The Dirty not Dozen

Let’s all pretend the first movie never happened. (Unmarked Spoilers)

Task Force X or the Suicide Squad is a group of supervillains sent into nigh unsurvivable scenarios in exchange for time off their prison sentences. The Squad’s mission this time around is to infiltrate the nation of Corto Maltese and destroy Project Starfish, aka Starro the Conqueror. This giant alien starfish can control people’s minds. Someone with no imagination named the project.

They need to first locate the man in charge of the project, The Thinker (Peter Capaldi). A guy who looks kind of like if Davros was still able to walk. Unlike what the promotional materials have led us to believe, the Thinker is not an official member of the Squad. Something that the promotional materials didn’t lie about, however, was the film’s body count. 

The taglines of “they’re dying to save the world” and “don’t get too attached” have been teasing that not everyone’s going to make it. Something that typically happens when you gather a large group of C-listers too obscure for mainstream audiences to care if they live or die. Except I did end up caring if certain characters died or not, which almost never happens.

I wanted to see this movie for one reason and one reason only. And that is King Shark, as played by Sylvester Stallone. As predicted, he was excellent, but two other cast members deserve mentioning. Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, the heart of the movie. And David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man, who was a great source of comic relief.

Idris Elba is also fantastic, but when is he not? (Don’t say Cats, no one came out of that movie looking good). He plays Bloodsport, a character you can tell was originally supposed to be Deadshot (Will Smith) from the first movie. They’re both mercenaries with improbable aiming skills who act as the leader of the convicts. Bloodsport’s biggest holdovers are having a daughter he didn’t have in the comics and a friendship with Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), a special forces operative who also leads the Squad. However, writer/director James Gunn did put some effort into differentiating the two.

Bloodsport is British, has a poor relationship with his daughter, and is an enemy of Superman. Deadshot is American, has a daddy’s girl for a daughter, and is an enemy of Batman. Even their relationships with the primary female member of their respective Squads differs. Bloodsport’s bond with Ratcatcher is paternal, whereupon with Deadshot’s and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), it borders on being romantic. 

Speaking of Harley, I have mixed feelings about her role within the film. She spends most of her screen time away from the Squad doing her own thing. As disjointed as her scenes feel, they also include some great parts. The President of Corto Mortez seduces and proposes to her, which she accepts. Only for her to kill him right when you’re saying ‘what Birds of Prey character development.’ She also has one of the best action sequences in the film where she successfully escapes from her captors on her own.

Unlike the previous installment, The Suicide Squad isn’t bogged down with flashbacks and backstory. We get a little of that to flesh out the characters, but most of the screen time is dedicated to showing the team dynamic. This is a great move because it makes for a good team movie. The Suicide Squad also felt like it was all their movie, not just one character above the rest.

Unlike Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), Starro manages to be a great antagonist despite his minimal screen time. The special effects that brought him to life look fantastic, for one thing. You also might think that the character’s too goofy to be a legitimate threat, but no. Not only is the character very deadly, but he’s also very sad. As it turns out, in this version, Starro didn’t start as a conqueror. He only became one after 30 years of being captured and experimented on. It’s telling that the very first thing Starro says in the whole movie is to ask if the Squad’s come to rescue him.

Gunn previously made both Guardians of the Galaxy movies, and it shows. This movie has almost all of his trademarks, such as his particular sense of humor. However, a notable missing element is character actor Gregg Henry (NSFW), who appeared in all of Gunn’s previous films. Alongside Michael Rooker and Nathan Fillion, though the latter’s cameo was cut from Guardians of the Galaxy 2. 

I never really bought into the hype of the Guardians films. I thought they were entertaining movies, but not as great as people were making them out to be. So with that and the dumpster fire of a previous film, I had my doubts about The Suicide Squad. Except I ended up really liking this. It manages to be everything I wanted in a Suicide Squad movie. There was action, humor, heart, and great characters. I definitely recommend this a superhero movie worth seeing.