Critics at Rotten Tomatoes who reviewed “The Suicide Squad” (2021) say that director James Gunn succeeded in combining action and humor with the right touch of edginess. Other critics say that it is definitely an upgrade from the first Suicide Squad movie released in 2016.
While most viewers had hoped for a newer storyline, the general consensus is that the continuous, fast-paced and violent action scenes and the sprinkling of humor here and there, atone for the lack of plot novelty. Nonetheless, “The Suicide Squad” (2021) is a film independent of the original as it doesn’t verify nor deny the events of the original, regardless of the storyline’s similarity with the 2016 source narrative.
”The Suicide Squad” – Plot Synopsis
“The Suicide Squad” 2021 edition still revolves around the group of incarcerated DC Comics supervillains pressured by the government to join a secret division called Task Force X. In agreeing to become expendable members of the black-ops team tasked to carry out seemingly hopeless missions, they were given a choice of being rewarded with a reduced sentence or be blackmailed to receive a greater degree of punishment Desertion is not an option because a bomb has been implanted on their necks to ensure cooperation, and at the same time keep them in line.
The new version focuses on a dangerous mission in Corto Maltese, a fictional island nation located near the coast of South America, and ruled by an anti-American government. The island harbors an active Nazi-era research facility, running a project called Starfish for the Corto Maltese government.
Wary of what the facility contains, the American government allowed a high-ranking national security official named Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) to send Task Force X on a covert mission to destroy the laboratory facility.
Notable as new addition to “The Squicide Squad” is idris Elba, who was originally tapped to replace Will Smith’s Deadshot character. However, writer-director James Gunn decided to instead add Elba via the supervillain character called Bloodsport, a.k.a. Robert DuBois.
Other supervillains included in the 2021 Task Force X line up include Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), Weasel (Sean Gunn) and King Shark (Steve Agee but voiced by Sylvester Stallone.)
