The Suicide Squad

Despite the continued commercial and critical success of the genre, I just get an inkling that a crossroads is approaching for the superhero movie. With the depth and level of commitment for the viewer ever increasing, and a gradual switch in characters with the bigger names being usurped by those more niche, it feels like a race to not be the film to get diminishing returns.

Who knows, maybe that day will never come? With the enormous success and quality of the MCU Disney+ shows, and the excitement surrounding the next slate of films on the horizon, maybe this golden era will continue indefinitely but, as a fan, it’s hard to shake the idea that the more casual audiences tuning out could affect the genre.

Perhaps the lack of competition will serve to keep its lead in the blockbuster race though, with huge franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean etc. coming to an end, it has left Marvel and DC as the clear frontrunners and, to their eternal credit, neither are exactly resting on their laurels.

Nothing needs to be said about Marvel’s perfection of the form with the MCU and much has been written about DC’s attempts to keep up and the relative mess they’ve made in doing so. The fractions within the studio and the editing problems have affected too many of the DCEU entries (with Zack Snyder’s Justice League proving just how much of a problem the meddling has caused.) The first Suicide Squad was perhaps the most damaged by some horrendous tinkering and it’s the job of The Suicide Squad (the definite article clearly an attempt to scrub the first from the slate) to prove that DC have learnt their lesson.

Let’s start by saying this is very much the film the first should have been and delivers on this brilliant concept. DC brought in a man in James Gunn who has proven his worth in bringing the outliers of the canon very much into the centre with Guardians of the Galaxy, and he pulls the same trick here.

But (unfortunately, yes, there is a but) it still leaves a slightly nasty taste in the mouth. Most significantly, the utter lack of tethering to the rest of the DCEU is damn near unforgivable at this stage (a cursory nod to Superman notwithstanding.) Harley Quinn has probably had more screen time than any other character in this universe so not linking her in with the wider narrative is just risible at this point.

What are they trying to do? Have they decided that another Justice League will kill the universe? Are they definitely writing Jarod Leto’s Joker out even after Snyder dropped him into his version of JL? Is Gotham City Sirens ever happening? Are we going to see Batman return to Gotham in a solo film? Far too many questions this far into a franchise which should be building up to a ‘phase ending’ villain and movie.

It’s also clearly the moment where DC plant their flag in the ‘most violent’ and ‘most sweary’ stakes in an attempt to nab these titles from Marvel’s extended output with Venom and Deadpool. Now, this really isn’t a problem (although, linking back to the previous point, not sure how kid-friendly Shazam fits in here) but there are times where it feels a little cynical and playing for controversy.

It largely works, and is largely funny, but there’s a little lack of wit, a lack of self-awareness, a lack of Deadpool’s tongue-in-cheek despite including Harley and [slight spoiler] spending a lot of time blowing up minor DC characters.

Let’s talk positive though and try to discuss the film on its own merit, away from its genre constraints and competition. What we have here is a colourful, funny, thrilling cinema experience which does, as aforementioned, deliver on the concept in ways the first could only hint at. Having villains and anti-heroes tasked with completing government missions means characters are expendable, characters can play on the line of good and evil, they can be funny and depraved and not balanced by heroic deeds.

Put simply, villains are just more fun and that’s very much what this film delivers on: the fun. Whether it’s a game of one-upmanship killing between Peacemaker and Bloodsport (which ends with a great punchline), another top-tier Harley sequence where her bullets and blood spatters turn to flowers, or a climactic battle with a giant alien starfish, it’s an absolute thrill ride.

Whilst it’s a shame to lose some of the team from the first film (one of its few successes) the newbies easily match them with Idris Elba and John Cena particularly excellent and Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn surely now in a tug-of-war with Wonder Woman for MVP of the whole DCEU thus far.

Daniela Melchior and David Dastmalchian are fantastic as Ratcatcher 2 and Polka-Dot Man, two characters with interesting and sympathetic backstories, and King Shark is a vast improvement on Killer Croc because, not only can you understand what he’s saying, but they also play the character for laughs. Holding everything together and almost single-handedly balancing the silliness with seriousness is the returning Viola Davis as Amanda Waller with an absolutely towering performance.

It’s got a great soundtrack, it provides enough original moments, character deaths and top-class set pieces to really stand out in an over-saturated genre and has given us another fresh starting point for DC to ‘really’ begin this universe.

Whether they now deliver and proceed from here in the right way shouldn’t affect how this film is viewed, neither should past failures, so for once I’m going to end a DCEU review on a positive note of praise and relief and boldly position this as the peak of the franchise so far.

4 stars ****