The Suicide Squad is a James Gunn superhero movie without restraints, violent and also kinda funny! The film is written and directed by James Gunn who had wrote and directed Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). There is sounds of crowd cheering for Johnny Cash singing “Fulsom Prison Blues”, kinda appropriate with the Belle Reve prison. We get Michael Rooker’s character in orange prison fatigues, throwing a ball, along on a bench facing the wall. Rooker was Yondu in Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy films. A canary peeps, but finds no love from the prisoner. He is met by Amanda Waller played by Viola Davis. The character was introduced in Legends #1 (1986). Davis was last seen in the August Wilson adaptation, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, playing the title character. Waller gives the prisoner the Suicide Squad’s purpose and a remote bomb implanted in the back of his neck. The doctor who sneers at the prisoner after injecting the bomb is Dr. Fitzgibbon played by John Ostrander, he created the modern version of the Suicide Squad in Legends #3 (1987) and the comic book series that inspired Gunn.
The prisoner is greeted by Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) who identifies him as Savant. Flag was introduced with the rest of the new Suicide Squad in Legends #3. The villain first appeared in Birds of Prey #56 (2003). Kinnaman was in the drama, The Secrets We Keep (2020). Savant is taken out of a door and this switches to a prison van. A quick pan shows Savant’s fellow team members; a character played by Nathan Fillion, Jai Courtney, Flula Borg’s prisoner twirls a javelin, Mayling Ng's character steps down from another van, and Pete Davidson’s character taunts a guard, not funny. This seems like an odd mix of villains who may not all survive their mission. Then, a shrieking Weasel (Sean Gunn) appears at the back of a prison van. They do the epic slo-mo walk in front of the American flag as Rick Flag introduces them; Captain Boomerang (Courtney) he along with Waller and Flag were in the last Suicide Squad (2016) movie, he was a villain introduced in Flash #117 (1960). Next, Blackguard who was introduced in Booster Gold #1 (1986) while Davidson was also in his bio film, King of Staten Island (2020).
Mongal is introduced, she first appeared in Showcase `95 #8 (1995), an alien with orangish skin, Ng was in the action movie, Debt Collectors (2020). Then, Javelin, a villain first seen in Green Lantern #173 (1984), and Borg was in the comedy, Bad Therapy (2020). TDK in his green armor, a new character, played by Fillion who is known for the lead role in the police show, The Rookie. Lastly, Weasel, a strange, fur-covered human weasel with bulging eyes, he was introduced in non-weasel form in The Fury of Firestorm #35 (1985). Gunn was Kraglin in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. The last team member shows up and it’s Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie). She of course was seen in the first Suicide Squad movie and Robbie as Harley was in Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020). Boomerang notes that Harley was brought back to Belle Reve and that this is sequel to the first film. They take off in a V-22 Osprey, an aircraft with two helicopter-like blades.
A group of Belle Reve technicians go over the profiles of this squad and make bets on whether they will survive, maybe Flag, Boomerang, and Harley. Waller checks in on them and leaves disappointed. She contacts Flag and wants them to get to the beach. Javelin asks about TDK’s name, gets an uncertain response, funny. Flag gets them ready to drop out of the Osprey at night. The airplane hovers above the misty, dark waters of a sea. Weasel drops, but it turns out he can’t swim! Savant drags him to the surface, but he reports that he died. The others reach the beach and take cover by the rocks. Blackguard reveals himself and shouts out that he contacted the army. He doesn’t last long. Flag notes that the Corto Maltese army is there. The country is an island off of South America that first appeared in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns #3 (1986). Harley is ready to take them on with a rocket launcher. She runs and reaches the safety of some rocks further on the beach with Flag and TDK. Waller orders The Detachable Kid in and he stands up sending his arms to smack around some soldiers, hilarious!
Mongal leaps for a helicopter and Savant watches as his teammates are cut down! He panics and starts to swim away from the ambush. Waller warns him and uses the Suicide Squad contingency plan, this is something that was threatened, but not seen in the earlier film. This team was just a diversion for the second team on the north beach. Waller notes that there is no opposition for the leader of team two, Idris Elba’s character in a helmeted, black suit. Superman #4 (1987) was his first appearance. He is on the beach with four other members of his team. Money is passed around by Waller’s team, including Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland) and John Economos (Steve Agee), both of whom are in the Peacemaker series. We get a flashback to “3 Days Earlier”, Elba’s character is cleaning the prison. Blackguard drops some sticky stuff next to him. Waller and her team is watching the man whom she says is Robert DuBois, a marksman known as Bloodsport. Very similar to Deadshot. The character was played by David St. Louis in a 2017 episode of Supergirl. Waller debriefs them on Bloodsport including that he shot Superman with a Kryptonite bullet. This was in his first comic book appearance.
He refuses to join her Suicide Squad. DuBois has a visitor, his daughter, Tyla (Storm Reid). The actress was in horror movie, The Invisible Man (2020). They get into an argument which turns into a screaming match. She says she is embarrassed about her father and that she has a court date coming up. DuBois is furious about this with Waller and she says her daughter could end up in Belle Reve. He takes a pen to her throat before the guards can cover him with guns. Waller shouts for them to stand down. She is absolutely unwavering for the mission priority which she will accomplish at any cost. Waller says that this mission is too important. She leads him to his team. The first is Christopher Smith (John Cena) whose introduction was in Fightin’ 5 #40 (1966). Cena was also in this year’s F9: The Fast Saga with Rooker. DuBois starts to argue with him who is the better marksman. Peacemaker is a psychotic character that will kill as many people for what he calls “peace.” Waller brings them into the cell of Nanaue, King Shark, the bulky, shark-headed man. His first appearance was in Superboy #0 (1994). The character was also in several episodes of The Flash.
King Shark holds a book upside down trying to seem as if he is reading it. He is of course voiced by Sylvester Stallone who was Stakar Ogrod in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017). There is a simplicity to the character’s brutality and mind that is charming like Groot. After Waller takes them past female inmates who whistle for Smith, he doesn’t notice, she takes them to see Cleo Cazo (Daniela Melchior) known as Ratcatcher 2. This is Melchior’s first English language movie, but she has a strange kindness and of course has a Ratatouille personality rat. You might end up liking rats with this movie. She is named after her father who died. There was a Ratcatcher Bat-Man villain, but this version is new. Waller wakes her up from bed with walls covered with rat drawings. She has a rat, Sebastian, perched on her shoulder. DuBois is repulsed by her rat power. The last member is Abner Krill (David Dastcmalchian) called the Polka-Dot Man. Krill first appeared in Detective Comics #300 (1962). Dastcmalchian was in Gunn's The Belko Experiment (2016).
Later, Waller in a theater, shows them a map of Corto Maltese. President General Silvio Luna (Juan Digo Botto) has overthrown the royal Herrera family with the help of General Mateo Suarez (Joaquin Cosio). She then shows them a research facility called Jotunheim that is working on “Project Starfish.” Waller next shows them the lead scientist, Gaius Grieves, The Thinker (Peter Capaldi), in charge of Project Starfish. The Thinker, Clifford Devoe first appeared in All-Flash #12 (1943), the Grieves identity is new for the villain. Devoe was a supervillain in The Flash played by Neil Sandilands. Waller says that the project involves something extraterrestrial. There is a return to when Bloodshot’s second team reaches the beach. They see the explosions from the first team and continue until Bloodshot orders them to bunker down. There is some conflict between the team members. Polka Dot Man has his face bulging with glowing polka dots. King Shark has an annoying habit of eating people. Bloodsport is contacted by Waller that their new mission is to rescue Flag who was found to be alive. King Shark fills his appetite. Both Bloodsport and Peacemaker try to outdo each other in their kills. Polka Dot Man throws his polka dots which disintegrates a tower.
Then, they find Flag and also a rebel leader, Sol Soria (Alice Braga). The actress was Dr. Reyes in The New Mutants (2020). At his lab, The Thinker finds that Luna has killed his men and shows the general government footage of finding the starfish-like creature that spouts tiny versions that attach to people’s faces and makes it grow stronger! It is known as Starro the Conqueror and was introduced in Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), the first villain faced by the Justice League of America! Starro was also in the comedy superhero show Powerless. Taika Waititi makes an interesting cameo. The violence is fully R-rated, very James Gunn, as is the language, but it has his odd sensibility in the best way! So this leads a question: Could Gunn keep his superhero movie intact while toning down some of the explicit violence and some of the language? Looking at Guardians of the Galaxy (2013), the answer is yes, but it would still can be seen as a quirky, James Gunn movie. Then, there is no similar violence and language in the comic books, which was approved by the Comics Code Authority. The Suicide Squad is faced with a Justice League-level threat, where are they by the way?, Gunn has a group of anti-heroes that are new or re-imagined. He can handle a number of super characters and give them time to have distinct personalities. The Suicide Squad features an interesting cast, filtered through the strange James Gunn lens, with a bit of the ultra violence and salty language!
Four Polka Dots out of Five!
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