Villainy is about to pay off big. Today is the day to watch The Suicide Squad online and in theaters. It's a quasi-sequel, quasi-reboot of the 2016 film of the same name.
The Suicide Squad 2021 is out on HBO Max, releasing on August 5 at 7 p.m. ET.
DC scored by landing director James Gunn of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. And judging by a sampling of early The Suicide Squad reviews, his version is going to be much more well-liked by fans and critics alike.
The Suicide Squad 2021 brings back some of the cast members from the first film, including Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Viola Davis as Amanda Waller and Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag. They welcome a bunch of new faces: Idris Elba as Bloodsport, John Cena as Peacemaker and Sylvester Stallone as King Shark.
These super-villains join Waller's Task Force X for the chance at freedom. Waller assembles a team, arms them and drops them on island of Corto Maltese. Their mission? To search and destroy the militant guerilla forces on the ground. Of course, if they make one wrong move and attempt to betray the team, they're dead.
Here's everything you need to watch The Suicide Squad 2021.
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How to watch The Suicide Squad in theaters and online
In the U.S., The Suicide Squad opened in theaters on Thursday, August 5. It arrived on HBO Max on 7 p.m. ET the same day.
The Suicide Squad was initially scheduled to debut on HBO Max on Friday, August 6. However, director James Gunn announced the early release on Twitter (and noted August 5 is his birthday).
After its HBO Max debut, The Suicide Squad will be available for 31 days (or until Sept. 4).
None of the day-and-date Warner Bros. movies are available on the ad-supported version of HBO Max.
How to watch The Suicide Squad in Canada
Bad news for Canadians hoping to watch The Suicide Squad 2021 at home. HBO Max is exclusive to the U.S. and the movie is not streaming on any other services.
The movie will open in theaters on Friday, August 6.
If you're an American traveling abroad, you'll need to look into the best VPN services to access all your paid services.
How to watch The Suicide Squad in the UK
Brits got The Suicide Squad 2021 in theaters earlier than Americans, since the movie opened in the UK on July 30.
Those wanting to watch it at home are out of luck, because HBO Max isn't available across the pond.
The Suicide Squad reviews
Before we get to the critical reaction for The Suicide Squad, let's get the words of our own streaming editor, Henry T. Casey, who saw the movie in theaters on Thursday. In our morning meeting, Casey called The Suicide Squad "the best DCEU movie by miles (with the exception of Birds of Prey)."
He noted that while the film can feel "a little disjointed, as if it's a couple of films rolled into one," it still "crackled with better comedy, action and character" than most superhero movies these days.
The critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes are also thrilled, as The Suicide Squad's earned a 93% score, with a "Certified Fresh" badge. Larry Carroll of Looper wrote that "it is the best Marvel movie that DC has ever made" and Chris Hewitt of the Minneapolis Star Tribune wrote that it "stands on its own in a way superhero movies often don't."
Not all critics were amused, though, as the NY Times' Manohla Dargis writes "The violence is the most consistently inventive part of the whole package, though it grows tiresome in its thudding repetition," and Bilge Ebiri of New York notes "The lack of narrative momentum or compelling character arcs starts to wear on you. The jokes get old, too."
