The Suicide Squad Review: A High Energy, Violent Explosion of Comic Book Craziness

Release date: August 6, 2021
Running time: 125 minutes
Directed By: James Gunn
Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson, Joaquín Cosio, Juan Diego Botto, Storm Reid, Nathan Fillion, Steve Agee, Sean Gunn, Mayling Ng, Flula Borg, Jennifer Holland and Tinashe Kajese, with Sylvester Stallone, and Viola Davis

Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-anddestroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

The Suicide Squad is pure, unadulterated insanity from start to finish.  And what a fun crazy ride it is.  The film knows what it does right and that is just follow the vision of James Gunn. The suicide squad has an all star cast but what is so great about the movie is not the individuals involved, but their collective effort.  The movie is at its best when this rag tag group of characters interact and clash in strange ways, and as you learn more about each of these villains turned heroes, you appreciate them all the more.  The group starts off as a thrown together misfit band, and by the end they are still a dysfunctional - functional lovable team.

And the Suicide Squad is just funny.  It is so so funny.  The movie has ridiculousness, humor, sarcasm, everything that you would expect from this collection of characters.  The comedy hits you right from the start, from some super heroes with useless or ridiculous powers to some less than reverent deaths that occur.  The movie knows what will keep the audience entertained and does that for the whole two hours.  There is so much just latent humor in this cast and film, from characters doing ridiculous things, to coming out dressed in strange outfits, to having the perfect reaction to strange events.  And I also liked that DC gave Gunn the freedom to pull from some of this back catalog and showcase some very unconventional, some might say useless, super heroes.  DC definitely put their trust in Gunn and it paid off big time here. 

And it wouldn't be a summer blockbuster without some intense action, and The Suicide Squad has that in droves as well.  The explosions are as big as any Michael Bay movie, the violence is as over the top as any Tarantino movie (and also there is a prominent foot scene), and the humor is trademark Gunn.  The film is just a wildly violent, colorful, explosion of insanity from start to finish.  

The Suicide Squad is a wildly violent, colorful, and entertaining explosion of insanity from start to finish, with a phenomenal cast that collectively make it the best DC movie ever.

Watch it.

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The Suicide Squad is available in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6, 2021.  It will leave HBO Max after September 6, 2021.  For tickets to see it in theaters, click here. 

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