Film

The Suicide Squad

Name: The Suicide Squad
Genre: Action, Comedy, Adventure
Released: 2021
Cast: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, Joel Kinnaman, Sylvester Stallone

James Gunn's gloriously splattery reboot sends a fresh batch of D-list supervillains — sharks, weasels, polka-dot men — on a black-ops suicide mission to a jungle dictatorship, and lets the gore, the jokes and the surprising sincerity all detonate together. It's loud, filthy, cartoonishly violent and genuinely funny, closer to a war movie crossed with a Looney Tunes short. Perfect for anyone who wants their superhero movie R-rated and unashamed of it.

TMDb rating

7.4

If you liked this

Guardians of the Galaxy2014

Same director, same trick — take society's rejects, arm them with jokes and a killer soundtrack, and somehow make you cry about a raccoon. Gunn's sensibility in a lighter key.

But PG-13 and thoroughly Disney-polished; none of the decapitations, profanity or organ-based gags you just watched.

Deadpool2016

The other R-rated superhero comedy that treats gore as punctuation and self-awareness as a personality trait — the same appetite for splatter, played strictly for laughs, no capes required.

But Solo hero rather than ensemble, and the fourth-wall-breaking schtick is a different flavour of irreverence.

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)2020no page yet

Margot Robbie's Harley, unleashed and completely unsupervised, in a candy-colored revenge romp that's just as gleefully violent as the squad, and even more visually unhinged.

But Looser plot, more style over substance, and less of an ensemble — it's really Harley's show.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Dirty Dozen1967

It's the blueprint Gunn is riffing on and gently mocking: dangerous criminals turned disposable soldiers by a government that never intended to let them survive. Same cynical engine, no gore, no jokes — just grim wartime math.

The film that invented this exact premise — convicted killers pardoned in exchange for a suicidal mission behind enemy lines. Gunn's whole structure, five decades earlier, with grit instead of gags.

But Black-and-white-era pacing, a purely masculine ensemble, and a mid-century view of violence and morality that feels bluntly old-fashioned now.

Kick-Ass2010

Everything superhero movies usually sanitize — the blood, the trauma, the genuinely bad decisions of children playing at heroism — played straight for splatter comedy. A close cousin in spirit.

But Rougher around the edges, cheaper-looking, and its shock-value violence toward a teenage girl hasn't aged entirely gracefully.

Peacemaker2022no page yet

Gunn's direct spin-off, following John Cena's dimwitted patriot into his own show — somehow even sillier, even bloodier, and unexpectedly moving by its surprisingly earnest final stretch.

But You've probably already heard about this one — it's the obvious next step, not a discovery.

Suicide Squad2016no page yet

Curiosity value: same premise, same universe, same cast even, but a wildly different and much worse execution — see exactly what Gunn was reacting against and fixing.

But Genuinely worse — muddled editing, tonal whiplash, and a soundtrack trying way too hard to be cool.

Tropic Thunder2008

A jungle mission spirals into real violence while everyone keeps treating it as a joke — the same collision of slapstick and genuine danger, just with actors instead of villains.

But No superpowers, no genre trappings at all — it's a straight comedy about ego, not action-adventure.

Doom Patrol2019

DC's other cast of freaks and misfits, weirder and sadder than the movies dare to be, with the same conviction that monsters can be heroes too.

But Slower paced, more introspective, more interested in trauma than one-liners — a genuinely different rhythm entirely.

The Losers2010no page yet

A black-ops team burned by their own government goes rogue and starts fighting back — the same cynicism about who gets to call the shots, in a leaner, pulpier package.

But Lower budget, less personality, and nowhere near as funny or as gory as what you just watched.

Harley Quinn2019no page yet

It's the same Harley Robbie plays, but freed from franchise continuity and PG-13 memo notes — proof the character was always built for chaos, just finally given room to actually be chaotic.

Same character, wildly different medium — an adult animated sitcom that lets Harley be genuinely unhinged, viciously funny, and emotionally messy in ways a two-hour blockbuster never has time for.

But Cartoon violence with a laugh-track energy — if you wanted more of the movie's scale and spectacle, this trades it for scrappier, cheaper-looking chaos.

The Act of Killing2012

Both are about state violence outsourced to disposable, self-mythologizing killers who think they're the good guys — one plays it as gonzo comic-book spectacle, the other refuses you any distance from the horror at all.

A documentary about real death-squad leaders in Indonesia who re-enact their killings as movie scenes, reveling in their own myth as heroes and entertainers — exactly like the thugs Task Force X is built from, minus the joke.

But This is not fun. It's disturbing, morally sickening, and asks you to sit with real atrocity rather than laugh at cartoon violence — a genuinely heavy watch.