Review | The Suicide Squad movie review: James Gunn reboot is delirious mix of comedy and cartoon violence DC Comics fans hoped for

Starring Idris Elba, Margot Robbie and John Cena, The Suicide Squad is packed with surreal interludes and sick and twisted gags from the start

James Gunn, who also directed Marvel’s ensemble movie Guardians of the Galaxy, pulls out all the stops and keeps the story constantly entertaining

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Margot Robbie returns as Harley Quinn in The Suicide Squad (category: III), directed by James Gunn. Idris Elba and John Cena co-star. Photo: Courtesy of Warner Bros Pictures

Published: 12:00am, 29 Jul 2021Updated: 1:34am, 29 Jul 2021

4.5/5 stars

“From the horribly beautiful mind of James Gunn,” read posters for The Suicide Squad, and that just about sums up this latest stab, slash and swipe at DC Comics’ bad boys (and girl). Gunn, who brought us Marvel’s ensemble Guardians of the Galaxy, revels in his task, which primarily involves nuking the memory of David Ayer’s widely panned 2016 effort Suicide Squad.

Some characters from that are retained – notably Viola Davis’ stern government operative Amanda Waller, who selects scumbags and offer 10 years off their jail sentence if they do her bidding.

Also returning is Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), the mission commander, who this time leads a squadron into Latin American island Corto Maltese, which has been taken over in a military coup.

Naturally, Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) – the most successful villain to come out of Ayer’s movie, with a stand-alone outing to boot – is back, and she’s as welcome a presence as ever.

But largely it’s a new cast, led by Idris Elba’s tormented assassin Bloodsport, who spends a lot of time squabbling with John Cena’s muscle-bound killer Peacemaker, as they Alpha-male their way through the story.

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