The Suicide Squad

Let´s go back 5 years ago, to the year of 2016. This was the year when legendary English musician David Bowie released his 25th, and final studio album Blackstar. If you are a David Bowie fan, this is a very emotional last farwell, where David wrote some very personal lyrics. I have listened to David Bowie for many years ( i believe the first time i remember hearing one of his earlier albums was the 1983 album Let´s Dance, on cassette in my dads car, in the summer of 1983 ), and i picked up the album Blackstar on CD, knowing that it was his final work, it was emotional. You don´t get artists like him anymore, wich made him such a unique human being. 2016 was also the year when the 2015 film The Revenant from director Alejandro G. Inarritu, was nominated for 12 Academy Awards, and won 4 Academy awards on February 28, 2016, in the categories Best Director for Alejandro G. Inarritu, Best Actor for Leonardo Di Caprio, Best Supporting actor for Tom Hardy and Best Cinematography for Emanuel Lubezki. The Renevant takes place during the late 1823, where Hugh Glass Captain Andrew Henry ( Leonordo Di Caprio ) guides trappers through the territory of present-day Dakotas. Along the way, they are attacked by the Native American tribe Arikara. Several men are killed in battle, and the remaining survivors try to reach to Fort Kiowa. The Renevant is not only a damn good film, this film also have some of the best cinematography i have seen in many years from Emmanuel Lubezi ( who also did the cinematography on the masterpiece Birdman ). And the acting in The Renevant is absolutely amazing from the whole cast, so you should watch it on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or anywhere else you can see the film. Speaking of 2016, this was the year when director David Ayer ( director of crime thriller End Of Watch ), released his film version of the DC comic book characters of Suicide Squad, This film turned out to have a really good cast that included Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, Jay Hernandez and many more. Back in 2016, i did enjoy this film ( you can find my review of this film if you go back to 2016 reviews ), and i still enjoy parts of the film. but Jared Leto as The Joker is even more worse than i remembered. I will say that Margot Robbie is still the best part of Suicide Squad as the comic book character Harley Quinn, and its still a film you can check out, just for fun. The film was a big box office hit in 2016, so here we are in 2021 with a standalone sequel, simply called The Suicide Squad. With a brand new cast, except for Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman and Viola Davis of course, is this a better Suicide Squad film than the 2016 version, or is this even worse than we expected?

Intelligence officer Amanda Waller ( Viola Davis ) assembles two Task Force X teams. One of the teams is sent to the South American island nation of Corto Maltese, with Colonel Rick Flag ( Joel Kinnaman ) leading the team. But almost all the members of the team are killed on the island by the Corto Maltese millitary. Amanda Waller have no other choice, she needs to send in another team. This time it has to be people with unique personalities, that she knows can finish the misson.

It is such a shame that this film became a box office bomb in cinemas, since i feel that this version is actually better than the 2016 version. There are several reasons why The Suicide Squad works better, and let us begin with the characters. In the 2016 film, only a few of the characters worked well with the plot. In the 2021 version, we definetely have stronger portraits of the comic book characters. You get a sense that director James Gunn really took the time to work on the characters, to make sure that they would get the portrait that they deserve in this film. I would not say every character is fatastic, but this film is definetely an improvment. Since we are speaking about characters, let´s get into the actors. I think it comes to no surprise that Margot Robbie have no problem, delivering her amazing charm as Harley Quinn. To be able to do a comic book character like Harley Quinn, you need to understand her personality, and Margot knows exactly how to do this. The funiest character in The Suicide Squad is without a doubt wrestling legend John Cena, as the comic book character Peacemaker. There are several scenes where i found myself laughing, and he clearly have good comedy timing. Actor Idris Elba as Bloodsport, is one of the coolest character in this film. He is not only really brutal, but he also deliver some really good dialogue. Seeing Swedish actor Joel Kinnaman as Colonel Rick Flag again, add some fun into the plot. He may not deliver strong acting, but his charming personality add something tasteful to the table. Sylvester Stallone deliver a wonderful voice to the funny character King Shark, who i guarantee will make you laugh. The action scenes in The Suicide Squad definetely works better in this film. The violence is much more brutal, where even body parts gets ripped into pieces. And i really appreciate this, considering i was hoping for a more violent Suicide Squad film. Anything negative? Not much really, i just had a good time with this film, for what it is. As a superhero movie, The Suicide Squad knows what kind of audience that it was made for, and does it well. Director James Gunn have no problem handling this comic book material better, compared to the 2016 film, and he also prove that he knows how to make a great action film. If you just want a good time, pick up The Suicide Squad on Blu Ray, and i promise you won´t regret it.

Rating: DDD