His Stories Are Hilariously Dark, Yet Compelling
James Gunn Saves the DCEU
It’s a credit to James Gunn’s style that he manages to make stories about some of DC’s most dangerous and irredeemable criminals hilariously dark and emotionally compelling all at the same time.
In The Suicide Squad, one second, we are laughing about Bloodsport and Peacemaker having a killing competition against people that turned out to be their allies. The next second, we are on the edge of our seats, wondering what will happen in an actual showdown between the two to save Ratcatcher 2.
This works because the character’s motives, personalities, and relationships are established clearly at the start and consistently written well up to the finish.
Peacemaker is a cocky asshole throughout the entirety of the film, but we get to see a different side to him as the film goes on that doesn’t feel like a jarringly distinct personality shift. His bonding with the group over drinks doesn’t feel unrealistic; it only simply shows that even killing machines have a downside and can be casual.
Getting to see this softer side makes the betrayal hurt so much in the end. You know that even though he is the “bad guy” in this situation, he doesn’t want to hurt anyone in the group and that he’s seriously conflicted even when he does go through with it.
The amazing part is the entire film didn’t need to be some dark, brooding affair to get to this point. Instead, it was an off-the-wall, exaggerated affair that managed to be funny and dramatic because the writing and characters made sense.
