gunn - and a studio that has finally learned to stop interfering - anything really is possible. The important thing to remember is that no one is safe - an explosive beach assault is proof of that. Watch out for Waller's lackeys taking bets on who will live and die. Speaking of the world's worst boss; Viola Davis gets to be even more vicious in her portrayal of 'Amanda Waller' this time round. She does deliciously evil very well. It's the way she's able to throw people into a meat grinder without any care or concern. And Gunn has given her one hell of a big meat grinder to play with. The movie really earns its '15' age-rating (here in the UK) with its delightfully over-the-top, gory action. Gunn's dedication to using practical effects means that all of the action looks incredibly real, and the clever use of CGI only serves to support that. But it's Gunn's delightfully twisted sense of humour that makes it all so gleefully entertaining. Right from the off The Suicide Squad is a hilariously calamitous bloodbath, as a bunch of delinquent convicts cause carnage wherever they go, all in service of US foreign policy. 

Once again James Gunn has managed to take some lesser known comic book characters and given them glorious purpose. With this rag-tag bunch of deranged lunatics trying to save the world in the most unorthodox ways possible, The Suicide Squad could possibly be the DCEU's most insane instalment, and we need more of it. 

9/10

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