Released on Friday, Aug. 6, “The Suicide Squad” stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Idris Elba as Bloodsport and John Cena as Peacemaker. The film follows the story of the U.S. government creating a team of villains to do its dirty work. Director James Gunn introduced complexity into his recent release, but it lacks in other aspects.
Robbie has mastered Quinn and brings massive amounts of entertainment to the film as she reprises her character. Quinn is the villain that, without Robbie, wouldn’t seem right. Another character that was fantastically done on Gunn’s part in this film was King Shark, voiced by Sylvester Stalone. The unlikely “hero” is absolutely hilarious, bringing childlike humor and feelings to the story. For a shark and human hybrid, King Shark’s personality doesn’t just stop at the surface — the film instead goes in-depth with his emotions. The physical humor throughout the film was a significant plus. Gunn made the physical humor tie to the villains well, and the team works great together.
Elba and Cena did fine in their performances, but nothing stands out. Elba might have the upper hand, playing his character slightly better, but it feels as if Cena is there just for his image. “Ratcatcher 2,” the daughter and protege of the original Ratcatcher, played by Daniela Melchior and Polka-Dot Man, played by David Dastmalchian, are more interesting characters than expected. Melchior and Dastmalchian played their roles well, given how unique the comic book personas are, and gave enough in their performance to capture their characters’ full personalities. The disturbing weasel, played by Gunn’s brother Sean, is an interesting character worth mentioning who adds weird humor to the film.
The plot itself is mediocre at best, with high and low points spread across various parts of the film. The most entertaining scenes include humor or interesting action shots. “The Suicide Squad” had a lot of potential, and with Gunn, it should have been better than it was. Knowing Gunn’s previous work on “Guardians of the Galaxy,” this film carries anticipation and definitely shines by showing his technique, but it was a bit of a let down. Every DC film plot relies on the end of the world, but it doesn’t have to end that way to be a good film.
The music choices are fantastic, and every song flows with the tone of the film. Another aspect of this film that set it apart was its R-rating. As an R-rated film, Gunn was able to expand on action scenes and gore that, if the film were any other rating, would be a disaster. Gunn also presents the unexpected through this R-rating, adding a little spice to the plot twists in the film, especially within the opening scenes.
There are little details in the dialogue that make certain scenes stand out a little more than the rest. Compared to the first “Suicide Squad,” released in 2016 and directed by David Ayer, the heroes’ oppositions in the recent release don’t feel like villains, or even like they would make a good team. The assembly and scenes dedicated to showing the first “Suicide Squad” were incredible, especially since it started to integrate more of DC into the film by introducing Batman and The Flash. This film lacked a solid foundation and focused more on the action than making a great full-circle plot. To be fair, the other Suicide Squad wasn’t great in this particular area either, but it had its high points.
Overall, “The Suicide Squad” introduced humor and great action scenes, but the film would have been better if the plot added more details.
