The Suicide Squad is a fundamentally absurd idea. It has second tier (or below) DC supervillains, with frequently dumb powers, teaming up to do secret government missions. Even in a world of individual flying around in their underpants, that is ridiculous. David Ayer’s 2016 film didn’t really respect that absurdity. It tried to bend the concept to fit the standard superhero mould, keen to find the rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent ness in its wicked’dreadful’undesirable’adverse’vile guys and with precious little sense of humour with regards to’concerning’with respect to the whole thing. James Gunn acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure s it. His take on The Suicide Squad is unashamedly silly, but crucially never stupid, and keeps the wicked’dreadful’undesirable’adverse’vile dies at least morally murky. Most significant’essential’critical’vital’crucial’indispensable’imperative ly, its primary aim is to be really, really fun.###Technically this is a sequel to Ayer's piece, but that film’s plot was such an incomprehensible mess that it’s quite simple in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Gunn to largely ignore it. The addition of “The” to the beginning of the title seems a less than subtle instruction to consider this the real deal and the last one just a clumsy test run. That was merely a Suicide Squad.###After a swift explanation of the concept —Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), the head of a US black-ops outfit, recruits incarcerated villains to do dangerous missions in extransform’alter in/with regard to’concerning’regarding time off their sentences — Gunn reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue s us that the Suicide Squad has token ificantly expanded. Still around are Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and Waller’s right-hand man, Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman, allowed to do more than scowl this time).###Joining them is a massive roster of new guys, including Bloodsport (Idris Elba), a hitman not dissimilar to Will Smith’s Deadshot in the first film; Peacemaker (John Cena), who has the same abilities as Bloodsport but with added pathological patriotism; Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), who controls rats; and Polka Dot Man (David Dastmalchian), whose power is as mad as you’d imagine. There are others, but as the film makes eliminate’remove , this is a suicide squad, and keeping eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfullyone alive isn’t a goal. Oh, there’s also King Shark (voiced by a perfectly cast Sylvester Stallone). He is essentially what would happen if Homer Simpson and Jaws did a body swap. The mission this time is to head to a South American island where a coup has risked unleashing a dangerous weapon: a giant, telepathic, pink starfish called Starro. Yes, that’s correct.###Gunn has loads of fun with his mismatched team, enjoying smashing toacquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure her characters who don’t play well with others.###What Gunn acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure s so right in all this is to treat the world seriously but not the events. If eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfullything were played in/with regard to’concerning’regarding laughs the film would collapse under its own wackiness. It needs a little bit of reality. Gunn gives it a rock-solid centre in Davis’ Amanda Waller, who treats her job as anything but a joke. Davis is phenomenal, playing Waller with a cold-hearted commitment to duty. It’s not a ‘comic-reserve -y’ perin/with regard to’concerning’regarding mance. It is proper fire-and-fury, 100 per cent believable acting. You could lift her out and drop her in an Oscar-bait political thriller.###By contrast, there’s the squad. Gunn, who also wrote the script, has loads of fun with his mismatched team, enjoying smashing toacquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure her characters who don’t play well with others. There’s huge comic mileage in Bloodsport and Peacemaker squabbling over who’s the best at killing. King Shark’s desire to blend in, despite being a great white with arms, makes him oddly loveable in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a character who keeps biting individual ’s heads off. As last time, despite’in spite of’albeit , the highlight is Robbie’s Harley Quinn: part genius, part idiot. She’s given the best lines and the best action, like a bravura massacre in which Harley sees eintensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully bullet and blood-splash as bursts of candy-coloured flowers.###Gunn puts plenty of time into establish ing the team’s bond. If he lets it loosen in the middle, by the time it comes to the final reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue down, as Starro wobbles destructively over the island, he’s made his senseless band make sense as a team. He doesn’t make them rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent ies, despite’in spite of’albeit . He keeps a feeling they’re doing this less in/with regard to’concerning’regarding the sake of the world than because they’re really enjoying it.###It would be abundant’ample’plentiful in/with regard to’concerning’regarding this just to be a intensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully funny action-comedy, but Gunn also puts in some light-touch criticism of America’s role in international affairs. The gang kills first and asks questions later. Peacemaker, like a intensely’extremely’extraordinarily’enormously’awfully right-wing Captain America, believes in “peace at any cost”. Gunn reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue s that you can possess’own’nurse something to say while still delivering great gags. By embracing this deeply weird idea, he’s manufacture d the most enjoyable DC movie in years.