When the first 'Suicide Squad' movie came out back in '16, I had guarded expectations. David Ayer was in the director's chair, not exactly a seasoned pro at this particular role in movies. The plot was kind of weird and disjointed, and the villain was a bit of a joke. Jared Leto's 'Joker' in the film was a bit half-baked, without much of a backstory on himself, much less the screen time granted. Will Smith's 'Deadshot' character was arguably the only one with any real depth. And in my own opinion, Margot Robbie's 'Harley Quinn' was a bit overrated here, but she garnered the most attention of anyone from the film.
This second chapter of 'Suicide Squad' is an attempt at improving upon the original, with the likes of John Cena and Idris Elba on board, joining the returning Robbie and Viola Davis. Directing this time is James Gunn, who was at the time of making the movie kicked off of Marvel's 'Guardians of the Galaxy' for a lack of wokeness from a social media post years ago. So he went to Warner Bros. and did this instead. And boy, can you ever see a difference in an unleashed James Gunn production once he gets away from his Disney-approved fare.
'Suicide Squad' 2021's success was at the mercy of a raging Covid catastrophe that hit movie theatres, and the timing couldn't have been a lot worse. People expecting more of the same from the earlier entry of the movie would be shocked to discover this being, essentially, a hard 'R' rated Guardians, with lots of blood, gore, dark humor and colorful language liberally sprinkled over the length of the production. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But what it does succeed in doing once it's all over (including some Marvel-esque post-credit scenes) is providing adults - read, NOT kids - a big, fun, colorful summertime popcorn movie that completely removes you from real world problems, and takes you into a deep dive of silliness that leaves you shaking your head at times, until you realize that this is largely satire, a la 'RoboCop', in its storytelling style. This is one of the hardest 'R' ratings I've ever seen put to any film, whether it be drama, horror, sci fi, whatever. I think upon repeat viewing it would improve, because the first time you see it, you might not be prepared for what you're about to watch.
The new standout characters are the Sly Stallone voiced 'King Shark', with the big-dumbness of his character eliciting much-needed laughs within the darkness of the story, Idris Elba's heroic 'Bloodsport', and John Cena's 'Peacemaker', all of whom conflict with one another in the spirit of the franchise. If any of the Squad happen to screw up, they're at risk of literally getting their heads blown off at the push of a button via Amanda Waller, their boss, who monitors their actions during their mission. At the beginning of the movie, you can see she's serious about the rules. The Squad winds up bumbling here and there in their task, but make it to the kaiju-inspired finale of the film, where all hell breaks loose when a ginormously-sized evil Patrick from Spongbob Squarepants threatens to take things over. There are more than a few tips of the hat to the 'Alien' franchise here, with a healthy dose of humor injected within.
This isn't a show for the squeamish, it must be warned. It's a very unorthodox premise and plot, executed with a very free hand in Gunn, that maybe stumbles the most with its rather unfamiliar soundtrack choices. But that's a rather minor quibble in a mostly jovial, gross, kickass romp.
'Suicide Squad' 2021 is Smooth Gravy, with the odd lump.
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