So I finally got round to watching the second DC Universe Movie about this group of villains, turned sort-of-heroes, as part of my Christmas 2021 decompress.

First off, it grabbed my attention in the first act, and while the pace did slack off, the direction was polished and the whole thing flowed. If I wasn’t tired with the end of year burnout, I would have watched the whole two hours plus in one uninterrupted sitting on the edge of my chair viewing.

Second, it’s a war movie, about a squad of soldiers who just happen to be lower-end superheroes, which draws a straight line for inspiration from the Dirty Dozen, through Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds. That’s a good thing in my book since I grew up with and enjoyed such films. Sam Peckinpah’s Cross of Iron is my favourite of this genre. In my book director James Gunn gets this in spades.

It’s a lovely ensemble movie too, with a large list of fantastic actors, all of whom get their moment to shine – even if that moment is cut short by a gruesome but quick death. There are lots of witty dialogue, cool character development (the ending with Blood Sport is just the coolest thing ever in this department) and laugh out jokes, big explosions.

In short, it just rocks and makes it onto my perfect movie list 🙂