It can get better

So “The Suicide Squad” is a sorta sequel/sorta reboot but mostly I have to give James Gunn credit because what it really is is well planned out; something that the DCEU as a franchise has struggled with. But this: Gunn doesn’t waste time on explaining things again, we know that this squad is a band of criminals recruited to a black ops unit already, so Gunn can go ahead and assemble his own team- a B team which becomes far more enjoyable to watch (which should technically make them the A-Team, right?) come together, taking part in a mission that’s weirder but, somehow, still can be taken more seriously than the first movie’s villain.


Idris Elba and John Cena are the frontrunners on the new team. Elba’s Bloodsport proves to be a way more volatile, enraged protagonist (he did put Superman in the ICU) than Will Smith’s Deadshot and he butts heads a lot with Cena’s Peacemaker, who is heavily into being a sadist to preserve the American way. There is a disturbing nature to the way these characters conduct themselves, and there should be. Gunn makes sure this entire team are not sweethearts: many of them are demented, selfishly motivated criminals and he is confident enough to let them stand as such and work themselves out to where some are cancers that need to be cut out of the group while others see benefits to the team dynamic and become more than just their edgy exteriors.


And speaking of, Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn is back again and I think we finally have a movie that understands her: the abuse she suffered, the insanity that sprung from that, and the lethalness of her retributions. Past films have tried to turn her into “Deadpool” or DC’s answer to female empowerment, but there is something darker in her, and this feels like the first movie to really get that right.


Mostly i’m impressed with the unpredictability of what Gunn brings here. We have supporting characters who have some of the strangest/cleverest superpowers i’ve ever seen, there’s a talking shark voiced by Sylvester Stallone, and Dr. Whos’ Peter Capaldi plays a villain with brain charging spark plugs on his head. And that’s not even to mention the destruction and mayhem of the starfish ending. Gunn can also toy more with the R-rating; it’s not so much the blood and gore, but the shock value of how Gunn incorporates it that can be very funny.
Not all of this movie is: the wit of his jokes often don’t go past things you might see written on a bathroom wall and a lot of the plot makes you sit back and wonder how serious it’s actually trying to be. But it’s watching these ragtag, disparate characters, their compelling backstories and their slowly evolving chemistry that takes precedent and gives the film it’s real conflict.


Plus the performances are terrific from everyone, including Viola Davis, whose government agent, Amanda Waller, is again more ruthless than any villain the team could meet. David Dastmalchian and newcomer Daniela Melchior also deserve a lot of credit for finding some heart and soul underneath their quirky anti-heroes. It goes without saying that this version blows the 2016 version away; thanks to Gunn, this “Suicide Squad” may have a future afterall.