With the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s (MCU) Black Widow kicking open the theater doors with the first superhero blockbuster to release in 2021, we’re ready to watch the first DC entry into the genre this year, with The Suicide Squad. Check out our spoiler-heavy review below.
How does it relate to the previous Suicide Squad movie?
OK, a few things that anyone watching this movie should probably know. Back in 2016, Suicide Squad was released, starring Will Smith (Deadshot), Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flag), Jared Leto (Joker), and Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang), among others. The movie was not a huge success with critics or at the box office, but Robbie’s strong portrayal of Harley Quinn did earn a spinoff movie (Birds of Prey). But, the film didn’t really lend itself to a sequel and based on the results at the box office, DC didn’t jump on a follow-up. Until now that is.
Let’s get these MCU connections sorted
One reason DC may have waited was to get a particular director onboard with the project. Enter James Gunn, director of the MCU’s Guardian’s of the Galaxy films. His mix of humor and superhero action was exactly what DC wanted. But, the MCU crossover gets even more fun with multiple actors from the MCU films showing up in The Suicide Squad.
Idris Elba - Elba is effectively the star of The Suicide Squad as squad leader Bloodsport. He is also well-known to MCU fans as Heimdall from the various Thor films.
Michael Rooker - Rooker is a fan favorite from the Guardians of the Galaxy films as Yondu, Peter Quill’s semi-adopted father figure. In The Suicide Squad, he has a short but memorable role as Savant, who never makes it off the beach.
Taika Waititi - In The Suicide Squad, Waititi plays a smaller role, as Ratcatcher, the father of one of the few eventual survivors at the end of the film, Ratcatcher 2. In the MCU, Waititi is the director of Thor: Ragnorak and the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder and he also played the CGI character, Korg in both Ragnorak and Avengers: Endgame.
Nathan Fillion - Fillion plays T.D.K an utterly bizarre supervillain/hero who memorably dies on the beach at the beginning of the film. In Guardians of the Galaxy, he voiced the character of “Monstrous Inmate” in one memorial scene from the film.
So, that’s 4 actors who show up in both The Suicide Squad and at least one MCU film. Confused yet?
So, what is this movie actually about?
All that aside, what the heck is this movie about? A group of incarcerated supervillains is recruited by a shadowy government agent (Viola Davis) to take on a so-called suicide mission for the U.S government. If they survive, they get 10 years taken off of their sentences. If they try to escape or disobey orders, a tiny bomb implanted in their necks will be detonated. This was the setup of the first film, as well. In the latest incarnation, things start off similarly, with Colonel Flagg leading a ragtag group of supervillains on a mission to a small island country to overthrow take out a research facility. The first curveball is thrown when we watch virtually the entire team get killed when they first land on the beach. The only survivors are Flagg and Harley. Only then do we learn that they were actually the diversion, and another Suicide Squad, led by Bloodsport has landed at another beach with the real mission to take out the research laboratory.
There are twists and turns along the way, with Flagg and Harley eventually joining up with the second team to complete the mission, only to learn that the research facility houses a Kaiju-sized alien starfish that takes over people by ejecting smaller flying starfish from its ‘armpits’ that latch on to host-humans just like in Alien and give the big alien the ability to control their walking corpses. Trust me, it’s even weirder than it sounds.
Honestly, the plot is beside the point. The movie is about creating some bizarrely over-the-top battle scenes and lots of comic interplay among the various characters. If you’re going to this film to follow the plot, I wish you luck.
Number or “what the…?” moments
Too many to count. Starting with the way the first team is wiped out on the beach, with characters we assume will be core to the movie killed off in the first few minutes. We also get a crazy Harley escape from the island’s prison, complete with exploding flowers all around. A shark-man that randomly tries to eat just about anyone. That giant starfish. Millions of rats. I could go on.
Watch it or Not?
What a great question! It is a bizarre, almost train wreck of a plot. So, you don’t watch it for the story. Instead, you will want to watch it for the overall craziness and the funny interactions between the characters. It’s an odd mix of DC darkness with MCU fun and entertainment. I’m not sure it will really work for everyone, but I’m going to say Watch It, if you are a fan of either the DC or MCU.
