This week I watched The Suicide Squad in theaters, and then Space Jam: A New Legacy on HBO Max. Both are Warner Brothers properties, but while one was excellent and a lot of fun, the other was a hilariously terrible farce of a film that highlighted the trouble of WB being a giant media conglomerate. You probably already know which is which, but let me break it down for you.
The Suicide Squad: This is the most non-DC DC Comics movie ever. Which is a great thing as I generally cannot stand DC movies. Written and directed by James Gunn, this movie has absolute Guardians of the Galaxy Marvel energy, which was obvious from the opening scene, set to Johnny Cash singing the Folsom Prison Blues.I never watched the first Suicide Squad, so don't expect any in-depth insight here. Instead, all I can tell you is that this film is not dark and dour, but light and frothy, despite the fact that, as the title suggests, a shit ton of people are going to die throughout. In fact, it is rather startling how many people die even before the film's opening credits. It's quite the accomplishment. Also, this is a movie starring Idris Elba, so how bad could it get, you know? On top of that, we've got Margot Robbie reprising her role as the deranged but oddly lovable Harley Quinn, John Cena as Peacemaker, a sort of Captain America-esque figure who is very problematic as befits this squad of misfits, Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2 (she is good with rats), Joel Kinnaman as the earnest Corporal Flag, and then...a giant shark named Nanaue. Who was apparently voiced by Sylvester Stallone, which I didn't realize until I just wrote that sentence. Listen, don't ask any questions. It's a comic book movie and you need to just accept that there's gonna be an anthropomorphic shark running around and having adventures.
This movie is visually striking and incredibly colorful - there's a gorgeous fight sequence with Harley Quinn that echoes Birds of Prey, and the final battle with the big bad does cause a lot of wanton destruction, but everything is so pretty as it's happening. There are jokes galore, something that is ordinarily sorely lacking in DC movies, and this film blessedly does not take itself too seriously. It is on a mission to provide solid entertainment for two hours and it thoroughly delivers. I will never watch the first Suicide Squad, but if James Gunn keeps cranking out sequels to this film, I'll certainly be on board.
Space Jam: A New Legacy: Much like I never watched the first Suicide Squad, I have also never watched the original Space Jam. I vaguely knew the gist, i.e. Michael Jordan ends up playing basketball with a bunch of Looney Tunes cartoons, but I went into this film with fairly non-existent expectations. Yet it still managed to be exceptionally terrible. In fact, it's so terrible, that it's actually kind of amazing and I wasn't mad about watching it at all. So...success?
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