Yes, ‘The Suicide Squad' Is Almost Unbelievably As Good As You've Heard

I don't believe it's a terribly tight race. The Suicide Squad is without a doubt the finest film in the DCEU, with James Gunn's R-rated comedy outperforming both Zack Snyder's series of flicks and even the better end of the spectrum with Shazam and Wonder Woman. It's just that fantastic.

Of course, Gunn is operating in the strange ground here, as The Suicide Squad is a sequel-but-not-really to the first Suicide Squad, the DCEU's worst-received film. Whether you blame it on studio meddling in David Ayer's vision (he claims the final product is "not his film") or the fear of a full-R classification, the result is the same. You can choose from a variety of options. Nonetheless, providing Gunn with what looks to be an unrestricted budget and content has paid off well in this case.

The Suicide Squad makes no direct reference to the events of the previous film, which is surprising given that it shares at least a few key characters, but it doesn't really matter. This is entirely unique, and that's a good thing.

Because The Suicide Squad wastes no time slaughtering participants within minutes of the film's start in a horribly unforgettable opening, you'll soon realize why the picture has such a large cast this time around. Unlike other superhero movies, the Suicide Squad allows for genuine character deaths, and Gunn takes that premise to its logical conclusion. But he does so in a way that goes beyond just murdering off unimportant people. Many of the fatalities in the film, not just those of the Suicide Squad members, will astound you in terms of magnitude and timeliness.

Given Gunn's talent, the film is, of course, incredibly hilarious. Sylvester Stallone's performance as a terminally boring yet endearing King Shark is fantastic. Peacemaker, starring John Cena, is both amusing and terrifying. Polka Dot Man will make you chuckle just by glancing at him. And one of the most lighter characters of them all, Harley Quinn, is finally, finally given a decent screenplay and direction to allow Margot Robbie to flourish in the part. This is arguably Robbie's greatest performance as Harley Quinn so far, even better than her Birds of Prey film. She has one of the finest action sequences in the movie and frequently seems like the emotional center of it.

And this time around, the Suicide Squad has an emotional core. From straight-man Bloodsport to a startlingly wonderful performance from little-known Portuguese actress Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2, we get to know the surviving characters quite well, and she and her rat Sebastian make up many of the film's most moving scenes.

The villain's transformation into a huge extraterrestrial starfish is symbolic of the entire notion. It's amusing on the surface but terrifying in fact, and it's a lot better idea than it seems. I was perplexed as to why this picture was said to have such an astronomically expensive budget,, but the ending sequence will make all that extremely clear as the squad faces down Starro in the grand finale.

There's even some insightful political criticism on the Suicide Squad and the country they serve. But to go any farther would be to give too much away about the plot, so you should just watch it for yourself.

James Gunn was already a sought-after superhero filmmaker with Guardians of the Galaxy, but what about The Suicide Squad? While the R-rating isn't the only thing that makes the picture fantastic, it is a contributing component, and DC (and Marvel for that matter) should lean more into it for future films in this manner. Sometimes you just need to curse and watch a man-shark snack on a human skull.

The Suicide Squad is an all-time great superhero film that deserves all of the praise it's receiving. It almost feels like a separate genre than most other high-rated films, since I can't think of two films that are more diametrically opposed than this and The Dark Knight. But even if we're talking about a very narrow category that includes maybe Guardians of the Galaxy and a few of Deadpool movies, it totally works and is a success on every level. See it as soon as possible, ideally in a theatre.