The first film based upon the Suicide Squad comics was something of a mess that was clearly chopped up in editing, and suffered from executive meddling that resulted a very sub-par movie over all.

Thankfully, the sequel title “The Suicide Squad” is a far, far better film than the previous 2016 effort and might just be my new favorite DCEU film. Let’s dive right in with this non-spoiler review.

First thing to note is that you can see this film without any prior knowledge of the previous film, as it largely serves as a soft reboot.

The film sees Task Force X, a government black ops group organized by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis). It consists of incarcerated supervillains that are coerced into participating in missions with the promise of taking ten years off their sentences, and the much more direct threat of a small explosive device implanted in their heads.

Task Force X is sent to the island nation of Corto Maltese, which has recently been subjected to a coup by an anti-American regime, with the goal of destroying a laboratory containing a secret experiment known as “Project: Starfish”.

And that is about the most plot we can get into without spoilers, as the very nature of The Suicide Squad is the promise of a body count and character deaths.

Director James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 & 2) delivers a fun, ensemble film that combines wacky comic book antics with a gritty 80’s war flick, and has a healthy amount of dark humor and gore that harkens back to the director’s days with Troma Entertainment.

The movie largely takes inspiration from John Ostrander’s original 1980’s run on the Suicide Squad comics.

The cast is very large and full of many colorful characters that each have time to show off their unique personalities and quirks.

The action has a grounded, gritty feel despite the absurdity of having a humanoid shark monster and a man who throws polka-dots in the mix.

Humor is definitely a strong element in this film, and much of it is from the interactions of the squad and their dysfunctional nature as a group. And this time around, the bonding of the squad feels far more authentic and has an organic feel to it than the awkward bar scene from the 2016 film.

This film more than earns its R-rating as it has many bloody kills that are increasingly silly and over-the-top.

This film also features a villain whose cinematic debut I’ve personally been waiting for, and is sure not to disappoint.

I had a blast watching this film, and it is really a vast improvement over the first entry in the series, and raises the bar for the DCEU going forward.

I highly recommend checking this movie out if you love comics or 80’s action flicks.

The Suicide Squad gets a 10/10.