The Short Take:
A gory, goofy, guns-blazing action comedy, James Gunn’s THE SUICIDE SQUAD doesn’t quite hit every note on key, but it’s fun enough to recommend to those who like Guardians of the Galaxy AND cheesy, hyper-violent zombie movies.
The Long Take:
Director James Gunn was a big draw for me here, and on that front I was not disappointed. I found everything I love about Guardians of the Galaxy: obscure comic book characters with loads of personality, awkward “we don’t know what we’re doing” humor, an upbeat jukebox soundtrack juxtaposed with over-the-top fighting, and, most of all, anthropomorphized critters who are part adorable, part terrifying.
The Suicide Squad, however, is no Guardians of the Galaxy. There’s a violence and gore in this DC villain (or anti-hero?) meet-up that I would never expect from an MCU film or show. I don’t have a problem with gratuitous violence, but I respect that it might not be for everyone. And I say the violence is gratuitous not in the judgmental cover your eyes sense; it’s more that Gunn playfully luxuriates in the ridiculousness of movie violence — the camera lingers on the slicing of body parts and the spurting of blood as if those moments were punchlines to dark, off-kilter jokes.
Yet, a sweetness persists throughout the film, creating Gunn’s proprietary blend of tones: cute animals who want to be your friend, relentless machine gun fire, heartfelt father/daughter plot lines, and juvenile dick jokes all rolled in one. They shouldn’t work together, but here they do. Even the way the film presents each character’s stereotypical villain psychosis manages to both parody the trope and inhabit it genuinely.
Gunn can’t do that if he doesn’t have the actors to back him up. Idris Elba and Margot Robbie basically carry the film, and I would recommend it based on their charisma alone. Robbie didn’t get enough to do for my liking, and I hope she gets more opportunities to play Harley Quinn so perfectly. Meanwhile, the film revolves around Elba’s Bloodsport, an expert marksman with the coolest weapons on the squad. He plays the reluctant anti-hero perfectly, and sells the whole package in a way that is critical to pulling off Gunn’s own mission. Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher was also a standout. John Cena was funny but exactly what you would expect.
I would not apply all my praise consistently, however, and that’s what’s keeping this from any kind of greatness. The writing is not as clever as I’d like it to be. There are several cringe-worthy moments where one-liners don’t land, and I became numb to the shouting of exploitive exclamations fairly quickly. And while the villain backstories danced between parodic and genuine, the recurring comments akin to “but we draw the line at killing kids” felt trite. I just couldn’t see any nuance there. In fact, the more I think about it, the more confused I am about any thematic take-aways. There’s something in here about authoritarianism control, “doing what it takes,” the lack of governmental transparency, and general abuse of power, but…I’m not sure what the film is saying about any of those subjects. And considering the tone, I’m not really going to overthink it.
So don’t overthink it. Just have a wacky, fun time watching with friends on a Friday night.