The Suicide Squad; James Gunn and DC Are a Perfect Match. Grade: B+
I do have a vivid memory about David Ayer's Suicide Squad back in 2016... Memories that have nothing to do with actually watching the film. I remember Suicide Squad being hyped all over Twitter once the trailer dropped and everyone and their mom wanted to see it. I remember Suicide Squad being trashed on by just about everyone, critics, movie goers, and even the super hero fan boy nerds didn't really have nice things to say about it. I remember every teenage girl and tings in their twenties wanted to be Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn for Halloween, they even forced their own boyfriends to play along dressing up as Jared Leto's Joker aka The Worst Portrayal of Joker in Batman history. I do recall almost going on a movie date with Naomi as we were going to see Suicide Squad... Who knows where my life would be if that date ever happened, happy she's doing well at least, she’s happy, confident, secure, and independent... That's all I could ever ask for out of person really.
5 Years Later... The Suicide Squad reboot or remake was born, despite the box office success 2016's Suicide Squad. The Suicide Squad was handcrafted by a controversial filmmaker in the MCU James Gunn, whom was previously booted off Marvel because he didn't fit the "Persona" that represented Disney, with his "Tweets"... We can go on and on about why Disney is a garbage company, but let's move on. DC and Warner Bros heard the fall out as they figured... GET TOP ON THE PHONE NOW!! James Gunn accepted the offer on trying to repair Suicide Squad, as he was given what Disney would never ever do for their film makers, as far as giving them complete creative control of their own projects and be as wild as you can be.
The Suicide Squad from the trailers had me a bit concern. I wasn't really impressed, in fact I was kind of over the whole superhero era of film as I was getting less motivated to watch it in the first place. However: I managed to make my way to the theater and see The Suicide Squad and I can honestly say... This is James Gunn's best film of his career thus far and this is better than any Marvel film since Iron Man... I'm totally serious.
The Suicide Squad unlike Marvel preferably the MCU is not built on creating the same repetitive formula of storytelling and characters we've seen so many damn times. The Suicide Squad within itself is quite a unique creation, in which was extremely impressive mainly on focusing on the characters especially. We see these group of villains that were forced to go on this mission to deliver a purpose, as while I was watching... I was caught off guard just by how Gunn takes full control in fleshing mostly all these characters out, to not only be likable but that you can understand them.
Even though majority of these characters have done pretty awful things, however this film develops these characters in which we get to know them better as to why they did these bad things in the first place. For some it was based around survival, for some they've had mental issues regarding a disorder in which they can't help it as their mind is dealing with a nightmare, especially Polka Dot Man (David Dastmalchian). For one like King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), whom is too terrifying by appearance as he’s a walking deadly sea creature, as he just eats people because no one wants to be his friend... Even if some of these characters are a bit goofy, at least they're characters in which you can understand that can perhaps be mistaken as a villain when really they're just... Human.
The Suicide Squad is absolutely stunning in terms of visual speaking. There weren't a whole lot of locations in this film, as it was either set in a work office or in this jungle like setting and yet... The way they crafted such beautiful ass imagery was so freaking dope, that at times it felt like my mind was transitioning on screen as we speak. The cast did a pretty good job as a whole, it seemed like everyone was having the time of their life while making this film, which explains why James Gunn is known to be likable amongst the people he works with.
The story within itself was consistently solid throughout the two acts, following by a very exciting third act that was also heartfelt. Gunn pretty much delivers a "Fuck You" moment to the Government, as while The Suicide Squad encounters a dangerous entity, somehow the Government can appear to be just as worst as the antagonist of this film. The whole sequence was devastating, however extremely rad as the band refuse to followed orders as they tried to get the job done. The comedy material was off and on, there were moments of solid laugh out sequences, then there were some duds as well. The action was pretty fun and exciting, I think DC and Warner Bros was a perfect fit for James Gunn. The Suicide Squad is a reminder that when you allow a film maker to have total control of their project... They can make something dope, even in a genre that has become very stale over the years.
I do question why James Gunn would even think about going back to Marvel at this point, why not stay at a company in which you can have total creative freedom, not be restricted, or go back to a company that was not behind you during a partial low point in your career?! Either way: I was very satisfied with The Suicide Squad, in a super hero/villain film that works well on all cylinders just about.
Overall, The Suicide Squad was a pretty damn good film. I highly recommend checking this one out, I think it's much needed in a theater like setting, especially for the gorgeous visuals. -Mitch Smietana