ReelBob: ‘The Suicide Squad’ ★★★½

By Bob Bloom

“The Suicide Squad” is a hoot; a perfect marriage of writer-director James Gunn’s crazy, superhero-comic-book sensibility and a loosey-goosey cast of performers who are in on the joke — and revel in the insanity of it all.

The movie is sort of a sequel-reboot of 2016’s “Suicide Squad,” which was mauled by critics — who awarded it a dismal 26 percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes — and, more importantly, fans — who also were divided over the movie.

Gunn, bringing the same freewheeling, deconstructive, chaotic style of irreverence that he showcased in his two “Guardian of the Galaxy” movies for Marvel, has created a DC movie that is the anthesis of the vast majority of other releases of that brand — most notably, “Man of Steel,” “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Aquaman.”

Despite the blood and gore, “The Suicide Squad” is comedic in tone, eschewing the oppressive seriousness of its DC cinematic colleagues.

The movie starts off in a sprint and hardly ever lets up. Murder and mayhem prevail, but it is so over-the-top that you are neither sickened nor revolted.

The body count — even among the so-called heroes — is high in “The Suicide Squad.” Protagonists and antagonists fall like plates in a shooting gallery.

The squad members are paroled from prison by the cold and heartless Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, reprising her role from “Suicide Squad”), who sends the reluctant team members on a top-secret mission with a likely high mortality rate.

This group is a motley crew, nominally led by Bloodsport (Idris Elba), an elite assassin who never misses and is coaxed into the mission after Waller threatens to imprison his daughter on a theft charge. The squad also includes John Cena’s Peacemaker, who keeps the peace by killing mostly everyone he sees; Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), who can communicate with and control rats; Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), who is the only member with a real superpower; Nanaue, a CGI walking — and always hungry — shark in pants, voiced by Sylvester Stallone; and Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), the only survivor of a diversionary clandestine mission off an island near South America. There, Bloodsport’s team is the main force sent to the island to retrieve secret data about an alien lifeform locked away in a concrete tower on the dictator-controlled island.

Forget the plot. It is secondary to the interaction between the squad members. Bloodsport and Peacemaker squabble as if they were Hobbs and Shaw from a “Fast and Furious” movie; the simple-minded Nanaue is always looking for someone to eat; and Harley Quinn simply enjoys all the anarchy and killing.

Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher 2 are the ones who seem to have consciences and question their actions.

The cast also includes Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, who seems to play straight man to the others. If “The Suicide Squad” was a Marx Brothers movie, Kinnaman would have been Zeppo.

One of Gunn’s wittiest creations is the alien kaiju locked up in that secretive tower. It is deliberately tacky and looks as if it would feel more at home battling Godzilla all over Tokyo.

“The Suicide Squad,” even at 132 minutes, is a delirious, violent, ridiculous and winning freak-show extravaganza that will keep you entertained from beginning to end.

I am a founding member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association. I review movies, 4K UHD, Blu-rays and DVDs for ReelBob (ReelBob.com), The Film Yap and other print and online publications. I can be reached by email at bobbloomjc@gmail.com. You also can follow me on Twitter @ReelBobBloom and on Facebook at ReelBob.com or the Indiana Film Journalists Association. My movie reviews also can be found at Rotten Tomatoes: www.rottentomatoes.com.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD
3 ½ stars out of 4
(R), graphic and strong violence and gore, language, drug use, sexual references, nudity