SERIOUSLY FUNNY SQUAD
Baddies and buddies abound in this action-comic romp, writes Andrea Nagel
If you’re looking for some serious entertainment, avoid The Suicide Squad at all costs. With a cast of characters called Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Savant (Michael Rooker), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), everyone’s favourite psycho Harley Quin (Margot Robbie) and many more, you’re in for a somewhat silly, comic romp. The best way to enjoy a film like this is to turn off your higher-level cognition and go along for the ride.
It all starts at Belle Reve, a US prison where the worst super-villains are held. They’ll do anything to get out — like join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Their mission? To prevent the evil government of the island of Corto Maltese from unleashing a terrible mind-controlling creature on the inhabitants.
Implanted with self-destruct microchips that explode their brains if they don’t adhere to their assignments, the crazy squad are armed to the teeth, dropped into the enemy-infused jungle with only Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) on the ground to make them behave, and Amanda Waller’s (Viola Davis) government techies back home tracking their every move.
One wrong move and they’re dead — by the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or by Waller’s psychopathic, control-freak will.
The crazy, action-packed anti-superhero film was written and directed by James Gunn, who directed Guardians of the Galaxy.
With the entire DC canon to choose from for his dream team of super villains, Gunn said he felt like a kid in a candy store — if that store sold comic books. After a weekend of revisiting writer John Ostrander’s run from the 1980s that reintroduced the Squad, a favourite of Gunn’s as a boy, his ideas crystallised.
“I’ve always loved the Suicide Squad, ”said Gunn. “They’re my favourite group of comicbook anti-heroes. I’m interested in people who haven’t lived their best lives and have an opportunity to become something better — a chance at redemption. Some of them take it, some don’t; it’s humanity in its various degrees of morality, and I get to put it on screen in a really grand, exciting way, with aliens and monsters and a walking shark.” In a multi-star Zoom interview, the characters and the director spoke about the silly buggers that went down on set daily. “We took risks, had a blast and tried new things to encourage audiences to come back to the theatre,” said Gunn, virtually elbowing his star cast over the ether. “Once everyone got over the idea that the primary character was a 200-foot [60m] pink starfish and another is a walking, tough-guy shark, played by Sylvester Stallone, you
know that there are going to be OMG moments — and you lean in to them. Everything is overdone, over-the-top, a constant upping of the wow factor.”
Robbie played the sexy, vicious airhead Harley Quinn. “I loved playing her in the mindset of ‘single and ready to mingle’, she said. “Before, she’d been committed to Mr J [The Joker]. Now James [Gunn] has put in lots of funny potential love interests that don’t end well.”
“It was a sophisticated acting group, playing sophisticated characters,” chimed in Stallone somewhat slyly in his characteristic drawl.
Asked about the dick-swinging contest between Elba’s character, Bloodsport, and Cena’s Peace Maker, Elba said: “It was a natural rivalry that was lots of fun to act out.” Cena added: “Bloodsport and Peace Maker have the same skill set, so there’s a lot of competition, a lot of one-upmanship. It led to great comedic moments.”
Kinnaman, who played the colonel in charge of the misfits, said he was delighted to spread his comedic wings. “It was a great script that really developed Flag’s character.”
At the end of the interview Stallone admitted that his love of seafood helped him connect with his character, King Shark. “I was offered the role and knew I couldn’t pass it up. I’d have preferred to play a grouper [a type of sea bass],” he admitted, “but you take what you can get.”
‘The Suicide Squad’ is in cinemas across the country now.