So I watched this film a little while back and decided not to do a post at the time because I wanted to give it time to sink in in case I did a hasty, undeserved rant.
Unfortunately I still feel the same about it so I felt it was time to put my thoughts down on paper (so to speak).
The Suicide Squad (2021)
Before I begin I have to say, I’m a huge fan of the Guardians of the Galaxy movies. As a result I’m also a big fan of James Gunn, the writer and director of those films.
I mention it because if you didn’t already know, he wrote and directed this one too, as well as writing the screenplay for my favourite zombie movie of all time, the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.
I was quite excited about seeing this movie because, not only is he a great filmmaker (and witty as hell), but after his social media troubles and subsequent firing from Disney I was interested to see how good a Suicide Squad movie could be when in the hands of a decent writer/director (I hated the first one).
Anyway, if you haven’t seen it, it stars Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street), Idris Elba (Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw), John Cena (Bumblebee) and Joel Kinnerman (RoboCop - 2014 remake) among many others.
This is what it’s about according to the internet:
“The government sends the most dangerous supervillains in the world: Bloodsport, Peacemaker, King Shark, Harley Quinn and others to the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Armed with high-tech weapons, they trek through the dangerous jungle on a search-and-destroy mission, with only Col. Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave.”
If you’re not aware, James Gunn was fired by Disney back in 2018 for some distasteful tweets that came to light from between 2008 and 2012.
DC Films quickly and very cleverly snapped him up to make this film in which time, due to an overwhelming show of support from actors, directors and other people in the industry (not to mention 400,000 signatures on an online petition) Disney re-hired him (if you’re wondering why we haven’t had a Guardians of the Galaxy 3 yet, that’s why).
Well all of those things added to my anticipation of this film.
I’m sorry to say I didn’t really enjoy it.
I know! I keep thinking there must be something wrong with me because everyone else loves it but I just really struggled with it.
I found the story a bit ropey and like it wasn’t really going anywhere, the comedy unfunny and the characters not likeable enough for me to care about. And I think that right there is where the problem lies for me.
All our lives we’ve been told to root for the good guys and hate the bad guys. Now, all of a sudden with these films we’re being told the opposite and finding out that the bad guys aren’t really that bad. Some of them have had personal issues or have fallen on hard times that have made them go down the “super villain” road. It just doesn’t sit right with me because now, if ever they bring Batman into the mix, who the hell am I supposed to root for?!
I really thought I’d like this movie and to be clear I didn’t hate it, I just felt like I was going through the motions with it, and with the exception of John Cena’s performance it didn’t throw anything at me that redeemed it in any way.
For the record I wanted to love it. I genuinely thought that with James Gunn at the helm it would be awesome. I felt very similar about Army of the Dead (2021) and even had to give it a second watch a few days later to see if it was just my high expectations ruining my enjoyment of it. Unfortunately it wasn’t.
Regardless of being disappointed with this movie I’m still looking forward to seeing Guardians of the Galaxy 3. I just hope it’s as good as the first two.
Feel free to savage me and tell me I don’t know what I’m talking about in the comments.👇