The Suicide Squad (2021)

The Suicide Squad is not background viewing. Every scene requires you. Put your phone down. James Gunn is doing too much to be half-watched. Give it the attention it deserves.

The Suicide Squad is technically accomplished and I understand its place in film history. But it left me cold. The government complicity in atrocity element felt mechanical and I never connected emotionally. Maybe I'll try again.

The Suicide Squad ended and I sat with it for weeks. The government complicity in atrocity theme kept circling back. I'd be doing something mundane and the beach landing massacre would pop into my head. That kind of resonance is rare.

I liked The Suicide Squad when I first saw it, but the second viewing is where it clicked. Once you notice how James Gunn plants every detail early on, the whole film transforms. Layers everywhere.

Some elements of The Suicide Squad show their age, but the core of it — anti-heroes doing the right thing, Idris Elba and John Cena's chemistry — hasn't diminished at all. Films this good age better than almost anything else.

Every actor brings something to The Suicide Squad, but the lead performance is genuinely extraordinary. The subtlety involved, the way the character changes without announcing it — it's a masterclass.

I went into The Suicide Squad knowing nothing — no trailer, no plot summary. I strongly recommend that approach. The anti-heroes doing the right thing hits much harder when you haven't been primed for it. Go in cold.