The Suicide Squad
2021
**
Director: James Gunn
Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone, Viola Davis, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson
Amanda Waller assembles two new Task Force X teams for a suicide mission in the island nation of Corto Maltese. The first team is sacrificed as a decoy, while the second team attempts to enter a Nazi-era laboratory and destroy all evidence related to Project Starfish. Suicide Squad is so far the messiest and dullest release in the DC Extended Universe. For this sequel/reboot, DC have added a definite article and recruited James Gunn, whose light-hearted Guardians of the Galaxy became a massive MCU fan favourite. Gunn applies the same irreverent formula and adds a generous serving of carnage, but the whole thing feels forced and uninspired. I didn't laugh at the jokes or gasp at the violence. All in all, I don't see much improvement on the 2016 version. Comic book movies often end in a bloated and overlong fight between the hero and the villain, but this time the final 20 minutes are actually the best part.
