Peacemaker Review - James Gunn's Vulgar and Violent Masterpiece
Peacemaker begins up shortly after the events of The Suicide Squad's second end credits scene, in which Cena's persona, thought to be dead after such-and-such, is found to be surviving and needed to "save the f–king planet, that's all," as ARGUS agent Emilia Harcourt puts it (played by Jennifer Holland). The nature of the world-saving is slowly revealed over the first several episodes, but it has to do with "butterfly" targets.
Gunn's no-holds-barred attitude is on full display here, since he wrote all eight episodes and directed five (including the opener). The remarks are vulgar (and at times racist), the violence is messy, and skin (apart from Cena's muscular torso) is occasionally exposed. This results in a riotous premiere that combines a splash of exposition with plenty of quips and action. However, that intensity doesn't last for more than a few episodes. As a result, the slower, quieter moments here can feel very sluggish and silent, when what you really want from this affair is a rat-a-tat-tat round of ribald conversation like the squad drives in the back of a van, as in a midseason show.
Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase aka Vigilante, a comic book protagonist who has been reimagined here as... well, as he has never been before, is maybe the biggest and most intriguing casting surprise here. He is as far as one can be from the Dashing Hunk Persona that Stroma previously perfected on UnREAL and Bridgerton, and as a result, his scenes with his idol, Peacemaker, are consistently hilarious.
Overall, Peacemaker makes the cosmos appear to be more larger and more comprehensive
Gunn's no-holds-barred attitude is on full display here, since he wrote all eight episodes and directed five (including the opener). The remarks are vulgar (and at times racist), the violence is messy, and skin (apart from Cena's muscular torso) is occasionally exposed. This results in a riotous premiere that combines a splash of exposition with plenty of quips and action. However, that intensity doesn't last for more than a few episodes. As a result, the slower, quieter moments here can feel very sluggish and silent, when what you really want from this affair is a rat-a-tat-tat round of ribald conversation like the squad drives in the back of a van, as in a midseason show.
Freddie Stroma as Adrian Chase aka Vigilante, a comic book protagonist who has been reimagined here as... well, as he has never been before, is maybe the biggest and most intriguing casting surprise here. He is as far as one can be from the Dashing Hunk Persona that Stroma previously perfected on UnREAL and Bridgerton, and as a result, his scenes with his idol, Peacemaker, are consistently hilarious.
Overall, Peacemaker makes the cosmos appear to be more larger and more comprehensive