The Suicide Squad: Directed by James Gunn
SYNOPSIS: Supervillains Harley Quinn, Bloodsport, Peacemaker and a collection of nutty cons at Belle Reve prison join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X as they are dropped off at the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.
This is such an interesting story. The first film bombs and goes down as one of the worst comic book movies of all time. The director is fired from Marvel and instantly snatched up by DC to direct a film of his choosing. The trailers looked great, the cast of characters was absolutely stacked and to say I was excited would be a huge understatement.
The film is a fun time at the movies. The action is as bloody and insane as you would expect with an R rated James Gunn movie. It is also as funny as you could imagine. I think the comedy works in short spurts with some of the bits landing with flying colors and others not entirely hitting the mark. The cast is also outstanding including two great performances from Idris Elba and Daniela Melchoir. The emotion, while really not working overall, works with the character of Ratcatcher 2 and her story does a great job at eliciting the emotion necessary to be invested in her character.
However, this film is far from the masterpiece I was told it was. The writing really really lacks in this film. We have hit James Gunn comic book film Vol. 3. We’ve seen this film before, twice and this time, while it has it’s unique and special moments, it felt bland and without emotion. Like a shell of what the original Guardians of the Galaxy. That film rocks, this film tries to emulate and fails.
The biggest issue I have is the emotion and attachment. I had absolutely no attachment to the main characters. Now I know, Gunn made it clear to not get attached to anyone and that wish was brought to life at the beginning of the film, but having a project with zero emotion makes me ask the question, “why do I care then?” This was my biggest issue. The writing attempted to make you care about the daughter of Elba, but instead of making that scene an emotional moment, it is instantly tarnished with Elba and his daughter exchanging F bombs for 30 seconds. All emotion out the window. That was just one of the many examples of how a joke completely ruined the emotion. The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 effect as I like to call it.
FINAL: The Suicide Squad is definitely a fun time, I cannot lie about that. The action, comedy and performances for the most part land and leave me satisfied. But the lackluster writing and lack of emotion lost a lot for me. I wanted this to be one of my favorite films of the year, but I left with a rather sour taste in my mouth.
Point Breakdown:
15 for Entertainment 15
15 for Performances 15
15 for Writing 8
10 for Direction 7
10 for Emotions 8
10 for Cinematography 10
5 for Sound 4
5 for Score 5
5 for Pacing 4
5 for Rewatchability 5
5 pts Automatic 5
The Suicide Squad: 86/100
The Music City Drive-In 
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