The Suicide Squad: Joel Kinnaman calls it James Gunn’s best movie by far

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

I'm quite pumped to see what James Gunn has up his sleeves with The Suicide Squad, but Joel Kinnaman has already seen the film, and although he's certainly biased — something he freely admits — he told Variety that it stacks up above everything else Gunn has done. "We saw it a couple days ago," Kinnaman said. "It’s insane. It’s by far James Gunn’s best movie." That's good enough for me. Oh, you want more? Here goes.

Joel Kinnaman went on to explain that The Suicide Squad "just takes it to another level," adding that "it was very much the movie that I thought it was going to be because the vision was so clear from the beginning. While we were shooting it, it was so clear what we were doing. It’s so entertaining. I’m of course hopelessly biased, but I found it to be one of the most entertaining films I’ve ever seen." Kinnaman continued:

From A to Z, it’s so well paced, it has such a drive and such comedic timing. It’s funny along the way the whole time, effortlessly. But then I think what really surprised me was I was struck by was how well it flowed, but also how he was able to create these little bubbles, these little moments of emotional depth and visual and emotional poetry. And I felt like it really transcended the genre, and it became something bigger. And then it’s also very silly, and ridiculous in many ways and super violent. Just gory almost at times. And it has shocking moments, but they are very comedic. At the end of the movie, it’s completely normal seeing this giant shark just standing gnawing on a person’s head, and some of the people just having a conversation next to it… When you’re one hour and 50 minutes into ‘Suicide Squad,’ that’s going to feel completely normal. It’s so irreverent.

Alongside Margot Robbie, Jai Courtney, and Viola Davis, Joel Kinnaman is one of very few actors from David Ayer's Suicide Squad to return for the sequel, but unlike the new film, Kinnaman feels that Suicide Squad didn't wind up being the movie they were hoping it would be. "I thought the first 40 minutes of the film was f**king great, and then there were conflicting visions and it just didn’t end up being what we all hoped it was," Kinnaman said. "It didn’t feel like the movie that we hoped we were going to make, and this is something very different. …It’s just a different universe. It’s a James Gunn universe. It’s a very hilarious and depraved place."

The official synopsis for The Suicide Squad:

Welcome to hell — a.k.a. Belle Reve, the prison with the highest mortality rate in the US of A. Where the worst Super-Villains are kept and where they will do anything to get out—even join the super-secret, super-shady Task Force X. Today’s do-or-die assignment? Assemble a collection of cons, including Bloodsport, Peacemaker, Captain Boomerang, Ratcatcher 2, Savant, King Shark, Blackguard, Javelin and everyone’s favorite psycho, Harley Quinn. Then arm them heavily and drop them (literally) on the remote, enemy-infused island of Corto Maltese.

The Suicide Squad is slated to hit theaters and HBO Max on August 6, 2021. In addition to the film, there's also a spin-off TV series focusing on John Cena's Peacemaker character that will debut on HBO Max in January 2022.