There have been some pretty impressive movies based upon comic book characters so far this year including Deadpool, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Captain America: Civil War and X-Men: Apocalypse. However, this summer it is the villains that are getting a chance in the spotlight.
Suicide Squad is a group of imprisoned (mostly by Batman) baddies who are recruited by a secret government agency to execute a dangerous black ops mission against an unknown but powerful threat in exchange for clemency. However, none are actually expected to survive, especially since each are implanted with an explosive device just in case they decide to escape.
The villains include Deadshot (Will Smith), Joker (Jared Leto), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Boomerang (Jai Courtney), El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Slipknot (Adam Beach) and Enchantress (Cara Delevingne). The “good guys” are played by Viola Davis, Scott Eastwood and Joel Kinnaman.
As this is the third movie in the DC Extended Universe (after Man of Steel and Batman v Superman), expect a few surprise cameos. Interest in Suicide Squad has been very high ever since it was announced and it is currently expected to surpass $100 million on its opening weekend.
What is also interesting is the questioning of the difference between a hero and villain in recent comic book movies. While the morality debate of heroes trying to do the right thing but with questionable means has been raging in comics for years, the movies like Deadpool and Suicide Squad feature anti-heroes who do good through bad deeds and Batman v Superman and Captain America: Civil War deal with the question of whether or not to let the heroes do their thing unchecked.
Art is imitating life as these storylines seem to reflect our society and its questioning of authority.
Director Barry Sonnenfeld is best known for Get Shorty, the two Addams Family movies and the three Men in Black Movies. With the family comedy Nine Lives, he gets to put a certain billionaire developer into the body of a cat. No, not the one you are probably thinking of, but rather one played by Kevin Spacey.
He is Tom Brand, whose company Firebrand is nearing completion on its greatest achievement to date—the tallest skyscraper in the northern hemisphere. However, his workaholic lifestyle has disconnected him from his family, particularly his wife (Jennifer Garner) and adoring daughter. To make it up to them, he decides to buy his daughter a cat for her 11th birthday, even though he hates cats. However, he leaves it until the last minute and depends on his GPS which directs him to an odd pet store with even odder owner Felix Grant (Christopher Walken, of course). On his way to his daughter’s party, he gets into an accident and when he regains consciousness he finds himself trapped in the body of the cat. Felix tells Tom that he must reconcile with his family within one week or be stuck as a cat forever.