So, we’ve finally figured out how to make a good DC movie … Give James Gunn the keys and let him do whatever the eff he wants.

The Suicide Squad was insane. Like certifiable, lock you up in Arkham, insane. And I loved it. First of all, let the kids have the cartoons, I want all of my DC movies to be rated R. I’ve been saying it for years, there might be like 3 PG-13 characters in the entire DC Universe, so why keep trying to make PG-13 movies about them? I’ll have to give the credit to Deadpool for paving the way, but movies like Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey and Joker (even though Joker isn’t technically in the DCU) are better for having an R rating. Now I just need an R rated Batman.

I digress.

Characters are what the DC comics thrive on, so thank goodness James Gunn was able to bring great portrayals of these B list characters to life. Every single one of these characters, from Michael Rooker as Savant with his creepy intro and the super cool shot of him jumping into the water, to King Shark Nanaue voiced by none other than Sylvester Stallone, eating, well everyone, to Idris Elba as Bloodsport proving he’s a horrible dad, to the literally insane Harley Quinn and her cartoon violence, to the tragic story of Starro … all of these characters were over the top and yet somehow felt more real than anyone in the first Suicide Squad. Or any of the DCU movies for that matter.

The cast was brilliant. I think DC kept the only DC actors that were actually good from the original: Margot Robbie, Viola Davis and Joel Kinnaman and then brought over a bus full of Marvel actors. Actually, now that I think about it, Gunn probably just drove them over from the Disney Lot.

The story was … well … well, it was weird. But it was self aware and knew it was weird. Pretty much every WTF moment came with some character, be it in English or Spanish, asking “What the actual fuck?!” and somehow this was able to alleviate the moments that should have caused any sane movie goer to pack up and leave. It was subtle about it’s real world messaging, which I always appreciate, but then it hit you over the head with the same messaging. And I don’t exactly know why, but because it started out subtle I didn’t mind the big hammer.

The filmmaking itself was exactly what I would expect from a Gunn movie. The shots were beautiful, the pacing was perfect, the CGI was in broad daylight and it looked good. Weasel was horrifyingly good and I loved that the star-armpit-baby-things and the sea creatures were oddly out of place with their neon colors making it so you didn’t care that the CGI characters looked CGI.

Music? Check. Comedy? Check. Heartwarming moments? Check. Gratuitous violence? Check. Text book character development? Check. Gunn dealing with daddy issues through his movies? Check. A surprise cameo? Check. This one did it for me. I finally liked a DC movie from start to finish.

Go check it out on HBO Max or in theaters.