The Suicide Squad (2021)

**Where the first film was a good action movie with Suicide Squad characters, The Suicide Squad (2021) truly is a Suicide Squad movie in all its psychotic, unpredictable glory.**
While I am one of the few that really enjoyed the 2016 Suicide Squad, I can't deny that this movie captures the chaos, instability, and expendable nature of the Squad in the comics. James Gunn introduces the audience to a whole cadre of characters that are very deep cuts into DC lore with unknowns like Polka-dot Man, Peacemaker, Bloodsport, Ratcatcher, Javelin, and more. These obscure villains serve as perfect cannon fodder for Amanda Waller's hopeless suicide missions. These C-list villains almost scream that no one is safe. Both new and old characters constantly die throughout the film. Still, somehow Gunn manages to make us care about these obscure and insignificant comic book characters making their deaths more potent and heartbreaking. He also knows how to direct Harley Quinn better than any director who has brought the character to live action. Her insanity and charm are delightfully deranged and perfectly showcased repeatedly. With an army of bad guys, there is plenty of action and fighting to keep the runtime moving and put each squad member's skills on display. After what Gunn did with The Suicide Squad, I am excited to see what he brings to the rest of the DC Universe.

The Suicide Squad is to Suicide Squad what McDowell's is to McDonald's. Suicide Squad had Deadshot, The Suicide Squad has Bloodsport. Suicide Squad had a computer generated anthropomorphic crocodile, The Suicide Squad has a computer generated anthropomorphic shark. Suicide Squad had a Latino character who could control CGI flames, The Suicide Squad has a Hispanic character who can control CGI rats. Et-fucking-cetera.
These minor differences only serve to emphasize that the only real difference between this movie and its predecessor is a definite article in the title. Even the quote-unquote new characters serve to preserve the status quo, as their introduction allows writer/director James Gunn to repeat David Ayer's formula from the first film: Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), who is clearly a bigger sociopath than any member of the Suicide Squad, scrapes the bottom of the DC barrel for characters who go from feeling sorry for themselves to feeling sorry for each other.
But there is something that The Suicide Squad has that Suicide Squad doesn't: an odd habit of unnecessarily doubling down. Thus, we have Peacemaker, who is interchangeable with Bloodsport does. Or Weasel, a humanoid weasel who is interchangeable with Pete Davidson, a weasely human (Davidson is possibly the only person more annoying than Margot Robbie; thankfully, his character gets his face shot off early on, which actually makes Davidson less grotesque to look at than usual).