The Suicide Squad with James Gunn
Task Force X recruits Popcorn Podcast to bring you a bonus review of DC's The Suicide Squad with special guest James Gunn. Does this wild comic book film blow it or blow it out of the park? Plus, Gunn opens his horribly beautiful mind to discuss how he approaches directing and why he injected such incredible colour into the traditionally dark and gritty world of DC.
Find an edited extract of this episode below. You can listen to the full episode above and follow Popcorn Podcast on your preferred podcast platform for more
THE SUICIDE SQUAD MOVIE REVIEW
Tim: This is the thing that jumps out for me when talking about James Gunn: ‘From the horribly beautiful mind of writer/director James Gunn.’ I think that, as a marketing tagline, best describes what Gunn has done here, don't you think?
Leigh: Absolutely. Horribly beautiful mind – if that doesn't encapsulate the man, I don't know what does. He immediately sets the tone with the opening scene in The Suicide Squad where Savant, played by Michael Rooker, is called upon to join Task Force X. Now, when that opening scene happened, I was thinking, ‘Oh, I'm so excited for this movie.’ And we can't give too much away, but then I just went, ‘Oh! Okay, that's the kind of movie it's going to be.’ I was on board immediately.
Tim: That is exactly the reaction that was elicited watching this film, not only at the beginning, but constantly throughout. It just came at you from all angles. What James Gunn has done… he has created a very visceral film – one that I was half expecting, but not to the extent that he delivered. I don't know what it is about trailers, but I never felt fully convinced about The Suicide Squad leading into the release. However, I was all-in very quickly with this film and I did not look back for a second.
Leigh: Well, it's really hard to balance the number of cast that he has in here with a decent story. I don't think anyone could do it as good as James Gunn can do it.
Tim: I agree. James Gunn has always been a big fan of the Suicide Squad comics, which is important to call out here. As a writer, for him the idea of redemption and morality for these characters is a compelling one. I think he delivered in spades in finding that balance with this weird, wacky list of characters, right?
Leigh: Wacky is an understatement. I spent a lot of time in this movie saying, ‘What the hell?’ In a good way, in a really good way. It's nuts. But a superhero or antihero film should be fun.
Tim: Yes, fun is a word that at times is missing from DC because it's really dark and gritty and all those things that we know and love about DC. But James Gunn here has injected f-u-n-exclamation mark into this world. I just love it.
