The Suicide Squad

In the first 30 minutes of The Suicide Squad we get to see two massacres, both played for belly laughs. Famous faces are blown off their skulls, naked men are brutally gunned down, terrible actors that Hollywood has been trying to foist on us for years are impaled gruesomely and a half human/half shark voiced by one of cinemas most beloved action hero's messily devours an innocent victim. If you have a weak and wimpy constitution avoid this film like the plague but if you want to see a sequel that joyfully pisses all over the smoking corpse of the film that came before it then the Suicide Squad is yer only man.

The Island republic of Corto Maltese has been taken over by a military coup and the nazi era laboratory at it's heart is brewing up something seriously nasty. Only the hardiest of the hard, the bravest of the brave and the maddest of the mad are capable of fighting their way into it and destroying the evil within, hence The Suicide Squad, a team of criminals who've been promised time off their sentences if they do the US government's bidding. Their handler is Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), their leader is Bloodsport (Idris Elba at his grumpiest) a killer with a wicked aim, their muscle is Peacemaker (John Cena perfectly cast as an asshole version of Captain America) and King Shark (Sylvester Stallone, brilliant), blunting the machismo of the pack is Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie, a delight) and their special weapons are Polka Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) and Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior).  The plan is - get in, plant a few bombs and get out. But that's always easier said than done isn't it.

Oh man, this was so enjoyable. This is what superhero films should all be like. It's hilarious, appallingly so in places, with a total dedication to showing exactly what out of this world powers can do to a normal human body. Don't give us moping or introspection, do give us friendly waving rats, instead of doom and gloom we want Harley Quinn's version of the end of Commando but with added flowers and javelins and for god sake when it comes to the obligatory city crunching climax ™ (nice bit of alliteration there) at least make it fun and nothing says fun like Kaiju sized sea life with killer armpits. Don't worry, that last sentence will make sense as soon as you see the film. Yeah, yeah we're all suffering from superhero overkill but this one feels like a breath of fresh air because it leans into the inherent stupidity and absurdity of superhero movies and has some real laughs with it. Iron Man? Pah, here's The Weasel and The Detachable Kid instead. Despite existing in the same universe as Superman, he's written off with a one line excuse. No, here we're getting the dregs of the super world and they're always more interesting. 

It leans into it's R rating too (16 certificate in Ireland and fully deserving it). There's no quick cutaways to hide the blood and guts and the tame take on the same story from 2016 will be forgotten before the opening credits even roll. Some of the faces from the first one are wiped out rapidly and it all shows that director James Gunn is successfully laying his claim to the franchise. DC learned a lesson with it's adult oriented Harley Quinn film from last year and it's nice to see those lessons liberally splashed all over the island of Corto Maltese and just like that film it's Margot Robbie that's once again the MVP. She's having a ball here and it translates wonderfully to the screen. Gunn knows she's the most interesting character so gives her the best lines, a shootout for the ages and a piece of surreal imagery during the climax that's one of the most nutso things you'll ever see in a superhero film.

Of course it also suffers from the same problems all comic book movies do these days. It's far too long, with a saggy midsection that could easily lose more than a few minutes. It's ties to the first film leave Viola Davis (Amanda Waller, the brains behind the Suicide Squad) wasted in cutaways that only serve to dull the film's energy and as always there's the big city crunching climax ™ but at least this time you'll be laughing and gawping in disbelief instead of yawning at yet another explosion. It's zaniness is a nice capper on the knowingness sprinkled throughout the rest of the film. Plus it's the only time you'll ever get to hear both Stringer Bell and John Rambo say "nom nom's". How could you not love that?

The Suicide Squad is out in cinemas now. If you've seen it's predecessor be happy in the knowledge that this one is a massive improvement. If you haven't seen it, then don't even acknowledge it's existence and just have a whale (or a shark) of a time with this instead.