I watched The Suicide Squad a few weeks ago and have been trying to motivate myself to write a review of it. But I just can’t. Maybe it’s because I went on vacation right after I watched it. Maybe it’s because I’m tired of recapping superhero movies. Or maybe it’s because the majority of it didn’t stick in my brain. So, this isn’t a review of The Suicide Squad, these are just my thoughts.
I like the introductions of the new characters, but most of them don’t end up being too memorable. John Cena is good as Peacemaker, a “douchebag Captain America”; but his storyline is obvious. Will Smith didn’t return as Deadshot, instead, Idris Elba is introduced as Bloodsport, another very talented criminal who’s doing the mission for his daughter’s sake. His plot feels an awful lot like a retread of Deadshot’s in the first movie. The clear standout is King Shark, a Sharkoid human figure portrayed using CGI and Sylvester Stallone’s voice. He’s got a dopey charm, which is aided a lot by the casting of Stallone.
For the cast that returned, the big star is obviously Margot Robbie. I appreciate that they continuing her character development from the first movie and from her spin-off. And once again Robbie is great as Harley Quinn; but for whatever reason, she’s not as captivating as she was in Birds of Prey or the original. Joel Kinnaman returns as Col. Rick Flag. He’s still the straight man without powers, but they tried to give more of a personality this time around. He’s a little more bearable. And of course, Viola Davis is back as the amoral Amanda Waller, the government big shot who will get things done by any means necessary. This time they show a little more behind the scenes of how she gets things done, and how even her employees can’t believe what she’s asking them to do sometimes. Removing some of the mystery makes her less scary. Also, Jai Courtney is back as Captain Boomerang. I don’t get why. I forget Captain Boomerang is in these movies while I’m watching them.
The plot is a standard Superhero action movie plot, I don’t care to go over it. There is only one interesting thing about it that I can’t talk about because it’s a spoiler.
This is an objectively better movie than the original. I enjoyed it while I watched it. But I’m not going to remember in the future. Suicide Squad was a mess. It took big swings and missed most of the time. But it was an entertaining mess, and yeah we remember the stupid parts, but at least we remember them. Honestly, I can see myself going back and watching Suicide Squad before I go back and The Suicide Squad.
If you’re really interested in this movie and you have HBO MAX and nothing better to do, watch it. Just don’t expect that director James Gunn elevated The Suicide Squad the way he did the similarly obscure Marvel property Guardians of the Galaxy. I wouldn’t pay to see this in theaters, and I wouldn’t buy HBO MAx for this.