The Suicide Squad (2021 | USA | 132 minutes | James Gunn)

Every superhero movie is ridiculous on some level. Even the good-to-great ones (Black Panther, Logan, Wonder Woman, Infinity War/Endgame, Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, the “Snyder Cut”) are still people in tights fighting. Not to mention whatever the hell was done to Superman’s face in the “Whedon Cut” Justice League movie. How ridiculous is the new Suicide Squad movie? There’s a character called Polka-Dot Man (an obscure Batman villain from 1962 that Batman himself would only be able to recall through Recovered Memory Therapy), whose superpower is the ability to throw polka-dots, and he’s possibly the fourth most absurd character in this movie.

Writer/director James Gunn wasn’t content plumbing the most esoteric depths of DC Comics’ archives, so he created some new characters. Presumably with the aid of some hallucinogens. Gotham City’s exterminator was an actual character, but Gunn introduced his daughter as Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior, likely the film’s breakout star). The second Gunn creation, T.D.K., is played by Nathan Fillion and revealing his superpower is a minor spoiler I’d rather avoid. 

So, yeah, Suicide Squad is a ridiculous movie. I mean, Pete Davidson plays a character called Blackguard. Normal enough, but Blackguard’s “real name” is Dick Hertz. 

Ridiculous? Unquestionably, but it’s also a lot of fun. 

There’s another top-secret mission that Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) needs an elite group of prisoners to complete. US National Security depends on it. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) is also back. He’s again the adult (and non-incarcerated) supervision. And, of course, Margot Robbie is back as Dr. Harleen Quinzel. The central characters along for the journey include Bloodsport (Idris Elba), and Peacemaker (John Cena, the world’s saddest action star). There’s a lot of tension between Peacemaker and Bloodsport because they have similar skill sets.

The mission takes place in a fictitious (presumably) South American country called Corto Maltese that is undergoing some political upheaval and has a fast diminishing line of succession. They also host a Nazi-era laboratory that runs experiments on political prisoners. The whole thing is called “Project Starfish” and is run by a guy named “The Thinker.” Peacemaker asks early on if it’s related to how starfish is a euphemism for butthole. It’s a joke James Gunn wants in your mind as the movie progresses. 

There’s not much more to say. People get punched, buildings blow up, Harley Quinn continues to prove she’s fierce, cities get destroyed by a giant echinoderm, there’s a talking weasel and a talking shark. 

I almost feel like a dupe for liking the new Suicide Squad movie as much as I did, but the fight scenes were well done, the visual effects were cool, the pacing was good (the movie didn’t feel like it ran for two hours), and the opening music was “Folsom Prison Blues,” so it immediately put me in a good mood. And if I’m a “dupe,” I seem to be with the majority as this movie currently has a 96% score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

As much as I enjoyed the movie, I think that score is a bit generous overall. It’s still a very ridiculous comic book movie that throws so many things at you and introduces so many goofy characters that some of them are bound to amuse you. It’s a wild ride, and a fun one. 

When the credits were rolling, I fully expected Jared Leto’s Joker to pop out of the screen and ask the only question that matters: “Were you not entertained?”

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The Suicide Squad opens in theaters on Friday, August 6 and premiers on HBO Max the same day.

Photo from Warner Bros.