In 2016, the highly anticipated ‘Suicide Squad’ was released in cinemas with a wide array of characters from DC Comics making their first appearances on the big screen, including long-time fan favourite Harley Quinn. The months leading up to the release didn’t seem promising for the movie, with The Joker’s questionable design, trailers leaving fans skeptical, and the already bad run of DCEU (DC Extended Universe) movies at the time. Unfortunately despite all the hype, it failed to live up to expectations and was heavily criticised by fans and critics alike. However, 2021’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ is a standalone sequel that looks to right those wrongs, this time with James Gunn in the director’s chair who aims to bring his vision to life and show how a Suicide Squad movie is done.

Amanda Waller brings together a new team of villains who are imprisoned at the Belle Reve penitentiary and sends them on a suicide mission to the island nation of Corto Maltese to destroy a Nazi-era prison and laboratory called Jotunheim, which holds political prisoners and conducts illegal experiments. Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, and Captain Boomerang return from the previous film along with several new members including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Ratcatcher 2, Nanaue aka King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, and many more.

The idea behind sending villains on dangerous missions which would normally be reserved for mercenaries or superheroes is because they are expendable due to their heinous crimes and can always be replaced by another imprisoned villain on death row. To keep everyone in line, Amanda has devices planted in them to track their locations, activity and even execute them if they choose to disobey orders.

Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Jai Courtney, and Viola Davis all return as Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, Captain Boomerang, and Amanda Waller respectively, and joining them are Idris Elba as Bloodsport, WWE Superstar John Cena as Peacemaker, Daniela Melchior as Ratchatcher 2, David Dastmalchian as Polka-Dot Man and Sylvester Stallone provides the voice of Nanaue/King Shark. Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Taika Waititi, and many more also appear in the movie as various characters from the DC library and all have their moments that really show that this sequel to the 2016 movie is not pulling any punches at all.

The chemistry, dialogue, and constant banter between every character is highly entertaining on its own and could easily be adapted into its own sitcom. All that mixed in with the in-your-face, high octane, gory, violent action scenes that make great use of each character’s unique abilities, makes for one hell of a ride that fans of DC, comics, action flicks, etc won’t soon forget.

Margot Robbie once again does an amazing job embodying Harley Quinn, much like the original film and 2020’s ‘Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)’ and while she may not get as much screen time in this sequel, her scenes really stand out on their own showing that despite her lack of powers along with a crazy and unpredictable personality, she’s also a strong independent female character who isn’t afraid to take on whole militaries and monsters from beyond the earth.

Bloodsport and Peacemaker have some of the best interactions together constantly trying to show off and outdo the other while also resisting the urge to kill each other. Polka-Dot Man was described by James Gunn himself as “the dumbest DC character of all time”, but somehow his very odd design and strange powers fit in really well with the rest of the cast and make for some interesting moments.

Ratcatcher 2 is the most sympathetic character of the team with a sad story that lead her to life in prison. She even keeps a pet rat named Sebastian and can control any rats within her vicinity to perform various tasks. Nanaue (better known to DC fans as King Shark) is the least intelligent but has a strong sense of loyalty to the team, can rise to the occasion, and overall is just adorably violent.

The movie of course needs its share of main antagonists and the military groups, Peter Capaldi as The Thinker and even Starro all make fantastic enemies for the team of anti-heroes and are far more memorable than the villains of the 2016 movie. During the film, some characters start to question their own purpose and each other’s loyalties which leads to various twists and turns to an already excellent plot.

Throughout the whole film, it’s easy to see all the James Gunn influences with many moments that can be compared to his other hit series ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’. The DCEU line of movies doesn’t exactly have the best track record of successful films, but it goes to show that with the right director in charge, any franchise can be a huge success and given the spotlight it deserves. The same can easily be said with Patty Jenkins directing 2017’s ‘Wonder Woman’ which became the first critically acclaimed movie of the DCEU.

The overall plot of ‘The Suicide Squad’ actually has more than one story that somehow manages to pull everything together smoothly without being overwhelming, while also giving the main characters an even amount of screen time that showcases their diverse personalities, backstories, powers, and abilities. Even with some changes from its source material and some characters not getting the screen time as the trailers lead people to believe, it can all easily be forgiven with everything else it has to offer.

It’s also not afraid to poke fun at superhero cliches, feature some obscure characters who absolutely no one thought would make it to the big screen, and has a fantastic amount of comedic moments that doesn’t stray too far from the main plot at all. Even with the future of the DCEU remaining uncertain for a variety of reasons, James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ is definitely one of the best and most memorable movies of the franchise.

Written by: Sammy Hanson