James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ is a Mixed Bag of Mayhem [Review]

2016’s “Suicide Squad” was an astronomical failure. A meandering, safe and unlikable foray into DCEU anti-heroism. However, did we really need a reboot? Probably not, but ardent superhero geeks begged for it.

Although based on the same source material as the former,  “The Suicide Squad,” emphasis on “the,” is meant as a complete overhaul of the franchise. The writer-director is different as well; David Ayer replaced by “Guardians of the Galaxy” mastermind James Gunn. You also get a new cast, led by The Peacemaker (John Cena), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Col. Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone), And yes, sole returnee Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), offering the same colourfully twisted shtick.

Clocking in at a mind-numbingly unnecessary 132 minutes, Gunn’s ‘Squad’ does get off to a strong start, introducing us to what were supposed to be the main characters (check out those celeb cameos) only to suddenly kill them all off ala “MacGruber”. That’s when Cena, Elba and company show up to save the day. They are mercenaries, dangerous prisoners, compiled by U.S. intelligence to head to the fictional island nation of Corto Maltese to catch an alien starfish hellbent on destroying the world.

What, at first, feels darkly funny, imaginatively violent and irreverent soon turns to thudding repetition. Gunn’s screenplay runs out of ideas - and jokes- quickly. It doesn’t help that the characters themselves don’t exhibit much in the way of interesting traits. Should we care about the testosterone-fueled rivalry between team leaders Bloodsport and The Peacemaker? Even King Shark is a clearcut copy of Guardians of the Galaxy’s Groot. More successful, however, is Polka-Dot Man’s mommy issues which he uses as fuel to melt flesh with his dots.

Gunn could be credited as having invented the self-aware superhero movie with 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” (although I’d say Shane Black’s underrated “Iron Man 3” did it first a year earlier), to the point where ‘Guardians’ has become the ultimate blueprint for almost every DCEU and Marvel movie that’s been released since then. That’s why while watching “The Suicide Squad,” we sit there waiting for Gunn’s next pop song cue, or the next meta joke or that moment when our outcasts finally come together as a team. Maybe that’s why “The Suicide Squad,” despite its eccentricities and R-rating, doesn’t really feel as fresh or original as it purports to be. We’ve seen it all before. [C+]