The Suicide Squad (2021)

Yes. We caved. We’re doing a superhero movie.

But hear us out!

This is an incredibly intelligent superhero movie that is more than just a giant blue beam in the sky. It’s a movie with a giant starfish from space!

Okay maybe that won’t sell you, but give us a chance to show you what makes this movie stand above the rest.

It’s not the violence, it’s not the shock factor, it’s the filmmaking technique that’s on display at all times.

Part of what makes James Gunn so good at superhero filmmaking is he is a genuine fan of comic books. He grew up on them and still reads them to this day.

Even before entering the studio space he made Super, a parody of the superhero genre starring Rainn Wilson.

He is also a massive film fan with great instincts and a love for classic filmmaking conventions. While The Guardians of the Galaxy feels a very new age, The Suicide Squad actually feels quite classical.

Gunn himself points to this being his Dirty Dozen and honestly, it tracks. He's so thoughtful in every choice he makes, from shooting it using Imax film cameras to taking years of comics and applying that knowledge to each character's look.

When you look at Bloodsport, he is recognizably new and cutting edge, so make him feel like a New 52 character.

Polka Dot Man, he is weird/sad/morose. Give him a Watchmen suit.

Peacemaker is silly and feels like he’s a part of a bygone era, so give him the most comic accurate suit to his 70s look.

Meanwhile he gives Rick Flag and Harley Quinn the movie star treatment they deserve. They’re grizzled old timers, so make them look the most recognizably normal that these characters can while retaining the conventions of the genre it’s working in.

Think of John Carpenter’s Escape From New York; stylized but recognizable.

As hinted at before, we here at Please Consume generally try to stay away from mainstream superhero films as often as possible, but exceptions must be made when it comes to James Gunn.

A big reason we are covering slow motion walks this week is in celebration of the release of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, a film we are all looking forward to.

And when discussing the topic of slow mo walks we realized the man likes himself a walk. Just look at the Cherry Bomb group coming together scene in the first Guardians and the Come a Little Bit Closer Ravagers massacre in Vol. 2.

Even on television in Peacemaker you have Vigilant strutting through the prison set to The Cruel Intentions’ Jawbreaker.

But above all else, we have today’s clip.

No intelligent read, just pure vibes and a great song set to gorgeous visuals that feels straight out of a comic splash page. Pure Gunn!

Guess Monday’s Film