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Friday, August 6, 2021
The Suicide Squad (2021)
Streaming Services: HBO Max Movie Name/Year: The Suicide Squad (2021) Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy Length: 132 minutes Rating: R Production/Distribution: Atlas Entertainment, DC Comics, DC Entertainment, The
Safran Company, Warner Bros., Cinemundo, HKC Entertainment, Warner Bros.
Pictures Germany, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Singapore, HBO Max Director: James Gunn Writer: James Gunn Actors: Alice Braga, Amanda Rabinowitz,
Daniela Melchior, David Dastmalchian, Flula Borg, Freddie Stroma, Idris Elba,
Jai Courtney, Jennifer Holland, Joaquín Cosio, Joel Kinnaman, John Cena, John
Ostrander, Joseph Oliveira, Juan Diego Botto, Karen Fukuhara, Margot Robbie,
Mayling Ng, Michael Rooker, Mikaela Hoover, Nathan Fillion, Pete Davidson, Rey
Hernandez, Steve Agee, Storm Reid, Sylvester Stallone, Taika Waititi, Viola
Davis Blurb from IMDb: Supervillains Harley Quinn, Bloodsport,
Peacemaker and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the
super-secret, super-shady Task Force X as they are dropped off at the remote,
enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.
Cat’s Point of View: I can’t tell you how excited I’ve been that The Suicide Squad was released to HBO Max
in conjunction with its theater premiere. There just aren’t enough adequate
words. It was a foregone conclusion that Selina and I both had this at the
tippy top of our Top
20 lists. In the time between the original Suicide Squad (2016) and now, as information about this new
iteration surfaced, my anticipation and enthusiasm have only grown. I’m happy to say that I wasn’t disappointed in the least. James Gunn (Slither,
Super, Guardians of the Galaxy) was firing on all cylinders when bringing
his vision of this film to the screen. I loved his decision to focus on more B-list
antagonists for the team and honoring the feel of the comic universe the characters
spawned from. His dark and wicked sense of humor shone through every particle
of The Suicide Squad. My hats off to Warner Brothers Studios for not
fiddling with his vision.
Another decision that I was over the moon about was that the
first Suicide Squad movie wasn’t completely retconned by this one. There were small hints here and there that
this story simply moves on from that point – it neither references the former
production nor ignores it. No
one is pretending it doesn’t exist – we’re just not rehashing the same story.
It’s a fresh take on the team-up with new characters and a few core personas
returning. Let’s be real. It would have been a hell of a task to have
anyone try to fill Viola Davis’ (Fences,
Troop Zero, The First Lady) shoes for Amanda Waller, or Margot Robbie's (Goodbye Christopher Robin, Terminal, Once
Upon a Time...In Hollywood) as Harley Quinn. Honestly, I didn’t hate Joel
Kinnaman’s (Robocop, Run All Night, For
All Mankind) Flagg in the first movie – but I’m thrilled he got a chance to
explore more facets of the character in this soft reboot. I could babble for days about this cast. Seriously. Gunn and
his casting department had strokes of pure genius when they filled these roles.
I only have one quibble with this entire production. When
they lost Will Smith (Bright, Spies in
Disguise, Bad Boys for Life) as Deadshot due to scheduling conflicts, and
brought in Idris Elba (100 Streets,
Molly's Game, Concrete Cowboy) that was a stellar decision. The point where
they went a little wonky was taking Deadshot’s background and somewhat copy and
pasting it for Bloodsport. I’m glad they shifted the character so that it left
room for Smith to potentially return in the future. I just wish they’d done
more tweaking with the story surrounding Bloodsport so that his character stood
apart more. It was the only element that felt
redone out of the whole thing. Let me be clear, however, that I’m not as familiar with most
of the characters tapped to comprise the team this time around. I haven’t read
the comics where Bloodsport was featured, so I don’t know what his story is –
and my quick delve through online resources didn’t tell me much. It could just
be a coincidence that Bloodsport and Deadshot have so much in common.
Who knows. It certainly didn’t impact my ability to enjoy the hell out of The Suicide Squad or cause me to
appreciate Elba’s character any less.
The cinematography was spectacular, the action on point, the
stunts crazy and cool, the undertones of friendship and team camaraderie
heartwarming, and the effects (both CGI and practical) were killer. Speaking of such, I loved the hell out of the ‘chapter’
graphics that worked their way into scenes. Those and a few other touches
really gave me a nostalgic comic book feel. There were so many visuals that
could have been right at home on a comic spread and I was completely here for
it. Even though this film is based on comic books, I do feel
that it should be stressed that the R rating for The Suicide Squad is highly deserved and should be taken into
consideration by parents. There’s quite a bit of graphic gore, expletives, nudity, sexual situations, and innuendo. If you have a chance to go watch The Suicide Squad safely in a theater, I can only encourage you to
do so. This sort of movie is only better on the big screen, and it’s even the
first R-rated movie to be filmed entirely with IMAX cameras. Let me tell you,
if I could see this in an IMAX theater, I would in a heartbeat. However, for
those that cannot venture out, HBOMax is currently streaming The Suicide Squad for their subscribers - for no extra fee.
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