"The Suicide Squad" is a Weird But Worthy Sequel

 

Although we still haven't gotten what we really want, the Ayer Cut of Suicide Squad, the DCEU has rolled out an R-rated follow-up with lots more supervillains and a much higher body-count.

One of the standouts from the first movie, Harley Quinn, is mostly annoying and an example of a schtick growing thin this time around -- she actually has a fight scene in which she's surrounded by animated flowers and cartoon birds. And apparently, she somehow became a ninja master -- while in prison? Although she's given plenty of spotlight, a couple of new characters (and one semi-new character) steal the show right from under her. Despite her constant association with rodents, new squad member Cleo "Ratcatcher 2" Cazo is easily half of the heart of the film (it's not often that you come across a supervillain who's overflowing with love). The other half, Robert "Bloodsport" DuBois, is only semi-new because as a Black assassin with weird guns, expert marksmanship and an estranged young daughter, he's awfully similar to Suicide Squad's Floyd "Deadshot" Lawton. But DuBois is primarily motivated by the urge to protect his daughter and when Cleo ignites his paternal instincts, their relationship becomes the emotional core of the story. I sure didn't expect so much sentimentality in an R-rated comic book movie.

Besides Harley, Amanda Waller, team leader Rick Flag and Digger "Captain Boomerang" Harkness all return for this sophomore impossible mission as well. And this one is easily WEIRDEST comic book movie that comes to mind, with a humanoid weasel and swarms of rats and starfish playing pivotal roles in the story. There's also a walking, talking great white -- Nanaue -- but his low intelligence relative to humans makes him closer to the antagonist in Jaws than Jabberjaw. But hey, there's plenty of bloody gore and graphic violence to go along with the wackiness. 

While not nearly as good as its predecessor, The Suicide Squad is exponentially better than the unwatchable Birds of Prey and provides a reasonably-entertaining opportunity to check back in with both Task Force X and the DCEU. One of the movie's themes is that people are rarely as little -- or great -- as their labels. For instance, a bank robber isn't necessarily a scumbag and a self-described champion of peace and liberty may not be a hero. Hopefully, we'll get another Suicide Squad sequel in the future (featuring Bloodsport, Ratcatcher 2 and Deadshot).