The Suicide Squad
Might contain spoilers.
Given how boring Suicide Squad was, I’d never have expected to care about a sequel. Then Disney made the mistake of firing James Gunn (before eventually re-hiring him) and DC took the opportunity to put him on The Suicide Squad. That gave me hope. Once the trailers appeared with King Shark eating people, though, I felt… uncertain. I was sure James Gunn would do a good job, but I wasn’t sure the film was for me.
Having finally decided I would watch it, I then began outright dreading it after reading that it’s like The Boys but more extreme. I can now confirm that description. The Suicide Squad is more lighthearted, and James Gunn is as excellent a writer-director as always, but The Boys is a good point of reference—unfortunately, in my opinion. I hate the extreme gore and violence, even if it is a better film than its predecessor.
I do prefer this cast. Though I always like Will Smith, Idris Elba is even better, and all the performances are top notch. John Cena and Peter Capaldi are perfectly cast. Flagg dying is very poignant: Joel Kinnaman is superb even in those last few moments of him glaring at Peacemaker as his life ebbs away. (His death is sadly cheapened by the revelation after the credits that he survives.) The best part of the film comes soon after that, when the remainder of the Squad turns around to go save the city like real superheroes.
Weasel apparently going free doesn’t seem as comic to me as it does to the movie, given that he’s said to have killed 27 children. I take solace in James Gunn saying he doesn’t believe Weasel really killed them, and in the theories that he was framed for those deaths because he can’t communicate.
King Shark has no impact on the story whatsoever. He could be removed without changing a moment of it. I wouldn’t mind this so much if not for the fact that he spends half his time onscreen eating people. It’s disgusting and nauseating.