Review of The Suicide Squad (2021) by Nateed — 06 Aug 2021

Wow. What a step-up from the first film. The Suicide Squad really was a lot of fun to watch. I laughed at so many of the moments in the film. A large part of that was that the characters are way better developed here.

The characters are definitely the best part of the film with a lot of them feeling very real and raw. Bloodsport was great and his relationship with his daughter was very intriguing to watch. Yes, his basic story is kind of similar to Deadshot's story in the first film, but there is enough distinction between the two that it doesn't hurt the viewing experience.

Peacemaker was also a nicely written character with his actions making sense and fitting his character nicely. Ratcatcher 2 was also well written and I thought her backstory was really impactful. King Shark was a highlight to me as he had so many funny moments and was such a fun addition to the cast.

Some characters I didn't care for were Harley Quinn and Amanda Waller. To me, Gunn didn't exactly hit the mark with his writing and directing of the two. Harley didn't feel like herself and her actions felt very tame.

Birds of Prey and sometimes even Suicide Squad did a good job showing the fun, crazy side of Harley while still showing her emotions. This portrayal made her feel slightly boring with only the comedic aspects to her being present.

As for Amanda Waller, she just was poorly handled in the 2nd act. It's not Davis's fault as Gunn did a poor job of directing Davis and she was just working with the poor material given to her. My favorite character in the whole film had to be Polka-Dot Man.

His powers are just so cool and his backstory stuck with me the most. A lot of that goes to David Dastmalchian who is just so good in this film which definitely makes him the stand-out actor to me. Speaking of the actors in the film, everyone does an amazing job.

David Dastmalchian, Idris Elba, and Daniela Melchior are really the leads here. All three steal the show every time they are on screen and have really good line delivery. Margot Robbie does a great job, but I just don't think I could say much about her performance when her character was so poorly written.

Joel Kinnaman does a lot better in this film than in the first installment. Kinnaman's line delivery and acting are so much better in this film. John Cena does a decent job. I don't think he is the best actor, but he gets the job done.

Sylvester Stallone is always a treat and him voicing King Shark was just so much fun to listen to. Even the actors in smaller roles do very well. Pete Davidson, Nathan Fillion, and Flula Borg were all very fun to watch and had a lot of great lines that fit the vibe of the movie.

I do think the editing in this film was pretty mediocre. A lot of the action scenes felt choppy and the cuts the editors were making didn't visually look right. Both Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner have done some great editing in other films, but The Suicide Squad's editing just felt a bit off at times.

The cinematography was pretty good. I didn't care for Henry Braham's work in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, but Braham did a good job with this film. The team shots looked very cool and the lighting was particularly well done.

Speaking of visuals, the visual effects in this movie are incredible. Both Starro and King Shark looked real and the textures on each character were so stunning to look at. None of it ever looked fake which made for such a great viewing experience.

The story was solid and pretty easy to follow for the most part. I do think that some aspects of the film felt a bit cliche, but they weren't played on for too long so it didn't hurt the film too much.

I think I would have preferred the movie to be a bit shorter and with slightly fewer jokes. Some of the jokes were not very funny and sometimes borderline annoying and rude. Plus, the animal cruelty parts of the film could have easily been cut as they weren't necessary and sometimes uncomfortable to watch.

The tone of the movie is very good, but I think it could have been toned down just a tiny bit. Overall, The Suicide Squad is such an outstanding film. With the amount of action and great character development, you will never get bored watching it.

There are a few problems with the movie like some unfunny jokes, poor editing, and slight script issues, but for the most part, The Suicide Squad is an enjoyable film that a lot of people would have fun watching.

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