The Suicide Squad

Mild spoilers for The Suicide Squad to follow.

James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad is an insanely entertaining, hilarious, and gory delight of a comic book movie. The director gets to let his traditionally R rated sensibilities shine on a huge comic book movie for the first time, and the result is a film that makes you completely forget that the first installment even exists.

I don’t want to talk too much shit about the original Suicide Squad. We all know it’s bad, nothing can change that now. But one of the true miracles this new entry achieves is that it immediately washes the bad taste of that movie out of your mouth by setting up a new (ish) squad and a new mission within the first five minutes and never looks back.

Returning this time around are Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flagg, Jai Courtney as Captain Boomerang, Viola Davis as the SOB in charge Amanda Waller, and of course Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn.

As for the new cast? Shit. It’s madness. Idris Elba, John Cena, David Dastmalchian, Pete Davidson, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Steve Agee, Flula Borg, Sylvester Stallone, and newcomer Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher II.

Everyone here is cast and used to perfection. Some are only around for 10 minutes, others not much longer, but they all get some kind of moment to stand out, and it’s a testament to Gunn’s abilities to be able to juggle such a huge cast so well. Oh, and he definitely kills off a few characters that you thought were 100% safe.

Anywho, I have to highlight this cast, as they are simply too good to not talk about.

Idris Elba is a mountain of charisma here. The actor is clearly relishing the chance to just have fun, as he goes from hilarious to badass often in the same scene. What’s even better is that his character is quite clearly a piece of shit, as an early scene demonstrates with a heartbreaking and often hilarious exchange with his estranged daughter. Elba carries the film with ease, and I’m hoping we get to see his Bloodsport pop up in the future.

John Cena’s The Peacemaker is the best fit for Cena yet as an on screen performer. I think the former wrestler excels with comedic material, and The Suicide Squad finally finds the perfect balance of both his physical and comedic abilities. There is one scene is particular where Elba and Cena are trying to out do one another while on a raid that had me howling thanks to Cena’s timing and axe wielding abilities.

David Dastmalchian (The Dark Knight, Prisoners, Ant-Man, Blade Runner 2049) plays Polka-Dot Man, an actual character from the comics that emits radioactive polka-dots that disintegrate anything they touch. This is one of the weirdest characters in the movie, whose backstory is a tragi-comic bit of insanity, and Dastmalchian is the perfect kind of odd to make it work.

Joel Kinnaman is an actor I’ve had a hard time getting used to all these years. No, I never saw The Killing. No reason, just never happened. Everything else I saw him in he was never anything more than adequate, so I just didn’t understand all the love. But I just recently started watching For All Mankind, his show on AppleTV about what would have happened if the space race never ended. It’s a really cool concept and Joel is really great in it. And here, he feels more loose and relaxed than ever, even nailing a few jokes. I guess I’m finally joing this Kinnaman train.

Daniela Melchior plays Ratcatcher II, and yes, she has the ability to control rats. Melchior is effortless onscreen, showcasing a natural vulnerability that keeps her from being overshadowed by this movie star filled cast.

Finally, there’s Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. I think it’s safe to say at this point that Robbie’s casting as Quinn is up there with Heath Ledger as The Joker or Christopher Reeve as Superman. Robbie embodies the character to perfection, equal parts funny, deadly and all the way deranged. Each outing Robbie has had with this character as gotten better (I fucking LOVED Birds of Prey) and The Suicide Squad is no exception. Quinn spends a good portion of the movie on her own after she gets separated from the rest of the group fairly early on, so we get to spend some time with her while she is being courted by a wannabe dictator from Corto Maltese, where the mission takes place. In one 10 minute sequence we see Harley go through a roller coaster of emotions that ends in one of the most fun set pieces in the movie.

Oh yea, and Stallone is flat out great as King Shark, because duh.

Highlighting the cast I think is the best way to recommend The Suicide Squad, because the movie almost feels like a Hang Out movie. I mean, this whole flick is about the dynamic of this group and the laughs and theatrics that follow suit. The plot or motivations don’t really matter that much (which is sometimes the point). Thankfully, Gunn didn’t just make a mindless movie that wastes a good cast (AHEM), but rather he went with a very Comic Book type of scenario that fits this particular world perfectly.

All in all, I loved The Suicide Squad. I think the cast was aces across the board (I would really love to watch a Weasel movie) and writer/director Gunn keeps the vibe weird, unique, unexpected, and above all else, funny.