The Suicide Squad

And this week's Friday night movie has been... The Suicide Squad!

Original image located here. Accessed 20th August 2021

I've never seen the original Suicide Squad - in all honesty, the backlash it received was enough to turn me off completely. But that places me in a position where I can judge this sequel/reboot on it's own terms and without any connection to it's predecessor.

Perhaps it is fitting that i should see James Gunn's earlier piece Super weeks prior because in a way, that movie is effectively a blueprint for this one. The only difference is, whereas Super is mean-spirited (even uncomfortably so) The Suicide Squad is less so. Sure it is loud, obnoxious, gory and has loads of profanity, but Gunn pulls the same trick he did with the Guardians of the Galaxy - that being taking characters that are lesser known, and hardly the type to be taken seriously, and making them work. And that certainly is a feat in itself. Sure Harley is the most recognizable face here (courtesy of the incomparable Margot Robbie) but the real stars are the rest of the Suicide Squad. Which is indeed saying something.
Obviously, the success of Guardians of the Galaxy netted Gunn the job of doing The Suicide Squad but for me, The Suicide Squad is clearly the work of someone who has been left off the leash and is going for it at full tilt.
So yeah, this movie was great and some truly demented fun.

So the big question now is what DC are going to do next. On one hand this movie, as well as Joker, proves that their movies can work well with the villains in mind - and that can't be underestimated.
But on the other hand, I have previously praised Shazam and Aquaman - and now, The Suicide Squad proves the notion that DC's movies can be successful if they take the characters that are either lesser known or not to be taken seriously and make them work.
Needless to say, it would be interesting to see what DC will take away from The Suicide Squad....

Super

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Super!

Original image located here. Accessed 30th July 2021

The new Suicide Squad movie is right around the corner so it is fitting that i should watch this earlier effort from director James Gunn: A parody of super hero movies that never, as I was led to believe, forgets it's a comedy. Or something.

Simply put: This movie is insane. Having said however, that isn't in a good way. On one hand, the black comedy has some appeal, Boltie is a riot, and the lead character is shown in a sympathetic light. But on the other hand, the violence is indeed tough to stomach, there is indeed a sense of mean-spirited-ness at play and some moments (like the final confrontation) fall drastically flat. I will give props to Gunn for clearly trying to throw a challenge to the superhero genre but somehow I can't shake the feeling that this type of thing was done later, and better, by the likes of Deadpool and Joker. As such, Super does come across as being the equivalent of 'talking a lot but no saying anything'
Close but no cigar