‘The Suicide Squad’ returns with guts and gore

Saleha Irfan, Gulf Today

I have a theory: You can either be a Marvel or a DC movie fan, but not both. For example, as a Marvel fan, I don’t like DC movies and I make it a point to avoid watching films and TV shows based on those comics.

When I went to watch “Wonder Woman,” I fell asleep in the cinema because the movie was so dark; literally! I don’t enjoy the “Superman” movies because I find Lois Lane very annoying. That being said, the only DC movie I ever liked, and especially went to watch in the cinema, was “Shazam!” In fact, I liked it so much, I watched it a second time on a plane, an honour I reserve only for new releases or those I haven’t watched before. But, “Shazam!” was so good that it deserved to be seen more than once.

I decided to make an exception for “The Suicide Squad” as well for one reason alone: It is written and directed by James Gunn, a genius who has given us great movies like “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.” 1 and “Vol. 2” (Marvel).

And boy, did I make the right decision. “The Suicide Squad” is basically an anti-hero movie about a band of misfits who are put together by their ruthless government leader to go on a dangerous mission. Amanda Waller, played by Viola Davis, is the ruthless leader of The Suicide Squad/Task Force X programme who yanks supervillains out of prison to send them on test missions and blow them up if they refuse to follow her orders.

The team we eventually end up with is comprised of Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Polka Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman). They are then asked to infiltrate a South American island nation, Corto Maltese, and destroy an experimentation site which is rumoured to house an extra-terrestrial beast.

The movie has all the makings of a classic Gunn film: It is lively, funny and colourful, while also being heart-warming, thought-provoking and upsetting. The chemistry between Elba and Cena is incredible, to say the very least. You see these two macho men go back and forth, talking smack and being competitive since they have the same abilities. Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, on the other hand, is phenomenal (and my favourite character from the movie). In one scene, she kills her captive using only her legs, since her arms are tied above her head. Oh, and did I mention, she’s hanging from the ceiling? And once you see her singlehandedly take out a 1000 soldiers, there’s no going back.

The other characters are welcome additions as well, especially Melchior as a girl whose superpower is to control rats. The entire team of chaotic misfits work well together and provide comic relief for this splatterfest. Taskforce X may be comprised of supervillains, but as the movie progresses, you start caring about these characters. And a lot of credit for this goes to Gunn, who has really outdone himself with this one.

Gunn is really good at convincingly bringing a group of supervillains or anti-heroes together and make them bond with each other, just like he did in “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Not only that, each character in this movie gets a chance to shine and make an impression.

All in all, I was extremely happy with my decision to go watch this movie. Just like “Shazam!” “The Suicide Squad” is a movie so nice, you gotta watch it twice (at least).

A word of caution, though: This movie is extremely bloody and gory and if you can’t stomach limbs being torn apart, or heads being blown off, or people being eaten like bananas, you are better off skipping it.