The Suicide Squad Review

James Gunn helms the direction for this new Suicide Squad movie starring Idris Elba and Margot Robbie. The film was a welcoming success with plenty of action, violence and humour that holds a steady balance over the 2 hour and 13 minutes run time.

A gratifying film full of fun twists and turns and great unexpected moments. Despite the trailer showing a lot of characters in the new Task Force X, the high numbers are handled very well in the film. It was refreshing to see mostly brand new characters to further expand the DC universe.

Fans will be happy to see Harley Quinn back in the Squad alongside newcomers Bloodsport, Peacemaker, King Shark, Ratcatcher II and Polka-Dot Man. We also see the return of Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang aswell as some additional new characters who serve their purposes effectively. 

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

The film opens up with Savant (played by Michael Rooker) sitting in prison bouncing a ball. The markings on the wall indicate he's great at rebound shots, he demonstrates this when a bird lands on the ground and he bounces the ball off the walls and crushes the bird's head, a graphic scene and the film had barely begun.

In comes Amanda Waller who recruits him for Task Force X. In montage fashion, we see the other recruits assemble. The Squad consists of Savant, Blackguard, T.D.K, Javelin, Mongal, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, Weasel and Colonel Rick Flag. Each member is typically implanted with a fail-safe bomb in their heads incase they decide to go awol during the mission. Amanda Waller again offers them reduced prison sentences if they complete the mission.

The Squad are deployed to Corto Maltese where they need to infiltrate a fortress called Jotunheim, it houses an experimental lab, their job is to destroy what's inside and bring down the dictators controlling it. The Task Force engage on a beach against an army of soldiers and very quickly things go south. Most of the Squad are killed in amazing and unique fashion.  A few surviving members are left to fend for themselves.

Then it flashes back "three days earlier" where Amanda Waller is recruiting more members. Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Rat Catcher II, Polka-Dot Man and King Shark. These members are given a separate mission in Corto Maltese and we learn that Amanda Waller simply used the first team as a distraction whilst the second team snuck on the island. This also shows the lengths that Amanda Waller was willing to go to in order to infiltrate Corto Maltese.

It ties the intro in very nicely and allows for a broader story. Aswell as carrying out the mission, the Squad must now find Colonel Rick Flag and Harley Quinn who were both separately missing in action.

From this point on, the film is full of funny scenes, over the top violence and a great soundtrack. It also takes the time to touch on backstories of some of the characters, we quickly learn that Bloodsport doesn't like rats, King Shark is learning to not eat his friends and Polka-Dot Man has some unresolved issues with his mother.

Each Squad member also had their own badass moment and it was difficult to pick a favourite character throughout. The final battle against Starro the Conqueror was an epic fight and was handled very well. The film goes all in showing a giant starfish smashing down buildings in Corto Maltese and possessing the civilians with face-hugger style starfish spawn, it was difficult to see how the Squad were going to tackle this giant alien.

James Gunn also made this film feel even more like an actual comic book. There were screen transitions that layed the story out in to chapters, much like you would see in a comic book and done in a very creative way.

The plot was thrilling and featured some great twists along the way, a little darker than the previous Suicide Squad film and far more enjoyable.

On the whole, I thought this was an excellent film. It kept the momentum going for the entire run time and it was violent, funny and enjoyable and everything a Suicide Squad movie should be.

I seriously hope that Warner Bros can put their focuses on these villainous characters like those in the Suicide Squad, that way, it has a different audience expectation and also allows them to explore characters that most people would never have even heard of. Personally, I think this is where DC films should put their focuses. They can expand their universe beyond superheroes and delve further in to the great villains that are featured throughout DC comics.

In my opinion, this film deserves a 9.5/10 because I believe it really was that good. I can't wait to see where they take the Task Force next and hopefully James Gunn will direct the potential sequel.