The Suicide Squad (2021) [Blu-Ray]

Director: James Gunn

Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena

Release Date: October 26, 2021

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 9.5/10
Disc Rating: 9/10

Synopsis:

Welcome to hell—a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese. Trekking through a jungle teeming with militant adversaries and guerrilla forces at every turn, the Squad is on a search-and-destroy mission with only Colonel Rick Flag on the ground to make them behave…and Amanda Waller’s government techies in their ears, tracking their every movement. And as always, one wrong move and they’re dead (whether at the hands of their opponents, a teammate, or Waller herself). If anyone’s laying down bets, the smart money is against them—all of them.

Please Note: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

‘The Suicide Squad’ welcomes you (back) to Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate and populated by many of the worst criminals and supervillains ever captured, as well as infamous home of the Suicide Squad project under the guidance of the cold Amanda Waller who enlists inmates for dangerous missions that if successful will earn some time off your sentence, but if you disobey or run, you’re dead. Now, Waller’s latest two teams are dumped in the deadly center of Corto Maltese and forced to locate information related to a secret project concerning an alien species and its shocking abilities. But will these drastically different individuals on the primary team including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Ratcatcher 2, King Shark, Polka-Dot Man and of course the lovably insane Harley Quinn be able to get their acts together and put their differences aside long enough to finish the job before it’s too late, even under the guidance of Colonel Rick Flag?

Written and directed by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Slither) who does a magnificent job at the helm of ‘The Suicide Squad’ guiding along the blood-soaked action and excitement with a style of twisted humor and lovable charm that he excels at. The film also owes its share of credit to the well selected cast which includes Margot Robbie (Birds of Prey), Idris Elba (Thor: Ragnarok), John Cena (F9: The Fast Saga), Joel Kinnaman (Suicide Squad), Jai Courtney (Honest Thief), David Dastmalchian (TV’s The Flash), Daniela Melchior (Parque Mayer), Sylvester Stallone (The Expendables), Viola Davis (Fences) and many more, the majority each offering pretty solid performances in their respective roles for the most part and helping this one to work as wonderfully as it does.

James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ movie is a wildly gory, hilarious and over the top good time the likes of which we almost never see in the form of big Hollywood productions. It serves up a pitch black comedy of a DC film coated in blood that while not a direct sequel is still easily superior to the previous ‘Suicide Squad’ film (you can also read my review of that film and its Blu-ray release Right Here) in almost every conceivable way. Gunn knows exactly what he wants to do with the film and it shows from the insanely violent opening sequence to the splendidly goofy climax. Enlisting many of the unique and lesser known characters from its comic roots and giving them a chance to shine (or in some cases at least fail in a hilariously gory manner), it allows for a much more grounded, yet equally ridiculous take on the team with plenty of twisted moments and hilarious mishaps occurring amidst the flying body parts and other gory insanity. Fans of James Gunn’s work in general, along with DC fans and anyone that enjoys an almost surprisingly gory and over the top ride that almost feels like a studio budget Troma flick in its own right will want to make a definite point of checking out ‘The Suicide Squad’ at your earliest convenience. You definitely won’t want to miss out on this wildly hilarious and blood-soaked ride.

Overall, ‘The Suicide Squad’ is a marvelously twisted, hilarious and brutal outing guided by Gunn that never hesitates to take things to dark and graphic places with plenty of pitch black humor and body parts flying across the screen; yet always retaining a goofy and easygoing style throughout. ‘The Suicide Squad’ easily earns one of my highest possible recommendations. It’s a phenomenal film that takes chances with the material in a way that many wouldn’t ever dream of even attempting to in a big budget Hollywood film and it comes together into a mashup of a darkly humorous and incredibly violent DC flick that shares some DNA with B-movie gore favorites from the 80’s and 90’s. If you haven’t already had the pleasure of this ridiculously enjoyable film but are excited for it (and don’t have a weak stomach) then it’s well worth a rental at the very least, yet don’t be at all surprised if you also end up wanting to purchase a copy immediately after.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Suicide Squad’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 1.90:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks pretty great as a whole (especially for a film clocking in at over two hours and sharing the BD disc with a pretty hefty collection of extras) and delivers a sharp, smooth and beautifully colored presentation with solid detail throughout. It holds up impressively even during the various darkly lit moments and fast moving and heavily populated sequences, never causing anything that’s occurring onscreen to become negatively affected or problematic along the way. Overall, this is a solid high definition video presentation that shouldn’t have much trouble pleasing both newcomers and fans.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack is probably the real star of this release and it serves up a clean, sharp and wildly aggressive audio presentation from start to finish. It constantly takes full advantage of all seven available channels in order to send gunshots, explosions and debris, along with dialogue, nature effects and a whole lot more regularly zipping throughout the various speakers at every fitting opportunity and never conflicting with any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously. Overall, this is an outstanding Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that only exceeds expectations every step of the way and contributes plenty of extra fun to the viewing experience.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Suicide Squad’ includes a nice collection of bonus content that fans should have a lot of fun with. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary by Writer/Director James Gunn’, along with a handful of ‘Deleted and Extended Scenes’ from the film (running approximately 17 minutes in length altogether) and an amusing ‘Gag Reel’ (running approximately 10 minutes). We are also treated to various Behind the Scenes Featurettes that explore different aspects of the film and bringing it to life, featuring interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus behind the scenes footage and more. The included Featurettes are ‘Bringing King Shark to Life’ (running approximately 6 minutes), ‘Gotta Love the Squad’ (approximately 11 minutes), ‘The Way of the Gunn’ (8 minutes), ‘Starro: It’s a Freakin’ Kaiju!’ (6 minutes) and ‘Scene Breakdowns’ for 4 scenes: ‘It’s A Suicide Mission’ (6 minutes), ‘My Gun’s Bigger Than Yours’ (6 minutes), ‘Harley’s Great Escape’ (7 minutes) and ‘The Fall of Jotunheim’ (5 minutes). The release also includes three fun genre-specific retro trailers for the film including a ‘War Movie Retro Trailer’ (3 minutes), A ‘Horror Movie Retro Trailer’ (1 minute) and a ‘Buddy-Cop Retro Trailer’ (1 minute).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 9.5/10
Disc Rating: 9/10

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James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from DC & Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

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