You will believe a shark can talk.

The Suicide Squad is a brand new DC movie directed by James Gunn, director of both Guardians of The Galaxy films. Based on the comic team with the same name, and keeping a few of the main cast of the original Suicide Squad along for the ride, this movie is an action packed romp full of excitement and a bit of comic book ridiculousness.

This Suicide Squad isn’t a sequel to the original, even with some of the same characters returning. You don’t need to have seen the 2016 film to get into this one; the producers of this movie seem to want you to forget the first one even existed. Yet this story begins as most Suicide Squad stories do with Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) forming a team of imprisoned criminals to do her dirty work and carry out tasks no hero would.      

The roster is changed up a bit this time time around with Bloodsport (Idris Elba) taking the role as leader, a tactical expert raised to kill coerced into the role thanks to blackmail from Waller. Other new members include Peacemaker (a standout John Cena) an overly patriotic combat expert who won’t let anything get in the way of his pursuit of peace.

Along with them is Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior), a young woman who inherited her father’s technology that grants her the ability to control rats. A colorful villain by the name of Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) brings his wacky abilities to the team. Finally, the monstrous King Shark (voiced by Sylvester Stallone) rounds out the newcomers, a half-man, half-shark hybrid who has a taste for humans – and a lovable personality.      

Returning characters include Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) who works as Waller’s man in the field, trying to handle the Squad, and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) a wise-cracking wildcard. And of course, Margot Robbie reprising her role as Harley Quinn, making this her third film as the character.      

The Suicide Squad is tasked with infiltrating a Corto Maltese science facility experimenting on a potential extraterrestrial threat. The facility is run by The Thinker (Peter Capaldi), a genius scientist who artificially enhanced his own brain with technology.      

You’ll also see guest appearances (in smaller roles) from actors like Nathan Fillion, Michael Rooker, Pete Davidson and Maylin Ng. The movie has great action, a fun and energetic score, and lots of wild scenes displaying a great sense of visual style.      

It is an R-rated film that earns its rating with plenty of gore and swearing, so keep that in mind. Overall this film is a fun time with a great director and cast behind it. The next couple DC films to look out for are The Batman, which has finished filming and Black Adam which has begun filming. James Gunn’s next work will be his return to the MCU with Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3. 

The Suicide Squad is in theaters and streaming on HBO Max for the next four weeks.