The long wait is over and The Suicide Squad has arrived. Not to be confused with Suicide Squad from a couple of years ago. This is a sequel/relaunch and obviously much, much better. James Gunn wrote and directed this new film, and I’m as big a James Gunn fan as everybody else. So I had high hopes for this film and all of them were met and/or exceeded!

Movie Rating: 9/10 – Great.

Take a bunch of unimportant C and D-list supervillains from the annals of DC Comics and put them on a team of black ops specialists is a great idea. They’ve been making fun Suicide Squad comics for years. The team has shown up in the DC cartoons and the DC live action shows. They’re a pretty impressive crew. So it’s a shame that The Suicide Squad has bombed at the box office. We’re definitely never getting a sequel now. C’est la vie.

Join me after the jump for my thoughts/review of The Suicide Squad. And expect FULL SPOILERS for the movie.

6. Probably my favorite DC film now

I loved this film. I was a bit medium about it for most of the first and second acts, but by the time the credits rolled, I had a big grin on my face. And watching it a second time at home on HBO Max, I loved the movie even more. The Suicide Squad is a hugely fun film from beginning to end, with a wonderful cast of characters, a hilarious amount of gore, and that wonderful James Gunn-style of dark comedy. I think it’s up there with his Guardians of the Galaxy movies, though those films are probably just a bit better.

I had a lot of fun with The Suicide Squad. The action and story move nicely through the entire runtime. The opening deaths on the beach are pretty darn funny, and a great set-up for the actual team. I think Harley Quinn’s dalliance with the hunky general didn’t add much to the film, but Margot Robbie as Harley is still a fun character. I liked the team interactions, I liked the hilarious kills in the raid on the jungle camp. I loved Milton. And the final battle was awesome, with each character getting a nice contribution. Pretty much everything about this movie worked for me.

5. The hero moment at the start of Act 3 sold me

As I mentioned earlier, I was mostly only OK with the first half of the film. I thought it was good, I was enjoying myself, but it hadn’t risen to greatness. Then two moments won me over. The first was Bloodsport arriving in time to save Ratcatcher-2 from Peacemaker. I like heroes. I like big hero moments. And having him show up in time to save her, after the movie so wonderfully built his relationships with both characters, was phenomenal. You could cut the tension with a knife.

And then the second moment, the one that had me fully on board, was when Bloodsport and the others decided to be heroes against Amanda Waller’s orders to leave. They all turned and went back to save the city from Starro, and the scene was built nicely as the tension ratcheted up and the good guys persevered — both on the ground and back at HQ. I love a big hero moment, and The Suicide Squad had a great one!

4. All of the characters were glorious

How great was everybody? James Gunn clearly knows his comics and he clearly had a lot of fun picking minor C and D-list baddies to appear in his movie. Granted, he made some changes to fit his needs, but that works just fine for me! This movie made me even care about Col. Rick Flagg! That’s magic! Harley was fun, the disposable task force in the opening was a hoot, and the core team was phenomenal. The actors were all perfectly chosen, and their characters worked so well, either bouncing off one another or fighting alongside each other. Idris Elba carried the film as Bloodsport, a character nobody cares about. Sylvester Stallone stole the show as King Shark. This is an A-list cast to be damn sure!

Also, Milton was great. That had to be my favorite bit in the whole movie. I love background characters getting the spotlight, and I definitely noticed he was still with them raiding Jotunheim. The back and forth after he died was comedy gold!

3. Ratcatcher-2 was my favorite

Ratcatcher-2 was the heart of the movie for me. I don’t really feel like I can pick a favorite character, but she was it. Daniela Melchior came out of nowhere and killed it. She’s equal parts tough, gentle, strong and caring. Her accent is neat. Her friendships with everybody are super touching, especially Bloodsport and King Shark. And then she gets two great moments at the end: she witnesses Peacemaker kill Flagg, and that look on her face is stunning. And then her big rat hero moment was the stuff of movie dreams. I loved it!

2. Shame about the box office

So, uh, The Suicide Squad bombed at the box office. It made less than $30 million in its opening weekend, and obviously didn’t make anything extra from its HBO Max showing. That sucks. This was a great film, and in a perfect world, James Gunn’s star would rise even higher. These actors would all be elevated. We’d have a whole new franchise on our hands. But nope! Personally, I blame the virus. It could be anything. But The Suicide Squad didn’t make any money. Gunn doesn’t seem to be taking it to heart based on some comments, but you best believe the studio did. Alas.

1. Bring on the Peacemaker TV show!

Peacemaker is getting his own TV show on HBO Max spinning directly out of this movie. John Cena is coming back, along with the actors who appeared in the post-credits scene. James Gunn has a hand in the making of the show. And I hope it’s great! I hope the show is more of the same, with action, dark comedy, and some real character growth for Peacemaker. Marvel has been killing it with their TV shows lately. Here’s hoping DC can do it just as well. I’m currently, at long last, drifting through the second season of Titans and it’s fine. It’s nothing special.

But a James Gunn-made TV show starring the movie version of Peacemaker? On HBO Max? I’m going to get my hopes up.

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