It was nice while it lasted, but The Suicide Squad is no longer the highest-rated installment in the DCEU on Rotten Tomatoes. James Gunn took to social media with his incredulous response after his R-rated romp was boasting a 97% rating one week ahead of its domestic theatrical and HBO Max release, but since the movie has been unleashed onto an unsuspecting world it’s been trending ever so slightly downwards.
Of course, 92% from over 250 reviews is nothing to be sniffed at, but it has seen Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman reclaim its place at the summit of DCEU critical acclaim. The Suicide Squad is the seventh big budget comic book adaptation from Warner Bros. and DC Films to have arrived since Gal Gadot’s solo debut in the summer of 2017 that’s failed to draw a better response on the aggregation site, but it’s still ahead of Shazam!, Birds of Prey, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Aquaman, Wonder Woman 1984, Man of Steel, Joss Whedon’s Justice League, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and of course David Ayer’s Suicide Squad, which remains bottom of the pile with 26%.
You can imagine more than a few critics may have been put off by The Suicide Squad by the time the opening credits had drawn to a close, given the sheer level of gory action and face-melting death that characterizes the very first scene. If ultra-violence isn’t your thing, then Gunn’s irreverent superhero movie may not be for you.
It’s still an impressive score, though, making it one of just three DCEU blockbusters to crack 90% as the franchise continues to offer the level of consistent quality that was sorely missing from its formative years. Hats off to The Suicide Squad, then, and the pressure now falls to Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam, which is next out of the gate in July 2022.