The Suicide Squad

It's nice to have a pleasant surprise once in a while, because while I was secretly hoping for a lot, I wasn't really expecting much. James Gunn, however, pulled it off much better than I would have guessed. His Suicide Squad is more colourful and wilder, which was more or less expected, except that my fears that too much freedom wouldn't suit him and the film would end up being nothing but bizarre mess were not borne out. Gunn knows when he can afford subtle bizarreness or creepiness, and when to surprise the viewer with an unexpected death or a scene so badass that you're a little embarrassed to laugh at it. But at the same time, his film also works in dramatic situations, and it's far from just an exhibition of more or less weird characters doing more or less weird things. The new crew is really good and the acting is really great (those who can't act know it and, ironically, can take advantage of it), the gradual building of relationships between the murderous sociopaths works unexpectedly well and Gunn isn't afraid to be surprisingly adult at times, only to knock it down a few minutes later with some harsh joke. Above all, though, the whole thing is incredibly fun. This is a good one. (04/08/2021)

Yum yum! The best movie in five years! And a wonderful revenge by James Gunn's revenge for getting fired from Marvel, which he a raises middle finger and serves up a gritty comic book style The Boys and it's AWESOME!! It satisfied all my twisted, wild, sick, unhinged dreams! I have to admit that the trailers didn't really grab me and I went into the cinema cautiously, but from the opening minutes Gunn won me over and pulled off one excellent scene after another that had me literally melting in my seat. The central five of Harley Quinn, Price, Elba, Kinnaman and Shark shine the brightest, they steal the whole show for themselves, but the rest don't lag behind and everyone gets plenty of space. The music is great, banging in the action scenes, the gore is amazing, and I'll say it three more times: gore, gore and more gore, because the movie world has never seen such carnage! Army of the Dead is so humiliated this year. The wisecracks are good too, the banter between Elba and Cena amused me the most. There is plenty of action (the finale is maybe an hour long, bugger me!), and surprisingly the dramatic and emotional moments have the right punch and timing. The body-count is also surprising, it's unreal and I really liked the different signs pieced together from the surroundings. It's a really playful and original film. The whole thing has a breakneck pace and a likeable story, and is properly kinky and slightly perverted, so weaker characters might have some complaints – I was, however, as high as I've been in a long time. This hit my taste perfectly, and anyone who gives it two stars or less is uncompromisingly my enemy number 1! (Jacques Mesrine!) Story 4/5, Action 5/5, Humour 5/5, Violence 10/5, Fun 10/5 Music 5/5, Visuals 5/5, Atmosphere 5/5, Suspense 4/5. 10/10. (05/08/2021)

Quite a leap upward, even despite positive expectations, but I would still like to see a tighter result. I really enjoy James Gunn's playfulness with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and even when he chose a bunch of similar characters from the DC offering, I expected a completely new direction that would overturn the tendencies of the entire universe there. However, due to a problematic campaign and inadequately distinguishing itself from the unsuccessful first film, it did not succeed financially. The film itself is entertaining from beginning to end, intensely bombarding the viewer with one gag after another, sometimes so much that your head spins from the blood, swearing, and generally intense rating. Among the magical King Shark, the cameos used until the last second, or the untamed Harley, whom the script finally lifts to where she should have been in several movies, there are also many jokes that are unfinished, overly juvenile, or (and this is the most disappointing part) seen from a distance and generally delayed as a result. But still, I will forgive many things for the feeling that this is what team movies about outcasts should look like. Even at the cost of being more comedies than comic books and standing out in a completely specific direction. 70% (24/08/2021)

Stick to your Gunn. It’s got a bit more balls and less heart than Guardians, the shotgun of gags is a little less polished, but DC finally has what it's been craving for years. A fun ride with pace and structure, where the characters don't look like a bunch of staged consumers of horse tranquilizers or hangers-on for crappy gags. Marvel should have guarded their gold better, but generally speaking, we all benefited from this. The Suicide Squad is a wild ride with an excellent last third and in which the charisma of Idris Elba and surprisingly Joel Kinnaman stand out. I say keep it up, though I honestly don't see how this fits into a universe that gave the world a lot of shit films. (04/08/2021)

Nothing for the faint hearted. I didn't expect to see anything like this in these politically correct times. The world of comic book movies, which today languishes under the reign of Marvel's childish colouring books, needed someone like James Gunn, a Troma alum, an original in his own right, which is strongly evident in his work. His film is incredibly daring, with a lethal cadence of over-the-top humour, without being a chaotic mess. Gunn has a clear vision, he's fantastic at timing politically incorrect visual jokes, and many of his screenwriting ideas are surprising; he has a God-given talent. And at times, in the barrage of this snarling R-rated gorefest, I felt like I was watching an expensive midnight movie in some grindhouse cinema in the deep 70s. And last but not least, the most original kaiju monster of all time. Hats off to Warner Bros. for not being afraid to give Gunn a wide theatrical release. (07/08/2021)