The Suicide Squad Review

Ahh, DC Comics. Some of the greatest stories I ever read in comic books came from DC Comics. Their success in comics at times were reflected in animation, from the original Batman the Animated Series to Justice League. Those in turn were reflected in some very successful animated movies, example, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Justice League: Gods and Monsters.

The same cannot be said about their live action films though, as some of it was hit or miss. While I enjoyed Aquaman, I cannot say the same about the movie most people want to forget about, Wonder Woman 1984 or the even worse Green Lantern.

So imagine my low expectations sitting down for my first viewing of The Suicide Squad. What did this DC comics geek think about the film: It’s actually pretty good.

It’s actually pretty good

Wizzard on The Suicide Squad

The Suicide Squad is supposed to be a direct sequel to the 2015 film Suicide Squad, however, I would describe it more as part sequel, part reboot. The film is directly by James Gunn (of Guardians of the Galaxy fame), and I have to say with his direction, The Suicide Squad is significantly better than the first film. With a comedic approach, better pacing, and plenty of violence that follows the source material, The Suicide Squad is a movie I can recommend to any DC Comics fan, or superhero (villain?) fan in general.

Only a few of the characters from the original movie return in this sequel. Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, and Joel Kinnaman return as Harley Quinn, Amanda Waller, and Rick Flag respectively. Margot Robbie still shines as bright as she did in the original with her performance as Harley Quinn. Will Smith, unfortunately, does not return in this sequel.

Margot Robbie still shines as bright as she did in the original

Wizzard on The Suicide Squad

A few new characters are added, with Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man (yes you heard that right), Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher, and Sylvester Stallone as King Shark. The choices for these particular villains to be chosen as our super team seems to be a bit questionable (I mean really, polka dots and rats?), but DC made it work, and I will admit, for this film they worked well together as our super “hero” team.

There was another team that I would really have liked to see more of, as Michael Rooker (of Walking Dead fame), and Nathan Fillion (of Firefly fame) also played characters in a separate team that we only saw very early in the film. I would have liked to see more of this team, even though Nathan Fillion’s character TDK (The Detachable Kid) was an absolutely comical choice to be added to the roster.

TDK (The Detachable Kid) was an absolutely comical choice to be added to the roster.

Wizzard on The Suicide Squad

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The cast does well in this film, their performances were on the spot. We are probably not looking at any Academy Award Winning performances here, but the cast did a good job in keeping with the film’s tone. The visuals were equally impressive, as there was plenty of eye candy for anyone that wants to see comic book action! The film was funny, full of action, grotesque, a bit cliché, and included a final battle that I think was very disappointing.

My recommendation: Watch this film

WARNING: Major Spoilers Below

The mission they are on, reveals the island of Corto Maltese, and their mission requires them to destroy a secret superweapon that is taken over by the dictatorship of the island. That superweapon is revealed to be Starro the Conqueror, which I was very surprised that DC had picked for their super villain. What I would have like to have seen more of, is Starro taking control of super powered beings and having our Suicide Squad engage in an epic battle with those super powered beings (If anyone remembers the animated show Batman Beyond, Starro takes control of the entire Justice League in the two part episode “The Call”).

The scenes revealing Starro, with the standard cliché that the U.S. Government is involved with this superweapon, were a bit difficult to watch as it was a bit grotesque, it showed some of the violent experiments that the government did to see the extent of Starro’s abilities. The final battle against Starro was….disappointing, as I had hoped for a more epic battle since I have been spoiled by Marvel’s Avengers films and even the Justice League film.