Anthony Bergamini
In 2020, the world fell into an unprecedented pandemic. With many projects put on hold, the world waited over a year to see what would become of Hollywood. At the same time, James Gunn’s fate as a filmmaker was finally determined, with Warner Brothers hiring him onto The Suicide Squad, after Disney fired the director over a series of inappropriate Tweets he has made over a decade prior. Itching to get back in the theater to watch new films, audiences acted cautiously, not sure when it was safe to re-enter public spaces and see other people again. One of the first times I decided to go out in public other than for work (making sure I wore my mask) was to see an early screening of The Suicide Squad. After a year of not being in a theater, I was completely ready for this. Unfortunately, my theater chose to project an IMAX version of the film onto a much smaller screen, showing the entire movie with much of the screen cut off, making certain sections of the film with subtitles impossible to understand. Thankfully, the film’s greatness shined through, inspiring me to get another ticket and watch the film again, this time without any theater issues. Needless to say, James Gunn was back, and better than ever:
Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” plays in the background as the Warner Brothers logo quickly passes across the screen. Michael Rooker’s Savant is shown in his cell as Viola Davis’s Amanda Waller approaches him, enlisting him in her Suicide Squad. In less than 15 seconds, Waller explains the entire core concept behind The Suicide Squad, with the film immediately shifting focus over to the new team Gunn has put together for this iteration. Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, and Jai Courtney return to the DC film universe as Harley Quinn, Rick Flag, and Captain Boomerang respectively; with Sean Gunn, Pete Davidson, the previously mentioned Michael Rooker, among others arriving as the new recruits. After some brief glimpses of infighting and light character introductions, their mission starts just as quickly as it goes off the rails. For this R-rated flick, the violence is turned up to 11, with this opening scene serving as an homage to the storming of Normandy in Saving Private Ryan. Gunn’s signature blend of drama and humor leads to deaths that range from hilarious to horrifying, with the icing on cake being Savant’s death as Waller blows his head off using the implanted bomb., rounding off the introduction to the core concept behind this story. His blood then spells out “Warner Brothers Presents” as we are treated to the reveal that our protagonists are actually another team, and thus begins James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad.
This introduction alone sets the tone, introduces plot, and sells the movie in under fifteen minutes. Gunn wastes no time in catching audiences up to speed as to how this universe works and reminds us that no one is safe. This is the perfect introduction to a franchise that’s previous film iteration had left a bad taste in many people’s mouths. The tonal shift and straight-to-the-point storytelling cut out all of the fluff, making it known that this is a completely separate project. This also gets all of the busywork out of the way, allowing for Gunn to spend more time on the new characters that this film will focus on: Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, John Cena’s Peacemaker, Daniela Melchior’s Ratcatcher II, David Dastmalchian’s Polka Dot Man, and Sylvester Stalone’s King Shark.
Bloodsport is immediately recognizable as the replacement for Will Smith’s Deadshot, with both of their characters sharing a similar skill set and a history. Gunn takes this character in a fun direction, making him as unlikeable as possible right off the bat. Bloodsport is as dead beat of a father as he can be, yet as with most unlikeable characters, he has a heart of gold. Bloodsport has the best arc throughout the entire movie, with his character serving as an excellent protagonist while also serving as the ride along character for much of the plot.
Peacemaker comes in as the second most well developed new character, with Gunn’s future TV plans spilling through. Cena never steals the spotlight but he fits the role perfectly, acting as a foil to the more serious Bloodsport. Peacemaker’s unique worldview also makes him serve as part of the comedic relief squad, with Cena’s comedy roots being put on full display.
Ratcatcher II is introduced very vaguely at first, but soon is revealed to be the emotional heart of the movie. Out of all the members of this team, Ratcatcher II is likely the least well known, even amongst comic book fans, allowing Gunn to take this character in a direction that is uniquely his own. Melchior delivers a very heartfelt performanced, hinged on the backbone of a simple, yet profound history. This balances out well with the seriousness of Bloodsport and more lightheartedness of Peacemaker.
Polka Dot Man is immediately portrayed as the butt of the joke, then slowly becomes the breakout character of the movie. Gunn takes a character whose powers make him a joke, and twists him into a tragic, core member of this new team. By the end of this movie, Polka Dot Man’s arc becomes exemplary of the core themes that Gunn chooses to be the crux of this film’s subtext.
Rounding off the new players is King Shark. Every team needs its big, dumb, bruiser, and that is King Shark. This character is verocious when necessary but is often relegated to being the comic relief due to his lack of intelligence. Much like Polka Dot Man, he initially starts as a one note character, and evolves into much more by the end of the adventure.
The two main survivors of the opening bloodbath are the returning characters Rick Flag and Harley Quinn. As the film progresses, these two meet up with and join the others, completing this film’s team of the Suicide Squad. One excellent aspect of storytelling is how Gunn keeps these two separate from the rest of the group for a good chunk of this film’s opening. This makes it easy to get to know the new players without Rick Flag or Harley Quinn stealing the show. That way, when they are together later on, each member can get their own time to shine, with it feeling deserved.
One specific scene used early on to display certain character’s powers and abilities is when the team fights through a camp of soldiers to rescue Flag. This scene is a great blend of comedy and exposition, as Gunn disguises the ridiculousness of these characters showing off their powers behind the genuine intention of putting their powers on full display for the audience. This is a great example of the number one rule of filmmaking, “show, don’t tell.” This tight knit set piece highlights Gunn’s abilities as a filmmaker in an elegant and tidy manner.
Around the time of this film being made, DC made it known that Harley Quinn had become one of the pillar characters in its overarching universe. A large part of this character growth has to be attributed to the performance Margot Robbie puts into this character, serving as one of the most comic-accurate depictions of a character ever. This makes it no surprise as to why Gunn chooses to spend a large chunk of this film on her. Surprisingly, this only adds to the movie, rather than serving as a distraction, with Gunn using this firmly established character as a grounding point for audiences who are confused as to why he chose to use a lot of unknown and unestablished characters. Robbie escapes into this character in a profound way here, with Gunn’s script giving her more nuance and agency than her previous iterations. He uses subterfuge to make audiences think that Harley is going to simply fall in line like they are used to, only to turn the tables and have her take control of the situation.
Unlike Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy films, the music choices here are a lot more diverse. Because of this, his music choices are very detailed and powerful, with there being more of an emphasis on thematic relevance than ever. None of these songs are pointless needle drops, with all of the choices reflecting the mood of the scene, rather than establishing the mood. Even the more well known songs like Johnny Cash’s “Folsom Prison Blues” serve a unique purpose. Often used in prison movies, Gunn starts the film with this in almost a cliched manner, but then dramatically cuts the song as soon as it’s time to show that this film is going in a different direction.
These music choices are also a blend of diegetic and non-diegetic with the highlight always being on the thematic relevance to the scene at hand. “Rain” by grandson and Jessie Reyes is played in the squad vehicle that is carrying certain members of the team about half-way through the film. This song is a thematic reminder about how these characters are defined by their trauma, yet it also plays at a time where it is pouring rain. This song’s literal and thematic relevance blends into the backdrop of the scene as it plays in the squad car.
Another example of an excellent song choice is “I’m Just a Gigolo/I Ain’t Got Nobody” by Louis Prima. This plays as Harley Quinn escapes from her holding cell, with Gunn choosing to present it non-diegetically for ironic meaning. The song is about a gigolo who is concerned that people will only ever see him as a gigolo, and that he will struggle to find love when he gets older. Harley basically embodies the exact opposite of this. Building upon the agency Gunn gives her early on in the film, Harley has taken control of her destiny, and no longer is concerned about finding love. Whereas Louis Prima sings about all the love he has to offer and there being no one to reciprocate it, Harley’s journey shows her having a ton of love to offer, yet she is more concerned about her own well being first and foremost. This song highlights her growth in an exemplary manner, allowing her character arc to be firmly established by the time she meets up with the rest of the team.
The action in The Suicide Squad is build upon the relevance of this team’s status as a military group. Most of the action is shown via intense gunfights, save for the final set piece and CGI villain of the movie, Starro. Gunn uses the Starro reveal in a multifaceted manner, building him up by showing the villain’s origin story as a consequence of the American government’s actions. This makes Starro equally as terrifying as he is grounded. By the end of the movie, his status as a monster outweighs the trauma he’s been put through and it’s the squad’s mission to end him. Gunn is able to make this space monster with an oceanic appearance as compelling and terrifying as any other on screen villain purely through excellent character work.
Throughout this movie’s twists and turns, the biggest reveal is that Peacemaker is a government stooge, who was sent on this mission to make sure that Waller’s ulterior motives are met. By the time this reveal comes around, the foreshadowing early on starts to become clear. Upon Peacemaker’s introduction, Bloodsport questions why Waller is even enlisting him, considering that she started her sales pitch by telling him that each member was selected for their unique abilities. The fact that both Peacemaker and Bloodsport share a skill set is initially played off as a joke, but it becomes apparent later on that Peacemaker’s actual skill set was his obedience to the US government. Yet even after all of this, Cena displays a stellar performance that quietly shows pain and solace, helping show that he’s not just a run of the mill bad guy. Gunn’s attention to detail here is profound, with it being clear that this film was made using a finished script rather than the patchwork projects we’ve seen in the years since.
Unlike some of the rushed projects that came out after The Suicide Squad, the special effects here are outstanding. The two very obvious CGI works here are King Shark and then Starro at the end of the film. The main reason that these two characters and the set pieces surrounding them work so well are because a lot of this film was shot on location. This means that the performances are genuine, and the special effects teams have much less to recreate when most of the major action is unfolding. The special effects are thus seamless in execution, with this film coming off as a visual masterpiece.
Another aspect of this film that is rarely talked about is how much of a horror influence it has. Gunn’s background outside of Guardians of the Galaxy included a number of black comedy/body horror projects, like Slither. This all looks to be the direct inspiration behind Starro, with his body possession powers being portrayed as genuinely frightening. One of the most horrific scenes in the movie has to be when Ratcatcher II and Rick Flagg enter Peter Capalidi’s The Thinker’s laboratory where he was experimenting on Starro. Outside of the obvious body horror and graphic gore, the concept of an alien who takes over people’s bodies is portrayed in a way more frighteningly than you would imagine. Gunn chooses to keep Starro ominously behind glass, hiding his appearance until the end of the film. This helps establish the body horror and also the fear of the unknown, which together, create a sense of horror like no other.
While The Suicide Squad is a near perfect movie, it does have its flaws. One of the more clear ones is the introduction of Waller’s team, who are clearly being prominently portrayed just to help introduce the Peacemaker TV show that would be released later on. While that show is a masterpiece in and of itself, the obvious back door pilot of random character introductions breaks that uncanny valley just ever so slightly enough to make their scenes feel a little too forced. That being said, because of where those characters end up once Peacemaker came out, it ultimately becomes justifiable.
All in all, The Suicide Squad is a magical blend of everything that makes a movie work. All of the strong character work carries the movie and informs the plot and the comedy and horror excellently juxtapose one another to establish a multifaceted narrative that is well rounded in nature. And of course, the emotional core of the film establishes the power and strength of doing what is right even when the odds are against you, highlighting the idea that not all villains are 100% bad, and that everyone has a purpose.