The Suicide Squad – Badass Action Film
Director: James Gunn
Writer: James Gunn (Screenplay) John Ostrander (Comic Book)
Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Mikaela Hoover, Taika Waititi, Sylvester Stallone, Joel Kinnaman, Michael Rooker, Alice Brage, Nathan Fillion
Plot: Supervillains Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X as they are dropped off at the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.
Tagline – They’re dying to save the world.
Runtime: 2 Hours 12 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: The Suicide Squad starts when Amanda Waller (Davis) puts together the latest edition of Task Force X under Colonel Rick Flag (Kinnaman) to go and take down a threat from a small island country of Corto Maltese. Flag is joined by Harley Quinn (Robbie), Bloodsport (Elba), Peacemaker (Cena), Ratcatcher 2 (Melchior), Polka-Dot Man (Dastmalchian) and King Shark (Voiced by Stallone).
The group head to the island and looks to complete the mission, which will be filled with action, blood, gore and everything they need to satisfy their twisted needs.
Thoughts on The Suicide Squad
Characters & Performances – Bloodsport is forced into this mission by Waller, threatening to send his daughter to the same prison, he takes the led on the mission, with his deadly shooting ability and more gadgets that Batman, he will look to put himself back on the right path for the mission. He does have plenty of things he needs to fix about himself, which he will get a chance to, while being the most down to Earth member of the team. Idris Elba is brilliant in this role, filled with the reluctant leadership skills, as well as the deadly side to his character, with a heart of gold buried in him. Harley Quinn in on the team, bringing her colourful look to the violent world, from the tortured soul deep down inside of her, always excitable throughout the adventure, she gets her own side adventure to let her shine too. Margot Robbie continues to be the perfect casting choice for this role be as flawless as we know she is in it. Peacemaker believes anything he does is for the greater good of America, he doesn’t care who, how many and how he kills people, doing it in all the name of liberty. He is always looking to outshine Bloodsport believing he is the greatest soldier in the world. John Cena brings this deadpan figure to life, delivery all the best lines while keeping a straight face. Ratcatcher 2 is the youngest member of the team, she has the ability to communicate with rats, filled with a tragic backstory, even if she does feel like she shouldn’t be anywhere near this team, because she isn’t pure evil or even bad. Daniela Melchior brings us a mix of the unwilling younger generation, to the tragic figure that wants to do the right thing character to us here. King Shark is a walking talking shark that is still trying to learn, he is lonely and once he learns about friendship and teamwork, becomes the strongest member of the team. We do get to meet plenty of members of Task Force X who will have their own skill set, with Colonel Flag being the man assigned to keep them in line on the mission. Amanda Waller is the woman that has put to the team together, with Viola Davis being a demanding presence on screen. The characters are lacking a villain though, with most of the threat being a generic Spanish speaking country with a dictator running it, with the largest villain not getting enough to explain what is happening with them.
Story – The story here follows Task Force X as they look to gain some time of their sentences to complete a deadly mission for the American government to bring down the leader of a small island country before they unleash an unknown threat on America. This side of the story does sound like a Rambo or Expendables story, but adding the ‘supervillains’ doing good adds the colourful tactics behind getting the mission done. The story does keep contained with the missions taking place on the singular island, which will keep the story flowing nicely. The biggest weakness comes back to what I said about the first Suicide Squad, none of the supervillains feel like they would be a threat to any of the superheroes in this world, with certain members of the team, feeling like they have just come out of an X-Men film rather than ever doing anything wrong.
Themes – The Suicide Squad is a comic book action film that doesn’t hold back on a violent action we see throughout the mission, it goes against everything we would see the superheroes doing, with bodies piling up everywhere thought the film, the special effects are great to with the different abilities each character has to make them stand out in the film. The island is used to show a generic small nation that hates America wanting to fight back, with each location on the island giving us a different environment to fight in.
Final Thoughts –The Suicide Squad is a big badass action film, filled with laughs, gore and everything you would expect from villains taking the leading roles.
