Friday, August 13, 2021

Immediate Response: The Suicide Squad (2021)

 Alright, so I braved this scary world to sneak into a mostly-empty Theater to see...

The Good

* It fully delivers on the premise- Villains go on dangerous mission and not all of them come back- that the last Film faltered on.

* It is straight-up bonkers at time, with some sudden deaths and unexpected moments.

* The group balance works out emotionally, with Elba trying to be a Dad for a random Portuguese Supervillain (as you do), Cena as the 'mean Uncle' and Dastmalchian as the weird Cousin you try to avoid until reunions.  Also their Dog is a Shark that eats people.

* It's nice to see DC's first big (literally) villain on-screen.  The Starro thing isn't a SPOILER at this point, right?  I mean, they're even on this Poster.

* For better or worse, the Film seems to be an unfiltered James Gunn Film...


The Bad

* …which is going to limit the appeal (as we may already be seeing).

* The silly Title Cards are pretty fun, but maybe a bit too much (which is perhaps a great summary of the Film).

* A bunch of deaths make no sense from either a narrative standpoint or a logical one.  For instance, Mongal fought Superman with relative ease in the Comics, but goes out in a silly manner here. 

* While I think the redemption story as a whole works, certain bits are just kind of glossed over in the process.


The Suicide Squad is everything that was advertised.  That has given us a crazy-ass Movie that will absolutely NOT be for everyone.  It's a tricky niche, so let's see how well it does.

1 comment:

  1. I saw it and enjoyed it a lot... which is not the usual result for me and superhero movies.
    Also, not having read many comics... I had no idea who Mongal was... but at least her death was due to her attempting something heroic.
    The movie seemed to push that notion, that a person isn't a 'hero' just because they have powers... that it's what they do/don't do, regardless of power, that makes them heroic. It's trying to help without knowing for sure you'll win or survive.

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