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.
F9: The Fast Saga
When it comes to The Fast & The Furious franchise, I am all in. I am in particular awe of the journey this series has taken, starting with simple street races and a little VCR thievery to actual space travel in this latest entry. The degree of reality breaking has gone up a staggering amount, and somehow I just accept it all. These movies know exactly they are, and have never for one second pretended otherwise. I love that so much. I also love how much of a soap opera it has become, with dead characters coming back to life on the regular and family secrets coming to haunt you at every corner. Quite simply, I just love this big, dumb, ridiculous franchise, and F9 is a solid entry to the ongoing Fast Saga.
Spoilers for F9 to follow.
The main plot this time around is we find out that a) Dom has a brother b) He is John Cena c) He is after a thing that can do bad things to all things so Dom and team have to stop him and d) Helen Mirren can drive too. We also get Charlize Theron doing a lot of standing and a little bit of walking here and there. Four stars.
OK really, the truth is F9 is easily a lesser entry in the franchise. Director Justin Lin, who helmed F&F 3-6, returns, but screenwriter Chris Morgan, who penned 3-8, doesn’t. It turns out Morgan’s particular insight to this ridiculously conceived world was crucial, even in the worst of entries, and as such F9 feels ever so slightly like a shadow of its formal self. The flip side to that coin is that it took 9 entries to even get a whiff of that kind of fatigue, which is rather impressive when most tend to putter out around 2 or 3 entires.
Even with Morgan gone though, director Lin has a strong enough grasp of the franchise that he keeps it all together. The return of Lin also means a renewed focus on practical stunts, and Lin makes sure to put an absurd amount of cars crashing, blowing up and being pulled through stores by magnets, all in camera baby. It’s a beautiful thing to see.
The set pieces this time around never get as absurd as I’d wish, but the magnet gag deployed throughout the film is cool and unique enough that it satisfies, if not full on impresses. Though an early moment in the film with Dom swinging his vehicle with a rope from a bridge to evade capture was bonkers.
I think what’s really missing from this entry in the sense of camaraderie amongst the characters. The idea of family has been so important and seemingly genuine throughout the series, beginning with Fast Five especially, but here it feels a bit like an afterthought. Don’t get me wrong, they mention it a lot, but it’s glossed over. And I get it, it should be understood at this point, you know? FAMILY. That’s what these guys are all about. But it just doesn’t feel as genuine here.
It doesn’t help that franchise favorite The Rock didn’t return this go round either, leaving a planet size hole of charisma that only he can fill. Everyone else is doing what they’ve been doing for years, with only Kurt Russell and the previously mentioned Mirren being the only ones seemingly having any fun.
John Cena really does try his damnedest though. Every time I see this guy on screen he is giving 110%. Unfortunately, his dynamic doesn’t fit as well as you’d think, as he makes for a pretty bland antagonist. Don’t get me wrong, I love Cena. I think he is particularly good at comedy in a way no one saw coming (he looks like a perfect fit in the upcoming The Suicide Squad), but he just doesn’t have the same intensity to match big head Diesel. But like I said, he tries his best.
Probably the most disappointing thing about F9 is its handling of the return of Han, the beloved character who supposedly died at the end of Tokyo Drift at the hands of Jason Statham. I won’t spoil the explanation, but it’s without a doubt the laziest and lamest reveal of the entire series so far. Though the post credits scene infers that they will be dealing with this situation head on in the next entry, so time will tell if this particular plot line can be redeemed.
I know it seems like I’m coming down hard on this flick, but truthfully I very much enjoyed it. I just have high expectations when it comes to these movies, and I sometimes have a bit of an issue managing those expectations, as such, I often see my opinion go from slightly lukewarm to in love with each successive viewing. I slowly fall in love with what the movie is, instead of crying for what I wanted it to be . For example, it took three viewings of The Fate of the Furious for me to accept it as the enjoyable insanity that it is (The Rock does force a torpedo into a new direction with his bare hand, after all).
What’s most important is F9 entertained me throughout. You most likely know by now if you’re into these movies or not. If you’re not, F9 will do nothing to change your mind. And if you are, F9 will do nothing to change your mind.