So I’ve actually had a request!

This is new to me and actually quite flattering.
The request came from a fellow Joel Kinnaman fan who has been enjoying reading my blog and wants me to write about Suicide Squad.
This is something I’m more than happy to do as I haven’t blogged about Joel for some time. He tends to be quite elusive between projects but as we are now within spitting distance of the release of Suicide Squad we are beginning to see him and the rest of the gang doing the rounds of press gatherings and red carpets.

So, where to begin?

I’ve always stated in past blogs about movies based on comic books that …. I don’t read comics! I never have.
I’ve picked them up ocassionally to have a look but I just don’t like reading them and I find the way characters are drawn just makes them totally ridiculous.
However……
I love comic book characters and what they can do and what they stand for and for me, those characters work better when they are taken out of the comic books and put onto film.

Over the last few years I have thoroughly enjoyed the escalation of the Marvel Universe.
Captain America, Thor, Avengers, X-Men, Guardians of the Galaxy, I could go on forever naming everything that’s been done or is planned and with the exception of the recent Fantastic Four shambles, every single one of them has been amazing!
But……
Deep down I enjoy the darker side of comic movie heroes.
2000AD’s Dredd…. NOT the Stallone one but the Karl Urban one!! was amazing. Shame it had the shittiest marketing campaign in history that single handedly killed the possibility of a franchise.
Christian Bale’s DC Batman trilogy……..

OMG! Just got totally distracted by the post arriving and my copy of Star Wars: The Force Awakens has arrived 2 days before its UK release date!!  That’s my day sorted then!

Anyway…..

Christian Bale’s DC Batman trilogy was, for me, the defining Batman.
I was a little dubious about Ben Affleck taking on the role but I needen’t have worried. His older and more world weary Batman is amazing and I can’t wait to see him in Suicide Squad.
Don’t get me started about Superman!!
As much as I loved growing up with the Christopher Reeve Superman and was happy with the Brandon Routh attempt at keeping the feel of Christopher’s Superman alive, I am so much happier that they’ve taken the re-boot of the franchise in a darker direction.

OK, so the next few months sees the release of more Marvel goodies with Captain America: Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse but it’s DC’s release of Suicide Squad on August 5th that I’m really looking forward to.

IMDB states simply: A secret government agency recruits imprisoned supervillains to execute dangerous black ops missions in exchange for clemency.

Basically they unleash supervillains to control suppervillains!!
But, one character is thrown in to keep things under control.
Rick Flagg.
And Rick Flagg is being played by another one of my obsessions, Joel Kinnaman.

When I first found out about this I needed to find out just ‘who’ Rick Flagg was and came across another blog site, Moviecomicswhoswho.wordpress.com, who gave a detailed description as follows…..

Rick Flag is, essentially, a man of honor, a soldier born who follows the footsteps of his legendary father and who tries his best to keep the name up. Flag is extremely selfless, always ready to sacrifice himself for his teammates or for the cause they’re fighting for, but this virtuous behavior often becomes some sort of self-destructive tendency that ruined also his private life. As the on-field leader of the Suicide Squad, he’s an extremely charismatic commander, able to gain the respect of some of the most fearful and dangerous psychopaths in the world; he’s also one of the best living pilots, and an extremely well-trained armed and unarmed combatant, able to fight to a standstill even martial artists like Batman; he’s also a fine strategist and a keen investigator, able to accomplish nearly any kind of mission, from assaults to intelligence. Rick Flag is extremely loyal to his country, but he’s even more loyal to his men: he will obey any order, even the ones he doesn’t agree upon, except for the ones going against his own team.

And like I’ve also stated in the past, I seriously hope this film is a success.
I would love to see Joel Kinnaman stand toe to toe with Batman in a future movie!

The film’s ultimate villain is The Joker being played by Jared Leto.

This man has some big shoes to fill!
Everyone will be comparing him to Heath Ledger’s portrayal in The Dark Knight.
From the photos I’ve seen and from the snippets in the trailers and from his crazy antics on set, I’d say he’s going to be batshit crazy and looks like he’s doing an amazing job.

I can’t mention Joker without mentioning Harley Quinn.
The two tend to go hand in hand after all, as the Joker ‘created’ Harley Quinn.

This makes Suicide Squad more interesting as The Joker is the bad guy of the movie and Harley Quinn is on the team sent out to stop him!

But we can’t forget the rest of the team.
As Rick Flag states in Trailer number one, while flicking through some photos with June Moone/Enchantress…

Deadshot – Guy who shoots people…..

He’s a Crocodile and he eats people…..

Burns people……

You’re possessed by a witch…..

and she’s just crazy!….

He doesn’t even mention Captain Boomerang and Katana!

So, as you can see it’s an absolutely crazy team going after an absolutely crazy villain.
I’m so excited to see how Rick Flagg keeps them in their place!

This gentle giant of a man….

Playing Rick Flagg. A man who is able to gain the respect of some of the most fearful and dangerous psychopaths in the world, one of the best living pilots, and an extremely well-trained armed and unarmed combatant, able to fight to a standstill even against martial artists like Batman.

And let’s not forget.. Batman is in this movie too!!

For now, that’s all I can really say.
As I’m not a comic fan, I don’t know the ins and outs of all the characters but I look forward to finding out about them in the movie.

And now I’m afraid my excitement for what just came through the front door is getting the better of me.
I’ve got a few chores to do before I can sit down and go through all the Star Wars extras!!