With ‘Peacemaker,’ DC still falls short
Squad” movie, and this series is touted as the first TV offering of the DC Extended Universe.
If it’s any example, Warner Bros.’ wayward comic book film franchise remains outclassed by Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe. Nothing about “Peacemaker” is as innovative as “WandaVision” or “Loki,” and the plotting isn’t even up to the standards of the mediocre “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” or “Hawkeye.”
What “Peacemaker” does excel at is dirty dialogue, nudity and graphic violence, all of which complement Gunn’s sophomoric sense of shock humor. This can work against the show, especially when fight sequences are hobbled by too much banter and distracting “character” bits among its roster of live-action cartoons. But it also gives “Peacemaker” a distinct bad-boy vibe, which seems right for a series about a villain who thinks he’s a hero.
After killing his team leader and getting a building dropped on him in “Suicide Squad,” Smith wakes up in a hospital with a new clavicle, but otherwise undamaged. Ruthless deepstate manipulator Amanda Waller (Viola Davis, seen in a laptop cameo), forces him to join another off-the-books group of her untrustworthy operatives. This turns out to be a typical TV backup team of bickering tech and combat specialists. The standout among them is the relatively nice newbie Leota Adebayo, played by Danielle Brooks (“Orange Is the New Black”) in the show’s most nuanced and humane performance.
The group is tasked with assassinating certain high-profile individuals called “butterflies,” for reasons that become clear by the end of the third episode. Smith also has to deal with his hateful, racist dad, Auggie, embodied by a dialoguespitting Robert Patrick (fun fact: the “T2” actor was also in Cena’s first movie, 2006’s “The Marine”). Then there’s Vigilante
(Freddie Stroma of “Bridgerton”), another homicidal “hero” who thinks he’s Peacemaker’s best bud, but he just irritates everyone. Smith’s only real friend is a CG pet eagle, the imaginatively named Eagly, who is also his most reliable partner in mayhem.
While the one potentially intriguing aspect of Smith’s personality — he doesn’t want to kill anymore (until he does) — is not explored in a satisfactory way, Cena eventually convinces us that his sociopathic antihero is coping with all manner of insecurities and trauma. And the actor regularly does more marvelous things with his rubbery face than with the formidable, brawny rest of his body. One character tells Smith, “I don’t like your angry expressions,” but audiences will.
More good news is that, after this week’s installments, some of the players’ relationships and personalities become more interesting. Action sequences get better, too.
Gunn’s rude aesthetic is on full display throughout, which should please his fan cult but can wear a bit puerile for the rest of us. While it’s nice that Warner allows him to get as freaky as he thinks he needs to be, the more disciplined folks at Marvel get better work out of Gunn in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies. The DCEU may indulge would-be auteurs, but maybe that’s another reason why the franchise is still N0. 2.