Despite the star-studded cast, “The Suicide Squad” received a lukewarm response since opening on the big screen on Friday.
Of course, the Covid-19 pandemic can also be attributed to the disappointing numbers as movie lovers continue to chose to stay home.
This time around, two Task Force X teams are sent on a mission to Corto Maltese by intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis).
Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and Bloodsport (Idris Elba) are the leaders.
The Belle Reve inmates are tasked with destroying Jötunheim, a laboratory behind the “Project Starfish” secret experiment.
However, things on the ground go pear-shaped as Flag’s team is ambushed by the Corto Maltese military, which results in several deaths and the capture of Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie).
Flag is then found and held by rebel soldiers.
Meanwhile, Bloodsport rallies Peacemaker (John Cena), King Shark (Sylvester Stallone), Polka-Dot Man (David Dastmalchian) and Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) on a rescue mission.
Eventually, the squad captures Thinker (Peter Capaldi), a metahuman scientist heading the experiment. But there is a much bigger threat in play.
Although fans are used to seeing Stallone flex his muscles in front of the camera, this time he lets his voice do the heavy lifting, so to speak.
On having the King Shark character written for him, he expanded on what drew him to the role.
He said: “Well, he had the intelligence to know that no one liked him.
“He was ugly and completely rejected.
“And he had a bad habit of eating people.
“So I thought, ‘wow, this guy is kind of like the Hunchback of Notre Dame’.
“He kind of has a nobility among all his defects.
“But, the one thing that I think the audience is going to like is that he's dying for companionship.
“He’s reaching out to people and he’s constantly being rejected, so you have a great deal of sympathy for him, as well as comedic interest.”
The “Rambo” actor was chuffed to be working with writer-director James Gunn, too.
“Well, every now and then you find a rare combination.
“He’s a man that’s completely connected to his material.
“They're interchangeable.
“He doesn’t have to go, ‘oh shoot, I have to learn about this genre, I don't know what this filmmaking style is’.
“He’s matched perfectly with the genre.
“He brings the heart like no other.
“And he hires impeccable actors.
“In this one, everyone in the cast could hold a film on their own, so you're seeing subtle emotions and bonds amongst almost all the characters, and that gives it such a leg up on regular action films.”
As for the interesting mix of personas, he added: “Every character has a unique voice.
“I mean the actual sound of their voice, the timber, their natural speech patterns.
“So you couldn’t come in there with something bland, you had to create something that was as interesting as the sounds those characters make.
“Every one of them.
“There’s a Cockney, there’s an Australian.
“You have all these strange, unusual voices that work well together, but they all have a different sound.
“So I thought, for this shark, I want to come up with something a little punchy, that kind of a thing.
“But punchy with menace.
“I really enjoyed it. You can cut loose with your voice in a way you can't with pure physicality.”
Expanding on the latter part, especially since his character is involved in all these big fights and action sequences, which, while he is familiar with, he isn’t physically tasked with doing, he admitted: “It’s unusual to not be involved in the physicality of a role.”
The veteran actor feels strongly about the film resonating with audiences as it taps into a universal brotherhood theme.
“The Suicide Squad” is currently showing at cinemas, nationwide.