The Suicide Squad

UK Release Date: 30 July 2021

Certification: 15

Director: James Gunn

Cast: Peter Capaldi, John Cena, David Dastmalchian, Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Joel Kinnaman, Daniela Melchior, Margot Robbie, Sylvester Stallone

Rating: 87%

'Don't get too attached.'

Review:

The Suicide Squad is DC's latest addition to their extended universe. With a huge cast, witty director and gory action, it's certainly one of their best.  

The ensemble cast is simply extraordinary. Margot Robbie is, as always, great as Harley Quinn - who's by far my favourite character in the DCEU. Her comedic timing is spot on as well as her violent, maniacal impulses. Viola Davis is utterly hard as nails as Amanda Waller. The power she has over supervillains, serial killers, the worst of the worst is sensational. Every new addition absolutely kills it. The back and forth one-uping of each other  between John Cena's Peacemaker and Idris Elba's Bloodsport is one of the highlights of the movie. Sylvester Stallone decapitates people, eats people and rips them in half during the runtime of The Suicide Squad whilst still remaining loveable as King Shark. Daniela Melchior's Ratcatcher 2 provides the audience with an emotional connection. But the standout is Polka Dot Man played by the talented David Dastmalchian. A character described by James Gunn as the 'dumbest DC character of all time' brings hilarious gags through his tragic backstory. 

There’s nobody who could have made this movie other than James Gunn, it suits him down to a tee. Inherently taking the director back to his roots of dark, violent humour. He builds a brilliant story by taking time to develop his characters resulting in impactful deaths. 

Also, visually the movie is superb with beautiful cinematography during action scenes. Similarly, the costume design in The Suicide Squad is excellent. Harley Quinn and Rick Flag both receive updated attires. And Bloodsport’s mask is exceptional with influence from the notorious Xenomorph from Alien. 

The Suicide Squad definitely used every ounce of it’s certificate 15. It’s probably the most violent movie I’ve ever seen. Saying that however, the action is extremely well choreographed. Whether that be the kill off between Bloodsport and Peacemaker, Harley’s breakout or the final battle.

The soundtrack fits the movie very well as James Gunn has become famous for choosing songs and then creating his scene. ‘Rain’ by grandson and Jessie Reyez and ‘Falsom Prison Blues’ by Jonny Cash compliment the movie extremely well. And John Murphy's score is terrific as well with pieces like 'Ratism' perfectly encapsulating the movie's theme.

My only slight issues are that Peter Capaldi’s Thinker was a little under-utilised. And Ratcatcher 2’s power is literally to control rats so when you don’t like rats that’s not ideal. But I would absolutely love to see a sequel from James Gunn as The Suicide Squad is definitely one of the best movies since the pandemic.