The Suicide Squad lives to fight another day

The Suicide Squad, not to be confused with the previous Suicide Squad, has much more than an additional T-H-E to give ticket holders this August. It has a bigger budget, has more action and contains many more guest stars. It's jammed packed with visual effects and action that will keep people guessing. Teenage boys will love it and there's plenty of female empowering moments for the girls. Comic fans will certainly be pleased with how characters are handled and newcomers will not be overwhelmed the plot. 

In the past, many comic book writers fell in love with their creations and continually brought them back to life. This frustrated readers, who gave up on heroes and villians ever really being deceased. The Suicide Squad squashes that idea and makes for an unpredicatable ride. Go see it on a big screen before anyone ruins the plot with spoilers. 

What a difference a director makes in the case of The Suicide Squad. If viewers are wondering why this new Warner Bros. release is so much better than some of other DC movies, then look no further than James Gunn. He takes everything audiences loved from his previous work of Guardians of the Galaxy and carries it over into this other comic book universe. 

Right from the beginning, the first few minutes of singer Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" music immediately sets the tone for The Suicide Squad. Rock from The Pixies with "Hey" and K. Flay's "Can't Sleep" add to eye popping sequences that deserve visual effects awards in the future. Performer Jessie Reyez, who just popped into town for Lollapalooza in Chicago and was incredibly nice in person, has two songs on the soundtrack. 

Gunn has fun with the subtitles and storyline by depicting clever graphics on the screen. He dives into the brains of each character and shows us what they are thinking with spectacular special effects. The four basic elements of water, fire, wind and earth are like putty in his hands to make art throughout the engaging 143 minutes of cinema. 

Also carrying over from his Guardians stint is the humor. The jokes are funny, crass and vulgar in all the right ways. It's refreshing to see the men depicted as objects of affection, rather than the old, overused topless women in so many movies of the past. John Cena stands around in his briefs like the hunk he is and we are here for it! 

The plot of The Suicide Squad is kept fairly simple set on the island of Corto Maltese. Task Force X are a wacky group of characters, with sometimes hilarious super powers, that are forced to work together for the greater good. The space villian Starro the Conqueror was originally an early Justice League bad guy, but moves into this storyline with gusto. The build up to the jaw dropping finale is time well spent, thanks to a talented production team. Gunn shoots a bullseye with this one and expect at least one more sequel in the franchise. 

The Suicide Squad is a feast for the eyes and will make your soul believe in DC comics on the big screen again, after several past lackluster attempts to compete with Marvel Studios movies. 

Make it your mission to see The Suicide Squad when its released in theaters or HBO Max on August 6.