Suicide Squad review: The James Gunn film turns out to be gritty, pretty and witty

Note- If you don't know much about the DC characters appearing in The Suicide Squad, this review is for you. Not because I know about them, but because I'm just one of you who has been frantically trying to research about the characters to put in a proper review, but have given up (for the dearth of time) and now trying to stay true to myself (totally getting Harley Quinn vibes and striving to be that bada**). So yeah, disclaimer, this is a layman review.

Exactly 5 years back around the same date, The Suicide Squad had released in India. The audience was excited and everyone wanted to watch how the supervillains would fare! 5 years down the line, the excitement to watch some returning and some new supervillains in action again is way more- since this is the first film to release after restrictions are lifted in most parts of the nation. And well, the film does not disappoint!

Comparisons to the 2016 Suicide Squad would be inevitable, and this one proves to be a somewhat follow-up but more like a standalone movie that's unapologetic, with dark humour (that goes a lil' juvenile at times) and with a lot of bloodbaths that is made to look pretty and gritty. That's twisted you'd say. Yeah, it is.

The plot is fairly simple. The US government prepares and sends a team of supervillains for one of its missions to destroy a building, that has a secret weapon capable of wiping out the nation, and everything else inside it. There are two squads sent, and the second has no idea that a first was sent for the same mission. Bloodsport, played by Idris Elba, is emotionally manipulated to lead the squad, and he gets the Ratcatcher, Peacemaker, Polka Dot Man, and King Shark Nanaue in the team. Meanwhile, the first squad is sort of wiped out- just Harley Quinn and Captain Flag manage to stay alive. Harley, of course, creates the chaos you'd expect and adds the 'tadka' most of the time.

Long story short- the villains learn a hard truth and decide to save the world in the face of adversity, defying the mission. The audience gets an expected twist at the end. The bloodbath and ketchup splurging get real and there are splashes of blood here and there.

Now, coming to what's so great about the film. Well, the super Indianised mind and eye that I have- I just couldn't get over the fact that the film made not-so-subtle jokes about the US governance all throughout! Peacemaker (played by John Cena) seems to be an extension of the US peace policy and can very well be summed up in the dialogue “I cherish peace with all my heart — I don’t care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it.” Whoa! Baller man!

Director James Gunn seems to be having fun here with his squad, and that's what shines throughout the film. This one gets witty, and most definitely overturns our idea of good and bad! This is a typical Gunn film, and well you'd know this was coming right from the times of The Guadian Of The Galaxy. There's so much colour, so much vibrance and everything seems pretty! But, amidst all this, he doesn't miss out on lending emotional touches. He has built his squad with love and is super confident that they'll win hearts, and the big bad fight. But he also doesn't hesitate to kill off a few. However, what looked downplayed by the ability of most of the characters- like Nanaue, who's apparently the strongest in the squad but doesn't go beyond 'nom noms'. And Thinker- the evil scientist who seems very docile really! (His head reminded me of the coronavirus. Okay probably I should stop now).

Disruption and chaos form the core, and it is made beautiful! It's satisfying even, to some extent. Performances are pitch-perfect and well we can put all the money into watching Ibris Elba alone donning those costumes.

You don't need to hear it from me, or from anyone else whether the film should be watched or not. Just, take all the precautionary measures and have a blast watching the blast on the screen!