Suicide Squad reviews are in — and it's better than Black Widow

Suicide Squad reviews are in — and it's better than Black Widow

Reviews for "Suicide Squad" are starting to trickle in, hailing the sequel as one of the best live-action comic book films of all time. This is a pretty strong accolade for a film that no one wanted.

The film currently has a 98% rating on the popular review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. This is considerably higher than the latest Marvel film, Black Window, which received only an 81% rating. This latest film, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has also earned a "certified fresh" badge, comparable to "Suicide Squad."

It should be noted that the score for "Suicide Squad" is currently calculated from 63 reviews. Normally, a score of 98% is far from set in stone, as major films that are released to the public receive hundreds of reviews. However, it is rare for a film that gets such a warm initial response to drop significantly as more reviews come in. The film is expected to drop only a few percent at most.

The latest film in the DC franchise is the quasi-sequel to 2016's "Suicide Squad," which received a dismal 22% on Rotten Tomatoes. In other words, "Suicide Squad" is a major step up in quality. In fact, "Suicide Squad" is currently the highest rated DC film of all time, beating even "The Dark Knight," which received 94%.

David Ehrlich of IndieWire described it as "the funniest, least depressing superhero movie in a very long time," and Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said, "I couldn't imagine liking another movie called 'Suicide Squad' I couldn't imagine liking another movie called 'Suicide Squad,' and I could barely stomach the idea of seeing it. I was proven wrong.

Matt Goldberg of Collider calls it "the best [DC Extended Universe] movie ever made." To be fair, however, that is not a particularly high bar. Only two films in the interconnected franchise have ever scored above 90%, "Shazam" and "Wonder Woman," and five have been labeled rotten (meaning they scored below 60%).

For those who don't know, "Suicide Squad" was directed by James Gunn, director of Marvel's two "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, and features a stellar cast including Margot Robbie, Idris Elba and John Cena. The film, which tells the story of a group of comic book villains forced to team up to save the world or face execution, is scheduled for simultaneous release in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6. Critical reception has been positive, but the wait seems a bit long.

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