Movie Review: The Suicide Squad Saves The Day
Frankly, I was surprised by how pertinent The Suicide Squad felt to today, and a world that will virtue signal but never “virtue-builds.” Perhaps, it is my years analyzing humanity’s sociological history and social media tendencies, but James Gunn’s take of TSS felt revealing and emotionally intelligent in its questioning of what makes a good person: their ability to mold public perception and hide their darkness or their determination to save the day, despite the many times they were someone’s dark cloud?
No one is perfect, and what enamored me with this oil, which comes out August 6 on HBO Max and theaters, was that it truly probes how the cruelty of others can make us justify the cruelty of ourselves. I have always noted the sweet irony of that fact that others may hurt me, but only I can heal myself. In this we find our current roster of The Suicide Squad. Idris Elba is Bloodsport a mercenary for hire and a horrible father whom also had a horrible father. John Cena is the most violent “Peacemaker,” Daniela Melchior is The Ratcatcher 2 and a breath of loving positivity, which helps her connect with the noble, but filled with mommy issues Polka-Dot Man (played to be your fave by David Dastmalchian) andante the absolutely memorable King Shark (Sylvester Stallone). Unsurprisingly, Gunn creates a team that makes you care and feel protective of them, despite the fact that they are “the bad guys.”
I said it in My Tik Tok review; what people will most love about The Suicide Squad is that most of us feel we are closer to being a Harley Quinn than a Wonder Woman. Margot Robbie slides into her role as The Clown Princess of Gotham like one would a glove in winter. She feels so natural, delightful, and emotionally fractured; joining a team of people that, for a set of killers, feel dead inside. Again, Gunn frames scenes as if they are team-builders between the audience and the characters. I felt like I was apart of The Suicide Squad, which is why the amount of pain and violence they go through shook me.
This film is SO GORY!!!!!!!!!!!! It is bloody and silly, and can, at times, take death too lightly that you squirm. Yet, it is that ability to callously laugh at death, which makes uncomfortably real how governments and everyday people can do the same. Set in a fictional, Latin American country, Corto Maltese, it was hard not to see the echoes of the several dictatorships that have plagued these nations: from Chile to Cuba. Yet, Gunn philosophically captures a reality most of us avoid, especially if leaning radically right or left: in a world constantly between two entities that usually define themselves as either institutions versus revolutions or freedom fighters versus cultural conservator, who actually listens and cares about the people? The Corto Malteseans have suffered from 5 generations of one brutal, dictatorial family that is only replaced by another dictatorship that is equally ready to use brutality to maintain its power while claiming to give freedom. Even The Suicide Squad sees the irony and relevancy of being government owned but not government protected: as seen by Viola Davis, once again, giving a magnetic performance as the absolutely vicious Amanda Waller. (God, this queen knows how to capture the essence of a corrupt, government official!)
I think the underbelly of sadness to The Suicide Squad is that, at all times, you realize the choices of others truly impact the choices you make for yourself: for better or worse. Yet, you are accountable, at all times, for you, even if they wound you. I cried as the squad battles strange creatures, like Starro The Conquerer, and both kills and frees the very people, Corto Malteseans, they are not sure if they are there to save, maim, or guide in saving themselves. Nearly every character that moves through that screen suffers some level of trauma and abandonment, which is why they all fall into certain degrees of madness, goodness, and the moral justifications we can give, to ourselves, for either. Ultimately, Gunn seemingly ponders what the world would be if people were kinder, bold enough to allow redemption, and never chained anyone who is different and imperfect to simply feel more powerful as themselves. Good topics to muse on and see when The Suicide Squad comes out August 6 on HBO Max and Theaters.
