Review: In ‘The Suicide Squad,’ an Anti-Captain America Romp

This image provided by Warner Bros. Pictures shows David Dastmalchian, from left, John Cena, Idris Elba and Daniela Melchior in a scene from “The Suicide Squad.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
This image provided by Warner Bros. Pictures shows David Dastmalchian, from left, John Cena, Idris Elba and Daniela Melchior in a scene from “The Suicide Squad.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
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Review: In ‘The Suicide Squad,’ an Anti-Captain America Romp

This image provided by Warner Bros. Pictures shows David Dastmalchian, from left, John Cena, Idris Elba and Daniela Melchior in a scene from “The Suicide Squad.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)
This image provided by Warner Bros. Pictures shows David Dastmalchian, from left, John Cena, Idris Elba and Daniela Melchior in a scene from “The Suicide Squad.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

One little article separates James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” from David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad.” But, oh, what a difference a word makes.

Just five years after the trainwreck that prompted Warner Bros. to retool its DC Comics universe, James Gunn’s nearly wholesale re-do exists in an entirely different movie galaxy. “The Suicide Squad” may go down as one of the greatest, and quickest, do-overs in blockbusterdom.

Like Gunn’s two “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, “The Suicide Squad” is a chaotic, freewheeling inversion of much of what’s expected in a comic book movie. Here, heroes die (a lot of them). Most aren’t really heroes, either. Some aren’t even human. But they’ve been sprung from prison for a kamikaze mission on behalf of the U.S. government. In this motliest of crews, no one has anything like a sleek shield or a clean caped suit.

Gunn came to “The Suicide Squad” (which opens Aug. 5 in theaters and on HBO Max) in a brief window opened by social-media scandal. Disney fired him from Marvel for some old, dug-up tweets, only to, after the protests of his “Guardians” cast, be rehired to direct “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ”. But in the interim, Warner and D.C. poached the writer-director, one of the few filmmakers in the genre with the nerve and talent to not exactly buck the system but deconstruct it, and turn superhero myth into slapstick farce.

Gunn has said he was initially offered the chance to direct a Superman movie, but it’s telling that he turned down the crown jewel of DC for the likes of Polka-Dot Man, Ratcatcher 2 (who communicates with rodents) and Nanaue, a cartoonish walking shark in jams.

But if most mainline superhero movies ultimately exalt American ideals like justice, individualism and might, Gunn goes exactly the other way. “The Suicide Squad” is the anti-Superman, a madcap rejoinder to Captain America. In Gunn’s hands, the America superhero is grotesque, brutal and ridiculous. Like Gunn’s previous movies, “The Suicide Squad” boasts wall-to-wall needle drops (the Pixies’ “Hey,” Louis Armstrong’s “I Ain’t Got Nobody”), yet leaves out maybe the most fitting song, Childish Gambino’s “This Is America.”

Early on in “The Suicide Squad” we get a sense that the mission is dubious. Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) summons a bunch of prisoners for Task Force X program. Exactly who are to be our main characters and who’s head is about to sliced like a melon takes some sorting out. But in a clown-car of a superhero movie the most central protagonist is Idris Elba’s Bloodsport, a mercenary only coaxed into joining the team when Waller threatens prison time or worse for his teenage daughter (Storm Reid, very good).

With him are Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior, a standout), a laconic, warm-hearted Millennial with a very polite pet rat named Sebastian on her shoulder. The skills of Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) are initially hard to decipher, but the shy, stunted Abner proves surprisingly capable, even if he, himself, sheepishly apologizes for having such a “flamboyant” power.

There is also John Cena’s Peacemaker, easily the most jingoist of the bunch, a kind of Captain America knockoff. Just what each squad member feels about their home country and its role in international backwaters is prominently in play in “The Suicide Squad.” The gang is sent to a dictator-controlled South American island in the midst of a populist uprising to keep safe a secret, locked-away alien species housed in a concrete tower. This is the sinister unseen side to American glory; a monstrous extraterrestrial starfish picked up on a seemingly triumphant space mission. Unclear is whether the task force is there to prevent an apocalyptic threat or shroud a dubious offshore US experiment.

But there are others, too. Nanaue (voiced with monosyllabic perfection by Sylvester Stallone) is a worthy heir to Groot from “Guardians of the Galaxy” and a man-eating reminder to how very close to cartoon Gunn’s movie is. The group’s more serious, highly trained field leader, Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag, is a kind of straight man to the antic gang in the same way that dramatic, ballad-singing actors starred alongside the Marx brothers.

Also in the mix is Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. It’s her third film in that character but the best yet in capturing Quinn’s chipper mania. A brief romantic interest tells her he adores her for symbolizing anti-American fervor. Within minutes, he’s lying dead on the floor.

Does “The Suicide Squad” overdo it? Of course. It’s a little absurd to even ask that about a movie with a talking shark that rips bodies in half and interstitial debates about, for instance, whether the phrase “tighty whities” is racist. Gunn throws so much into his superhero collider that he sometimes sacrifices depth (backstories are poignant but thin) for wit and idiosyncrasy.

But as over-the-top and thoroughly R-rated as “The Suicide Squad” is, it’s not nihilistic. That’s maybe a questionable argument to make for a film that includes an inside-the-body close-up of a dagger piercing a beating heart. But as much as Gunn steers his movies into chaos, they have a surprising amount of heart and thoughtfulness to them.

Within “The Suicide Squad” is not only a negotiation with American power, and its depiction in comic-book movies, but a heartfelt if extreme gallery of damaged souls. It’s a kind of genuinely tender freak show. The upside of selecting DC characters from the Z-list is that Gunn has free reign in molding and shaping them as he likes. And, as in “Guardians,” his heroes all derive their strange powers from emotional trauma. They are outcasts, weirdos, laughing stocks and whatever you call Nanaue. That makes “The Suicide Squad” — as ridiculous as it is to say about a movie that renders a bloody rampage with gushes of animated daisies and birdies — kind of beautiful. Plus, the shark in jams is funny.



How Lewis Hamilton and Apple Brought F1 Racing to the Movie Screen 

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari waves to the crowd on the drivers parade prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on June 15, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec. (Getty Images/AFP)
Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari waves to the crowd on the drivers parade prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on June 15, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec. (Getty Images/AFP)
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How Lewis Hamilton and Apple Brought F1 Racing to the Movie Screen 

Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari waves to the crowd on the drivers parade prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on June 15, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec. (Getty Images/AFP)
Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Scuderia Ferrari waves to the crowd on the drivers parade prior to the F1 Grand Prix of Canada at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on June 15, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec. (Getty Images/AFP)

Racing legend Lewis Hamilton, a producer on an upcoming movie starring Brad Pitt as a fictional Formula 1 driver, wanted the film to show the reality of what it looks, feels and sounds like to speed around a track at 200 miles per hour.

To avoid having Apple's "F1 The Movie" seem "faked" by Hollywood, Hamilton provided input on details such as when drivers should brake or shift gears. The film will be released in theaters by Warner Bros on June 27.

"I really wanted to make sure the authenticity was there, and it worked for both the younger and the older audience, and then making sure that the racing was true to what it is," Hamilton said in an interview with Reuters Television.

"All the other drivers, all the teams, are relying on me to make sure that it does," the seven-time world champion added.

In the movie, Pitt plays a driver who comes out of retirement to mentor a young hotshot portrayed by Damson Idris. Co-stars include Javier Bardem and Kerry Condon.

Portions of the film were shot during real-life F1 events in Abu Dhabi, Mexico City and other Grand Prix stops. The filmmakers would shoot on the tracks during short breaks in the races. Pitt and Idris drove themselves in professional race cars at high speeds.

Before filming started, Hamilton said he met with Pitt at a racetrack in Los Angeles so he could size up the actor's driving skills.

"I really wanted to see, can you actually drive?" Hamilton said. A longtime motorcycle rider and racing fan, Pitt showed a baseline ability at that point that made Hamilton comfortable.

"He already had the knack," Hamilton said, which the actor further developed through weeks of intense training. "He really went in deep," Hamilton said.

"F1" was directed by Joseph Kosinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, the team that put together the thrilling fighter-jet scenes in 2022 blockbuster film "Top Gun: Maverick."

For "F1," they needed new cameras that would work in race cars, which can be slowed down by extra weight.

Producing partner Apple, which began releasing movies in 2019, was able to help.

The company used some of its iPhone technology to adapt a camera system typically used in real F1 cars during TV broadcasts. The hardware looked like a traditional F1 camera but delivered the high-resolution video that the filmmakers wanted for the big screen.

"This movie was just a great example of putting the whole of the company behind a movie," Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said. "We designed the camera that went into the car to capture the incredible driving experience. It makes you feel like you're actually sitting in the car and experiencing what Brad is experiencing."

Cook said he felt the movie showcased the athleticism required to rise to the elite ranks of F1 driving. Hamilton said he had encouraged more examples of the sport's physical challenges. Drivers can lose five or 10 pounds, he said, from the exertion during a race.

"You have to be able to show that part of it. You're training. You're conditioning your body," Hamilton said. "The car, it beats you up."