United States Government operative Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) sends two Task Force X teams led by Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and Bloodsport (Idris Elba) to the South American island nation of Corto Maltese after its government is overthrown by an anti-American regime. In exchange for lighter sentences, the Belle Reve penitentiary inmates are tasked with destroying the Nazi-era laboratory Jötunheim, which holds a secretive experiment known as “Project Starfish.”

James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” has a long and tedious history of how and why it was made. I can’t thank Disney enough for firing him (and later re-hiring him) because otherwise, we wouldn’t have this near-masterpiece of a comic book film. After “Suicide Squad” crashed and burned alive in 2016, James Gunn made some renovations by pulling characters from the deepest, darkest, stupidest corner of the DC universe to put together a team of his own. “The Suicide Squad” accomplished lightyears more than “Suicide Squad” did by correcting what was done incorrectly, turning something that was good into something even better.

Not even a decade ago, it was considered bold to make a film about bringing a group of superheroes together with “The Avengers.” Warner Bros. gave full creative control to Gunn, and allowed him to use any character he wanted and the power to kill off whoever he wanted. That’s why characters like Savant (Michael Rooker), T.D.K. (Nathan Fillion), Weasel (Sean Gunn), Javelin (Flula Borg), Mongal (Mayling Ng), and Blackguard (Pete Davidson) appear suddenly with a very brief introduction – or in simpler terms, he showed off how stupid DC’s mixed bag of obscure characters is. I believe that the only reason Kite-Man or Condiment King weren’t included is that there was already a Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) in the film. Overall, there is a great deal of foreshadowing of what’s imminent: death. The first ten minutes, and a villain that I never would’ve imagined touching the big screen, is enough to consider this one of the boldest films ever made. It proved that anyone could die in this movie, aside from Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), of course. She was the only one they wouldn’t have the guts to kill off. 

The film begins by getting right to the point, instead of montaging for thirty minutes through a roster of characters with popular songs played over an exposition load. The film’s tagline, “don’t get too attached,” took itself as seriously as it could, because all of the characters on the first team, besides Harley Quinn and Rick Flag (who are the important ones), surprisingly, and gloriously bite it immediately. Of the returning cast, as this is a soft reboot, Jai Courtney’s Captain Boomerang, unfortunately, wasn’t lucky enough to be part of the main squad again. The time and banter were fun while they lasted, but at least these characters had the chance to make it into live-action.

The film is centered around Bloodsport, Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Polka-Dot Man, and King Shark (Sylvester Stallone). They arrive on Corto Maltese, ironically unnoticed, with a handful of issues at hand. While being considerably more useful than the characters we started with, this is still a group of seemingly unrecognizable characters. By “a handful of issues,” I mean that something is always happening in this movie. From the get-go, this team is alerted by Waller that Colonel Rick Flag’s tracker was located and they must do a search-and-rescue. Not only that, but they must rescue Harley Quinn as well.

Harley Quinn doesn’t have as much time as you’d think when Margot Robbie is marketed as the co-lead of the film, but I wouldn’t say that anybody’s screen time was cut shorter than it needed to be. Robbie is, as always, phenomenal in this role. One of my few complaints about the film would be what she’s tasked with during the time that she’s not with the rest of the team – unknowingly living the Disney Princess life with the General Presidente dictator (Juan Diego Botto) of this regime. Cutting between this and the unpredictable, darkly comedic back-and-forth between the central characters disrupted the flow near the beginning of act two. Thankfully it didn’t last long, and Quinn’s breakout is better than any action sequence she had in either “Suicide Squad” or “Birds of Prey,” and the longest title ever. This movie did a lot of things right with her character that both of those films tried to do.

As the “default lead,” I thought Idris Elba was a terrific replacement for Will Smith, as the role of Bloodsport was so obviously meant to be Deadshot. Bloodsport and Peacemaker have the exact same abilities, so they had to reach to show off something cool each of them could do, and they succeeded in doing this. One of my favorite scenes between the two of them is the “killing contest” they have, although this seems insensitive when they later find out that they were killing the island rebels the entire time. Anyway, not every character needed to be funny, and Elba does a great job as the “straight man” while others bounce jokes off of him.

King Shark had the biggest internet reaction since the first look was shown of him last year at DC Fandome. Once Sylvester Stallone was announced as the voice, there was no chance that this character was going to be any less of a smash hit than Groot, or more specifically, Baby Groot. Sly’s distinct voice brings believable dullness to the character, and makes it all the more hilarious whenever he appears, some of the time doing absolutely nothing.

King Shark may have stolen the audience’s attention during the film, but Ratcatcher 2 and Polka-Dot Man packed the heart. James Gunn added a sophisticated layer of complexity to them, making them easily my two favorite characters in the film, and I can’t hold one above the other. They both have a very fleshed-out and effective backstory – Ratcatcher 2’s featuring a slick Taika Waititi cameo as her dad, Ratcatcher 1. They both have unique powers that translate to screen as more effective than in the comics. Each ability when put to use showcases some of the film’s best shots. As I harken back to stupid characters, James Gunn’s idea to include Polka-Dot Man in this film was when he thought to himself who the dumbest DC villain is. I was legitimately disappointed when he died, but not after saying the best line of the film, with great line delivery I must add, “I’m a superhero!” As is similar to the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, the soundtrack is a major standout, but the score in this film is phenomenal as well. The “Ratism” theme fits perfectly with the finale as Ratcatcher 2 summons all of the rats to defeat Starro as she has a memory of her father in which he explains how rats have a purpose just as we all do. This is one of the most emotional, and my personal favorite, scenes in the film. Newcomer Daniela Melchior and fairly unknown David Dastmalchian, who has appeared in a ton of comic book properties, absolutely killed it.

As I mentioned, the main antagonist of the film Starro, a giant space starfish, is something I never would’ve expected to come off the page. The appearance can easily and rightfully be considered goofy by any general filmgoer. I just think it’s super cool to see Starro walking around, stomping on buildings, and using anyone it can latch a starfish onto as a host. The final act is very reminiscent of the creatures in James Gunn’s first film, “Slither.” It brings all of the wacky, gross, body horror aspects you could imagine.

I was surprised when I first heard that John Cena’s Peacemaker would be the first of these newly introduced characters to fly solo. I’m even more surprised now. Out of anyone in this group, Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2 in particular, for how unlikable Cena is in this role, I do not know how I could go through an entire streaming series rooting for him. Cena was great as this character, in fact, this is the best work he has ever done. Joel Kinnaman made me care about his character this time around and Peacemaker nearly flew into irredeemable territory once he killed Rick Flag, as well as threatening to kill Ratcatcher 2 and Bloodsport just for, well…peace.

I expect something great when James Gunn is directing a comic book film, but I never thought this would be an easy top three DC film. “The Suicide Squad” uses the R-rating to its full ability without going too far overboard. Incredibly bloody, hilariously self-aware, stunning visuals, an amazing script that somehow works, and isn’t ever afraid to go places other films may not. Gunn nailed the bond of the team members, having them feel much more like the connected family the preceding film wanted to be. This movie was a blast from start to finish.

Final Grade: A+