Movie review: The Suicide Squad

He made you care about a talking tree, and now he is going to make you care about a big, dumb man-eating shark.

And a human weasel.

And a giant starfish.

You could argue that it is James Gunn's colourful, fun, classic hits-laden Guardians Of The Galaxy that led to the decision to slather neon and needle-drops over David Ayer's previous take on the disposable villains.

But while 2016's Suicide Squad was a mess, 2021's The Suicide Squad - which opens in cinemas here today - is magnificent.

DC is thankfully letting loose with its adaptations and refreshingly, this is about as comic book as you can get. Not even Marvel acknowledged its roots this much.

Every chapter has a distinct colour palette, and chapter titles form from the environment - whether it is words emerging from flames or coagulating from clouds of blood in the water.

And this film is bloody.

And violent.

Some may say gratuitously, some gloriously.

The Suicide Squad is also funny - sometimes uncomfortably, given the gallows humour - and often, it is wonderfully nuts.

And despite what has been shown in the trailers, a giant pink space starfish rampaging through a city is not the most nuts thing in here.

Just wait until you see how Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) sees the world.

The amazing thing is just how much Gunn can make you care about these killers.

And yes, despite him snacking on humans, you will root for King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone). He is just so adorable when he tries to appear smart by reading a book upside down.

You might even feel something for the starfish.

As for the humans, Idris Elba is a masterclass in resigned sighs and eye-rolls, John Cena excels at being petty for comedic effect, and Dastmalchian and Daniela Melchior are nice additions as the less dynamic but no less powerful members of the team.

Viola Davis returns as Amanda Waller, the director of A.R.G.U.S. who runs the Task Force X programme, and is so ruthless that you wonder if she is more evil than the bad guys.

And then there is Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, who almost gets a separate film within this. She really owns the character and here, she is even more unpredictable and dangerous - even to her own team.

If there are minor quibbles, it is that the trailers showed too much and that, well, compared with Guardians Vol. 1 or 2, there is not a truly outstanding music moment - no revelation of a previously little-heard track to send you straight to Spotify. But that is just a cratedigger's gripe.

Go see this, do not get too attached, and hope your favourite character makes it to the end.

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FILM: The Suicide Squad

STARRING: Idris Elba, Joel Kinnaman, John Cena, Margot Robbie, Viola Davis, Daniela Melchior, Michael Rooker, David Dastmalchian, Peter Capaldi, Sylvester Stallone

WRITER-DIRECTOR: James Gunn

THE SKINNY: A team of criminals with super abilities are sent on a mission to the island state of Corto Maltese on a search-and-destroy mission. But will any of them make it out alive? Or will they be killed in action or by the tiny explosive implanted in their heads?

RATING: M18

SCORE: 4/5