The Suicide Squad (2021 film)

 

Based on the DC Comics series, The Suicide Squad is a sequel of sorts to the 2016 film in which a group of anti-heroes and villains team-up to stop a major threat in a small South American island nation in the hopes they get a lighter sentence in their prison time. Written for the screen and directed by James Gunn, the film is a different take on this anti-hero group as they deal with corruption and other issues that forces them to save the world from a threat bigger than themselves. Starring Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Peter Capaldi, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, Jai Courtney, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson, Sean Gunn, with the voice of Sylvester Stallone, and Viola Davis as Amanda Waller. The Suicide Squad is an outlandish yet exhilarating film from James Gunn.

The film revolves around a small South American island who had been taken over during a coup where American intelligence officer Amanda Waller sends two groups of anti-heroes to infiltrate the island to destroy a lab known as the Jotunheim and all of its secrets unaware of what it’s hiding. It is a film that explore these band of misfits, criminals, and anti-heroes who are given a chance to reduce whatever prison sentences they have by helping the government destroy this lab created during World War II by the Nazis. Yet, complications arise where one team lead by Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) with his old teammate Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) are ambushed with Flag and Quinn both captured forcing the other team lead by the former mercenary Robert DuBois/Bloodsport (Idris Elba) to finish the mission with his own band of misfits that includes the jingoist killer Christopher Smith/Peacemaker (John Cena), a man-eating shark-human hybrid known as Nanaue/King Shark (Steve Agee/voice of Sylvester Stallone), an eccentric man in Abner Krill/Polka Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) who uses polka dots as weapons, and a thief who can summon rats in Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) like her father before her.

James Gunn’s screenplay doesn’t go into anything that had happened in the previous film as it is more about what is happening at the moment with DuBois being reluctant to take part of this government-led task force run by Waller because he admits to not being a good person. Yet, when he learns that his estranged 16-year old daughter Tyla (Storm Reid) might be going to prison because of stealing a TV watch. DuBois accepts the tasks unaware that his old friend Colonel Flag is leading the first task force that got ambushed because one of its soldiers sold them out to the army of Corto Maltese with only Colonel Flag and Quinn surviving. Still, the group that DuBois is leading are an odd bunch as he also has a phobia for rats which makes him uncomfortable in his interactions with Cazo even though she is a kind-hearted person who likes to sleep a lot. The military dictatorship of Corto Maltese are hoping to be taken seriously with this mysterious weapon that is overseen by a scientist Gaius Grieves/the Thinker (Peter Capaldi) who is the man that Waller wants DuBois and others to take and bring them into the Jotunheim to destroy whatever Grieves is working on leading to many revelations for those working for Waller.

Gunn’s direction is definitely stylish as it doesn’t just play into some of the cartoonish elements when it comes to some of the film’s graphic violence but also in the fact that it is an anti-superhero film grounded by compelling characters who are all just a bunch of misfits. Shot largely on location at the Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Duluth, Georgia with flashback shots of Cazo as a child with her father (Taika Waititi) in Portugal and some of the streets of Corto Maltese shot on location in Colon, Panama. Gunn does play into the stakes with the first shot revolving around a criminal in Brian Durlin/Savant (Michael Rooker) playing handball with accurate bounces where he is called upon to take part in a group that is led by Colonel Flag with Quinn, Digger Harkness/Boomerang (Jai Courtney), and other anti-heroes such as an idiotic mercenary in Richard “Dick” Hertz/Blackguard (Pete Davidson), Cory Pitzner/T.D.K. (Nathan Fillion), Gunter Braun/Javelin (Flula Borg), the alien mass-murderer Mongol (Mayling Ng), and a weasel named Weasel (Sean Gunn). The usage of wide and medium shots has Gunn playing to the scope of the group shots as well as the island that is Corto Maltese as it has a grimy look that is colorful but also in decay.

Gunn also play into this air of dysfunction within the group as well as what goes on in Waller’s main base with her own team of people who are troubled by some of her decisions but also how she runs things. Even in Gunn’s usage of the close-ups as it play into the way characters interact with one another such as Cazo telling her story to DuBois while asking him about his phobia for rats. The film does have a structure but also some non-linear narratives in the script that includes the film’s third act where it does play into revelations into what is inside the Jotunheim. It adds not just a conflict about what this band of misfits is fighting against but also question on who they’re forced to work for. Even when the weapon that is unveiled proved to be bigger than anything or anyone has expected. Overall, Gunn crafts an outrageous yet insane film about a bunch of antiheroes who go to a small South American island to kill some people and destroy some old fortress as well as what is inside.

Cinematographer Henry Braham does brilliant work with the film’s cinematography as it has elements of style with its usage of vibrant colors, heightened lighting for some of the daytime exteriors, and some unique lighting for some of the interior scenes at night. Editors Fred Raskin and Christian Wagner do excellent work with the editing as it does have some style in some slow-motion work for a fight scene involving Quinn and some soldiers in a hallway as well as jump-cuts and other stylish cuts to play into the story. Production designer Beth Mickle, with set decorator Lisa K. Sessions and supervising art director Alan Hook, does amazing work with the look of the buildings of the island as well as the prison where many of the people of the Suicide Squad live in as well as the club that Grieves visits. Costume designer Judianna Makovsky does fantastic work with the costumes as it has different looks for many of the different members of the Suicide Squad including Krill’s polka dot costume, the helmets that DuBois and Smith’s helmets, and the red dress that Quinn would wear upon her dinner with one of the dictators.

The special makeup effects work of Greg Funk, Shane Mahan, Brian Sipe, and Matt Sprunger do incredible work with the look of some of the characters with Krill and the polka dot rashes he has on his face as well as Quinn’s own look. Special effects designers Ethan Carney, Peter Carney, and Bailey Eller, along with visual effects supervisor Kelvin McIlwain, do phenomenal work with the visual effects in the design of Nanaue as well as a big thing that would occur in the film’s climax. Sound designer David Acord does superb work with the sound in some of the sound effects created in some of the weapons the characters create as well as some of the places they go to. The film’s music by John Murphy does wonderful work with the music as it has elements of orchestral bombast to play into the action and suspense along with somber pieces that include a theme for Cazo’s story while the music soundtrack features an array of pieces from Johnny Cash, Pixies, the Decemberists, Kansas, the Fratellis, Ceu, K.Flay, Grandson with Jessie Reyez, Louis Prima, Culture Abuse, and the trio of Drik Barbosa, Gloria Groove, and Karol Conka.

The casting by Yiniva Cardenas and John Papsidera is marvelous as it feature notable small roles and appearances from Lloyd Kaufman as a man at the club, Pom Klementieff in an un-credited performance as a lead dancer in the nightclub, Natalia Safran as the villainous inmate Kaleidoscope, John Leland Gore as the incarcerated villain Double Down, Lynne Ashe as Krill’s mother whom he sees whenever he gets really angry, Sean Gunn in a dual role as the strange animal creature known as Weasel and a convicted villain in Calendar Man, Mikaela Hoover as General Suarez’s secretary Camila, Julio Ruiz as a contact for the Suicide Squad in Milton, Maya Le Clark as the young Cazo, Storm Reid as DuBois’ teenage daughter Tyla who hates her father yet is facing a possible prison sentence, and Taika Waititi as Cazo’s father who is the original Ratcatcher who taught his daughters about the worth of rats. In the roles of Amanda Waller’s team who survey over the whereabouts of the Suicide Squad, the performances of Jennifer Holland as Emilia Harcourt, Tinashe Kajese as Flo Crawley, and Steve Agee as John Economos are terrific as the trio who question Waller’s intentions and methods as well as discovering what the Suicide Squad had discovered.

Juan Diego Botto and Joaquin Cosio are superb in their respective roles as the villainous dictators Silvio Luna and General Mateo Suarez as two men who want to prove that their island is nothing to laugh at with the former being a romantic that is in love with Harley Quinn while the latter is just a man of power. In the roles of members of the first Suicide Squad group shown early in the film, Mayling Ng as the alien murderess Mongal, Flula Borg as the athletic Gunter Braun/Javelin who uses a javelin as a weapon that Quinn would later use, and Nathan Fillion as Corey Pitzner/T.D.K. who can detach his arms as weapons are fun to watch in what they can do despite being betrayed with Pete Davidson in a fine small role as the idiotic mercenary Dick Hertz/Blackguard while Michael Rooker’s performance as Brian Durlin/Savant and Jai Courtney’s performance as Digger Harkness/Captain Boomerang are a joy to watch with Rooker being the most deadly despite the ambush he had to encounter. Alice Braga is fantastic in her small role as a Corto Maltese rebel leader in Sol Soria who helps out DuBois and his team in overthrowing Luna and General Suarez while also being aware that something worse is happening.

Peter Capaldi is excellent as Gaius Grieves/the Thinker as a scientist who has been experimenting with a mysterious being inside this old Nazi lab/fortress where he is also this man that isn’t afraid to talk shit as he brings a lot of humor to his performance. Viola Davis is brilliant as Amanda Waller as an intelligence officer who organizes the missions and watches over the Suicide Squad as well as playing to their fate in concealing her own intentions for the government. Joel Kinnaman is amazing as Colonel Rick Flag as a military leader who lead one task force of the group until an ambush ruined everything where he is later saved in his capture where he reunites with his old friend DuBois where they both make a discovery into what is inside the lab that questions Flag’s own role for the government. David Dastmalchian is hilarious as Abner Krill/Polka Dot Man as an experiment gone wrong who gets polka dot rashes and uses polka dots as weapons where Dastmalchian has a sensitivity to the way he portrays the character but is also someone with an offbeat sense of humor.

Daniela Melchior is incredible as Cleo Cazo/Ratcatcher 2 as a thief who can summon rats like her father before her as she is also someone who is kind to everyone while also being accompanied by her pet rat named Sebastian who takes a liking towards DuBois. Sylvester Stallone is a fucking hoot in his voice performance as Nanaue/King Shark with Steve Agee doing the motion-capture work as this human-shark hybrid who doesn’t say a lot of words yet eats a lot of people while also learning the value of friendship. John Cena is phenomenal as Christopher Smith/Peacemaker as this douchebag version of Captain America with a jingoist attitude who says a lot of funny and profane shit while also being someone who feels like something has to be done in which he causes a lot of conflict with those he’s with including DuBois and Colonel Flag.

Idris Elba is sensational as Robert DuBois/Bloodsport as a mercenary with unique nanotech that allows him to create weapons as he’s a great marksman but also someone who is reluctant to lead since he doesn’t consider himself a man with redeeming qualities where Elba brings a lot of nuances to the character. Finally, there’s Margot Robbie in a tremendous performance as the famed criminal Harley Quinn who helps out Colonel Flag only to be captured where she deals with surviving an ambush and being a crush for one of the dictators where Robbie brings a lot of energy and wit to the character who is crazy but also someone who cares about her friends and the world in general.

The Suicide Squad is a spectacular film from James Gunn. Featuring a great ensemble cast, dazzling visuals, its exploration on a gang of misfits trying to save the world, a fun music soundtrack, and its refusal to take itself seriously. It is a film that isn’t afraid to be profane nor is it willing to play nice in favor of just being a violent film with lots of cartoonish elements that allows itself to be ridiculous and fun. In the end, The Suicide Squad is a tremendous film from James Gunn.

James Gunn Films: (Slither) – (Super (2010 film)) – Guardians of the Galaxy - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Superman (2025 film) - (The Auteurs #76: James Gunn)

DC Extended Universe: Man of Steel - Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice - Suicide Squad - Wonder Woman - Justice League - Aquaman - Shazam! - Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) - Wonder Woman 1984 - Zack Snyder's Justice League - (Black Adam) – (Shazam! Fury of the Gods) – (The Flash) - (Blue Beetle) - (Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom)

© thevoid99 2022

In the Loop

Based on the British TV show The Thick of It, In the Loop is the story of a British government official who makes an offhand comment on TV as things go out of control as both American and British government officials try to sort things out as they’re on the verge of a war with the Middle East. Directed by Armando Iannucci and written by Iannucci, Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, and Tony Roche with additional material from Ian Martin. The film is a black-comedy satire that explores the backstage world of politics as people try to prevent or start a war. Starring Peter Capaldi, Tom Hollander, Gina McKee, Mimi Kennedy, Anna Chlumsky, Chris Addison, Steve Coogan, David Rasche, and James Gandolfini. In the Loop is a whimsical yet very witty political comedy from Armando Iannucci.

After an interview with International Development minister Simon Foster (Tom Hollander) for the BBC goes bad due to comments made by Foster. Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), the director of communications for the prime minister, goes on damage control over Foster’s comments as he confronts Foster and communications director Judy Molloy (Gina McKee) over what happened. With Foster’s comments getting into more trouble about a possible war happening, it only worsens when U.S. officials led by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomacy officer Karen Clark (Mimi Kennedy) visits where Foster attends the meeting and becomes mocked.

Tucker sends Foster and his new assistant Toby (Chris Addison) to Washington D.C. to meet up with Clark and U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Policy official Linton Barwick (David Rasche) for a meeting with war council that’s to include Lt. General Miller (James Gandolfini). Foster and Toby deal with Clark and her assistant Liza Weld (Anna Chlumsky) as Clark wants Liza to get some information from Toby whom they had known each other since college. After a meeting with the war council where Foster ends up looking more like a fool and information is leaked to the press. With Foster and Toby working for a local constituent building where they deal with a local (Steve Coogan), Toby gets himself into trouble while Foster’s shenanigans has his being mocked by the press.

With Tucker sending Foster and Toby back to the U.S. where they’re to travel to New York City for a United Nations meeting, Tucker and Molloy join them while Tucker sends Senior Press Officer Jamie MacDonald to find out who sent out the leak. The brash MacDonald confronts Diplomacy Director of Foreign Office official Michael Rodgers (James Smith) and Rodgers’ secretary Suzy (Olivia Poulet) about the leak while Foster makes a decision about his political career. In the U.N., more complications arose as Foster becomes aware of what he’s been doing while Tucker would make moves that would help save face for the British government.

The film is a satire on political strategy that involves the mistake of an official’s comment leading to problems between U.S. and British relations as they all try to smooth things out. In a game of manipulative politics, a communications director gets this official in the U.S. along with an assistant where they end up being played in a game of strategy where the U.S. try to be on top of things. The screenplay delves into this world where everyone in the game of politics try to outdo who while using people in the process for their own gain. Throughout the film, there’s characters who clearly find out they’re being used while some are willing to be involved.

The script is also very multi-layered for the fact that there’s a lot of characters with overlapping dialogue along with back-and-forth narratives that revolve around both British and U.S. political strategies as each faction figure out what to do. With a lot of the dialogue being fast, stylized, and often crass due to the more aggressive characters in the film. It adds to who these people are as they’re doing damage control where they become very confrontational and vulgar as they’re all trying to protect their territory. Caught in the middle of this damage control is this official who finds himself becoming a pawn as he would become more confused by the world of politics.

Armando Iannucci’s direction is truly engaging to watch in the way he goes for this very offbeat, cinema verite style that has a lot of intimate moments on the conversations where the camera is always there to see what is going on. Even if it involves someone in the background watching where Iannucci knows that a character in the background is either a target or is about to do something that will shake things up. While the film is essentially a satire, Iannucci doesn’t stray into silly gags or parodies but rather go for small moments of silliness while letting the actors just go all out in the characters they play no matter how despicable or idiotic they are. Overall, Iannucci creates a truly superb and very funny film about political damage control.

Cinematographer Jamie Cairney does an excellent job with the film‘s cinematography providing differing looks to the British and American locations with the British interior and exteriors being a bit more grimy while the American set pieces having more lights to complement their personalities. Editors Ant Boys and Billy Sneddon do nice work with the editing by capturing a lot of the intensity of the conversations that goes on with some rhythmic cutting as well as straightforward cuts to play up the more intimate moments of the film. Production designer Cristina Casali, along with set decorator Clare Keyte and art director Nick Dent, does fantastic work with the set pieces such as the offices of the British officials to the more spacious offices and conferences rooms of the American officials to contrast the two differing world of politics.

Costume designer Ros Little does a terrific job with the costumes in maintaining a look for all of the characters wearing suits and all sorts of business attire while Lt. General Miller maintains a uniform to emphasize his intimidating persona. Sound supervisor Tim Alban does a fine job with the sound to capture the intimacy of some of the private conversations to the more raucous world of the board meetings and such that occur in the film. The film’s score by Adem Illhan with the Elysian Quartet is pretty good as it’s very low-key with plaintive piano pieces to more thrilling orchestral arrangements to play up the humor and more tense dramatic moments of the film.

The casting by Sarah Crowe and Meredith Tucker is brilliant for the ensemble that is created for this film. In small but notable roles, Zach Woods as brown-nosing junior staffer, Paul Higgins as the very angry Scottish official Jamie MacDonald, Olivia Poulet as Toby’s girlfriend/civil servant Suzy, James Smith as a classical-music loving diplomacy director, Alex MacQueen as the British representative for the U.N., and Steve Coogan as angry local upset over a wall that’s to collapse on his mother’s garden. Anna Chlumsky is very good as the ambitious assistant Liza whose paper about war gets her a lot of attention while David Rasche is excellent as the smarmy U.S. official Linton Barwick. Gina McKee is wonderful as a communications director who helps try to smooth things out while Mimi Kennedy is terrific as a diplomacy official who tries to use Foster for her own gain.

Chris Addison is a delight to watch as the naïve assistant who goes way over his head in trying to help out Foster only to end up being a key player to further complicate matters. James Gandolfini is great as Lt. General Miller as a man unsure of his role while not wanting to go to war as he also tries to use Foster for his own political reasons. Tom Hollander is amazing as political official Simon Foster who unknowingly creates an incident where he becomes a pawn in a political game furthering his confusion about his role in politics. Finally, there’s Peter Capaldi in a magnificent performance as the ambitious yet terrifying Malcolm Tucker who bullies his way to do damage control while always being very intimidating to officials whether its British or American.

In the Loop is an extraordinary yet humorous film from Armando Iannucci. Featuring a fantastic ensemble cast led by Peter Capaldi, it’s a film that explores the world of foreign relations with biting satire and brash humor. While it’s not an easy film to follow through in terms of its subject matter and unconventional approach to comedy. It is the kind of film that is willing to explore the fallacy of politics and do it in a very witty manner. In the end, In the Loop is a masterfully-crafted comedy from Armando Iannucci.

Related: The Death of Stalin

© thevoid99 2012