James Gunn’s 'The Suicide Squad,' the “Best Comic Book Movie of the Year,” is Disappointing
| Photo by Samuel Regan-Asante on Unsplash
(REVIEW) To preface, I don’t want to waste words on the Scorsese controversy. Arguably, the worst aspect of the whole ordeal is that it is being talked about at all. If you have any sort of feelings about this mess and you haven’t already done so, I implore you to read the essay Scorsese wrote. Read it twice if you need to because I’d like to believe that if people took time to truly understand what Scorsese is saying, they would stop saying stupid things about the matter. If you have no clue what I’m talking about, I envy you.
Most will find James Gunn’s newest comic book blockbuster to be a blast. Similar to the first movie (that most didn’t find to be a blast), we follow a team of supervillains into a mission forced upon them by the cold and relentless Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). However, this premise and a return from characters Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) are about the only elements this sequel has in common with its predecessor. Rather than David Ayer, James Gunn, director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.1 and 2, directs the latest entry into the DC Extended Universe. Unlike the first movie, which had an attempted edginess that did more harm than good, Warner Bros. has allowed Gunn to make an R-rated comic book movie, and he certainly leans into this opportunity, making quite possibly the goriest comic book movie to date. (I think the Amazon original series The Boys still takes the cake.)
As movies like Deadpool and Joker have found box office success, and television shows such as The Boys and HBO’s Watchmen have been met with critical acclaim, studios seem to be getting increasingly comfortable with investing their money in a story that mom and dad aren’t comfortable taking their children to. It’s apparent that the studios have realized a PG-13 rating isn’t necessary to make money, so long as the story involves comic book characters. And it is the characters that make Gunn’s movie so fun.
Choosing to focus primarily on the weirdest and stupidest characters in the DC comic book catalog is what often makes The Suicide Squad as funny as it is. To name a few of my personal favorites, Polka-dot Man (David Dastmalchian) throws deadly polka-dots and has severe mommy issues, Peacemaker (John Cena) cherishes peace no matter how many people he needs to kill to get it (an unsubtle but fun, satirical bite) and King Shark (Sylvester Stallone) is a giant shark-man— who made the experience worth it more than anything else. Solid comedic timing from the majority of the cast, particularly John Cena and David Dastmalchian, paired with the sheer absurdity of these characters’ existence makes for a handful of good laughs, if not a good time overall. However, outside of the laughs I had (which should be an endorsement in their own right) the film never manages to entirely sweep me up off my chair and into a blissful, manic ride with these characters.
The film has plenty of nagging issues. The most nitpicky of these issues was the occasional crash zoom—the extremely quick zoom-in shot often used in shows like Succession, which gives the feeling that a camera crew is intentionally filming what you’re watching. It is almost always distracting and out of place, as it doesn’t pair at all with the rest of this film’s style. Aside from this relatively petty complaint, the film often suffers from occasional tonal inconsistency and peculiar pacing that appears, primarily, in the third act. Most of all, what kept me from total enjoyment is the very things the movie is likely to be praised for.
Compared to the ridiculous amount of comic book movies that have been released in recent years, this is one of the better ones. But that isn’t saying much. Some of the praises I predict it will receive include not taking itself too seriously, having a creative final battle with really solid VFX and its commentary on the U.S. government.
Despite these wins, it doesn’t find the room to excel in these aspects. It is at its best when it is not taking itself seriously—but then all of a sudden it is. Amidst all the absurdity and humor, there are abrupt, lazy attempts to give the characters depth. One minute, jokes are being delivered; the next, Taiki Waititi is cameoing; and I genuinely cannot tell if it is serious or another bit. For a comic book movie that seems to be doing away with its genre formula, the character writing feels no different than any other comic book movie: simple, obvious and convenient. These traits are established or completed via an expositional monologue about the past or an unnecessary flashback. This is not to say that comedies or humorous characters are undermined by a focus on deepening their character, but in a movie that is insistent about its maturity, the character work is anything but mature.
The final battle is in fact more creative than most final battles, and the VFX is tremendous — the textures on King Shark and Starro in particular. But is the bar for praiseworthy quality simply not looking horrendous? Though it excels in the areas similar movies do not, it’s yet another battle with little to no emotional stakes. Even after Gunn reveals he isn’t afraid of casualties, our heroes (or villains) can’t lose. They, instead, have to go on to make more movies.
I appreciate the critiques the film makes about the U.S. government, particularly because it is rare yet fitting for this type of film, though I won’t pretend the commentary is nuanced. Overall, despite admirable attempts, the film fails to break loose of a formula that plagues this genre.
I’m left wondering if I should judge this as a comic book film or as a film. For a comic book movie, it’s pretty great. Something tells me Gunn would have me view this as no different than any other piece of cinema and, with that in mind, this film fails to feel different than thirty other movies I’ve seen before. Most ironically, Martin Scorsese’s essay details the reasons this movie falls short better than I ever could.
Score: ★★★ (3/5)
‘The Suicide Squad’ is currently in theaters and streaming on HBO Max