What do you get when you hand The Suicide Squad reins over (with carte blanche, I might add) to James Gunn.? .? .? an R rated, Guardians of the Galaxy-like extravaganza that dusts curse-laden comedy over the somber DC verse, throwing pails of blood (and even a few blink and you’ll miss it pieces of male and female anatomy) at the screen to wash away its predecessor’s flat formula.
Filmizon.com’s Nikolai Adams with Sean Gunn, who plays Weasel and also cameos as Calendar Man in The Suicide Squad
Going ‘out-there’, and that’s saying something for this type of feature, Gunn’s gonzo, go-for-broke style finds intelligence spook Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) sending two teams, or should I say squads, of suiciders onto the island of Corto Maltese – a country that has just seen a coup take out their leader, replaced by a non-American ally. Wave one finds Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman); daddy’s lil monster Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie); Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney); long haired Savant (Michael Rooker); piecemeal T.D.K. (Nathan Fillion); Blackguard (Pete Davidson); a javelin carrying guy who is aptly named Javelin (Flula Borg); and, without further ado, a human-flesh loving walking Weasel (Sean Gunn – he also makes a cameo as prisoner Calendar Man).
With the second wave consisting of a leader with an accurate shot, Bloodsport (Idris Elba) – who wears an Alien inspired helmet; Peacemaker (John Cena) – a guy who will kill anyone to keep peace (or, as John Cena himself described the character – “douchebag Captain America”); King Shark (Sylvester Stallone) – literally, a rather dim-witted man-eating shark that you would think makes the Weasel obsolete; Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) – a guy who hates to kill. . . that is, unless he visualizes his mother’s face on the enemy; and Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) – again, the name tells it all (Taika Waititi makes a bizarrely poignant cameo as her father. . . the whole pastiche making her the heart of the film). Just a note. . . with a name like ‘Suicide Squad’, some may not make it.
Looking to foil the new regime and their mad scientist, known as The Thinker (Peter Capaldi), their goal is to infiltrate a tower-like laboratory and destroy an alien starfish that has mind control powers. . . I know what you’re thinking, let’s just get a sushi chef and polish this villain off over dinner. But it won’t be that easy, for it grows larger as it controls more people. . . and The Thinker has been doing mind control tests with it for decades – giving it the size of something akin to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.
Quirky, quixotic, and quipsome, The Suicide Squad is filled with violent comedy (nothing like numerous deaths leading to a punchline), machismo bickering (especially between Bloodsport and Peacemaker), a confoundingly friendly rat who loves to wave, and Jaws 3.0 – reminiscent of the Land Shark in the skit from Saturday Night Live; this is not a film set in any quasi-reality, but reaches for the starfishes in the sky for its inspiration. Despite all these farcical situations, it is important to remember that, at the heart of it, these characters are flawed human beings with a difficult past and no friends. . . this ragtag group giving them something they never really have had before (again, sounds a little like Guardians of the Galaxy).
Filmizon.com’s Nikolai Adams with three cast members from The Walking Dead, Josh McDermitt, Scott Wilson and Michael Rooker (far right), who plays Savant in The Suicide Squad
Though it might be a bit predictable for many, and more than a touch outlandish for some, you cannot claim that The Suicide Squad ever takes itself seriously, giving a big breath of fresh air to the DC Universe (which is finally building some success after a number of struggles). It is also worth noting that there are two post-film sequences. . . one immediately following the end, the other after the credits. So, no mind control here. . . but if you’re interested, join this suicide-stakes rat race reboot – there’s nothing fishy about it.