“Nothing like a bloodbath to start the day.” —Peacemaker
Today’s quick review: The Suicide Squad. Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) recruits the mercenary Bloodsport (Idris Elba) to lead the latest incarnation of Task Force X, a black ops team made up of super-powered prisoners. Bloodsport takes a team consisting of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Peacemaker (John Cena), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), and a handful of other misfits to destroy a research facility on the South American island of Corto Maltese.
The Suicide Squad is a violent superhero action comedy written and directed by James Gunn. The story follows a team of expendable criminals on a covert mission for the United States government. The Suicide Squad features stylized direction, a high body count, and an ensemble cast that shows off some of DC Comics’ least beloved characters. The movie’s particular flavor of black humor will appeal to some viewers, but others will find it hollow.
The Suicide Squad’s greatest strength is its ability to explore ideas that would never fly in a conventional superhero movie. Excessive gore, a large cast of joke characters, a plot that lurches from catastrophe to catastrophe, and an endless stream of macabre humor make the movie a treat for anyone whose tastes skew that way. The movie is also stylized throughout, playing some clever games with the way it presents its events to the audience.
The cast is another major draw of the film. Margot Robbie reprises her role as Harley Quinn and delivers some of the film’s best lines. Idris Elba acts as the reluctant team leader and keeps the mission on track. John Cena is his foil as Peacemaker, a soldier with a skewed sense of patriotism. Notable supporting roles include Viola Davis as Amanda Waller, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, and David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man.
The Suicide Squad fares somewhat worse with its story. The central plot thread works just fine: Task Force X embarks on a covert mission where nothing goes according to plan. But the movie takes a lot of detours along the way, many of which do not pay off. Side characters take the spotlight for long stretches, minor jokes take minutes to set up, and even major characters like Harley Quinn get sidetracked with subplots that don’t really matter.
The Suicide Squad also faces the unenviable challenge of making a cast of murderers and misfits into characters the audience can root for. The handful of sympathetic characters carry the story in this regard, but the movie is short on character development where it counts. By the time the audience has a reason to care, most of the cast has died and the heroes have made several grim mistakes.
How much you get out of The Suicide Squad will vary wildly. For the right viewer, it is a rare superhero movie that gets to take risks and indulge in graphic violence. Its black humor, artistry, and cast will make it an entertaining and unconventional watch. But for the wrong viewer, The Suicide Squad will have too much grisly humor and not enough heroism, resulting in a dim parody of the genre with little emotional weight behind it.
For a more conventional superhero movie drawing from the same source material, try the original Suicide Squad. For a superhero movie with more sharply honed black comedy, try Deadpool or Deadpool 2. For a more grounded subversion of the superhero genre, try Kick-Ass and its sequel. For a more heartfelt superhero movie about a band of misfits from the same director, try Guardians of the Galaxy.
[7.5 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6334354/). I give it a 7.0 to 7.5 for a strong cast, a distinctive style, and hit-or-miss storytelling and humor.