On August 6th, “The Suicide Squad,” was released, a reboot of David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad” from 2016. The first came with mixed reviews, it was widely loved or hated. I, for one, was not a fan. This new movie, directed by James Gunn, was a stark contrast to the previous disappointment. It was brilliantly funny, action-packed with incredibly well-scripted and well-played characters.

The action kicks off from the very beginning of the movie, which is a big difference from the first. A big criticism of Ayer’s film was how long he spent introducing the characters. The actual plot didn’t begin until about an hour into the movie. Gunn however wastes no time and dives straight in. 

The movie begins with a team of villains, put together by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), a returning character from the first movie. Waller put together this team to infiltrate an island called Corto Maltese and destroy any record of something called Project Starfish. The team includes Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Savant (Michael Rooker), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Blackguard (Pete Davidson), The Detachable Kid (Nathan Fillion), Javelin (Flula Borg), Mongal (Mayling Ng), and lastly, a freakish looking animal hybrid called The Weasel (Sean Gunn). After a turn of events that starts up the heavy death toll of this film, the real team is introduced.

On the other side of the island emerges even more characters, undetected amongst the other team’s distractions. The real Suicide Squad consists of Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Polka-dot Man (David Dastmalchian), and King Shark (Sylvester Stallone) 

The movie continues with some incredibly witty humor and a lot of excitingly gory death. Like seriously, this movie contains an extreme amount of bloody carnage, so if you’re particularly sensitive to that, this may not be the movie for you. 

Soon, the Suicide Squad is joined by Harley Quinn and Rick Flag, and so begins their attempt to break into the secure, prison-like building called Jotunheim and destroy all records of Project Starfish. Through some murderous methods, they forcefully gain the help of Gaius Grieves (Peter Capaldi), or the Thinker, the scientist who created Project Starfish. What exactly this project is, is revealed to be a giant starfish monster called Starro, with the ability to brainwash everyone into a zombielike army.

All of the actors performed incredibly well. Like she is in every role she plays, Margot Robbie is amazing. She captures Harley’s insane yet charming personality, creating one of the most unforgettable characters in the film. Or the Polka-dot Man, who was played perfectly by David Dastmalchian. His character is quiet and self-conscious, but with some ridiculous powers and a deep hatred towards his mom. Another incredibly well played character was Ratcatcher 2, played by Daniela Melchior. Daughter of Ratcatcher, she has the ability to control rats, which plays a key role later in the movie. Melchior was amazing, playing her role with such strong emotion and believability. Throughout the film, we see a lot of these characters grow emotionally, and it’s done very beautifully.

Overall, James Gunn, as well as the actors and all the other crew created a fantastic film that is truly refreshing. The way it is told and directed is somewhat different from other movies, and it’s perfect. It’s chaotic, but not to a point of being overwhelming. From one second to the next it goes, but not in a way that’s hard to keep up. It has just the right amount of action, humor, violence, emotion, and seriousness all when needed. Every moment of this movie was directed and played to greatness.