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James Gunn

The Suicide Squad: War is a Funny Thing

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The sequel to 2017’s disastrous Suicide Squad, James Gunn’s soft-reboot The Suicide Squad also tells the story of a ragtag group of villains and maniacs with unique abilities who are forced to work together by the America Government. If they are able to survive this suicide mission, they get reduced jail time. Disobey an order though and their head blows up. This time, their team consists Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Bloodsport (Idris Elba), Peacemaker (John Cena), King Shark, a giant CGI shark-man (voiced by Sylvester Stallone) and other crazy characters thrown in the mix like a living human weasel and Mongal, an alien warrior from another planet. Their mission is to destroy Jötunheim, a Nazi-era prison located in Corto Maltese, South America where alien experimentations are being used by its new evil dictators. 

The Suicide Squad is James Gunn at his absolute best. This is a film that really feels like an R-rated Guardians of the Galaxy (which is definitely a good thing). Picking James Gunn as the writer/director was a great decision for the WB and the difference in quality between the first Squad film and this one is night and day. Widely panned by critics and audiences, the first film felt like it was made by Hot Topic. Overstuffed by character backstories with limited action scenes and, lest we forget, the worst depiction of the Joker ever, 2017’s Squad was a tremendous let-down for the company. However, in Gunn’s vision for Squad, we jump right into the action and craziness, where half the team gets decimated within the first 5 mins of the movie. (It really is a Suicide Squad…) Gunn’s voice is nuts, often unexpected, and truly fitting of a rated-R movie. 

In addition, unlike the first film, Gunn’s film really isn’t trying to take themselves too seriously. Gunn clearly understands how insane both the premise and some of these characters are. For instance, there’s one really epic scene where King Shark rips a guy in half with his bare heads in slow-motion while lighting strikes in the background. (And that’s not even the craziest part of the movie!) This Squad also contains a woman that controls rats, Harley’s epic escape from prison and Bloodsport’s shooting through someone else’s bullet. That sort of high intensity action pairs really well with the comedy that James Gunn loves throwing into his films like Polka-Dot Man’s deep hatred for his mom that runs so deeply that he sees her everywhere. 

The underlying theme of The Suicide Squad seems to be a criticism of American nationalism and the smoke and mirrors that the American image upholds. This idea is best symbolized through Amanda Waller and John Cena’s character, Peacemaker. Decked out in the classic red, white, and blue colors of America, Peacemaker has dedicated his heart for “liberty.” Both characters are willing to do whatever they can to preserve the image of America as ‘for the people, by the people’ and the nation that all others should aspire to be. Of course, this is all a delusion but both characters act to try to preserve this false image simply because it’s something that they were led to believe. They truly think what they’re doing is right, despite being on both sides of the propaganda. 

The Suicide Squad further delves into its critique of the US by mentioning how many South America countries have been ravaged by them during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Similar to the way that Corto Maltese was used to store illegal human experiments using the alien starfish, so too did the US use Cuba for their nuclear weapons in the 1960s. In an example of toxic American nationalism, Waller and the Peacemaker will do whatever it takes to preserve US interests, even at the expense of poorer and less developed countries.

Overall, The Suicide Squad is the rag tag team of villains that we deserved (and needed). Director James Gunn is allowed total freedom here and looks like a genius. Not only is the action exceptional (and plenty) but the comedy is incredible and works so well with the characters they have.

The 4K UHD combo pack contains a gag reel of ridiculousness, three themed trailers, commentary from Gunn, deleted and extended scenes, four “scene breakdowns,” and four featurettes: “Gotta Love the Squad,” “The Way of the Gunn,” “Starro: It’s a Freakin Kaiju!” and “Bringing King Shark to Life.”

Meet The Rocket Man: 1on1 with Sean Gunn (AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR)

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While he is perhaps best known from his time playing the affable Kirk Gleason in Gilmore Girls, Gunn has stepped into the forefront recently for his role as Kraglin in the Guardians of the Galaxyfilms. However, he has also found himself in the unique position of serving as physical stand-in for CGI fan-favourite Rocket the Raccoon as well. As Gunn prepares for the return of Rocket in Avengers: Infinity War, he credits his brother, Guardiansdirector James Gunn, for bringing him into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

“Really, it was when my brother got involved,” he starts. “I know that my brother, James, was at a point in his career where he was a little down on directing movies because it was such a hard job to get it on one of these big tent-pole movies. Then, when he ended up being up for Guardians, getting that job, I was totally ecstatic for him.”

“I play both Kraglin on-screen and I also play Rocket [the Raccoon] on-set. That kind of came about during the first movie. [James] and I had worked together so much on various things in our career and he knew that he wanted an actor that he knew, trusted and had worked with to be able to play Rocket on set so that he’d have a real actor there to do it and not just a tennis ball on a stick or a PA holding up script in their hands or something like that. So, he asked me to do it and we ended up kind of figuring out on the go what the method was for that to work. Then, it turned out that it was basically me just getting down on my hands and knees and playing Rocket just as though he was there and it was really helpful to the other actors and the visual effects team. They weren’t able to use me for reference them when they started to animate the character and then I think it was a matter of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’. So, then you know, it worked so well for the first movie that I ended up doing it again for Guardians Vol. 2and then for both Infinity Warmovies as well.”

Though most people associate Rocket the Raccoon with Bradley Cooper who supplies his voice, it’s Gunn’s work that lays the groundwork for the performance. By providing much of the physical acting for the character, Gunn appreciates the hard work of the animators who can take his movements and bring Rocket to life.

“I play Rocket the entire time on-set…,” he recalls. “Then, the visual effects team then goes in and they start to put together a draft based on what I did–our movements, hand movements, and particularly my face, some facial expressions, things like where Rocket’s looking… For just little things like that, the animators will use what I’m doing as a reference. Then, later Bradley Cooper comes in and he does the voice of the character and they can change things then. He’ll flesh the character out and sort of put his thing on it and then if they want to make some changes based on either what he’s doing or some combination thereof, they can make those changes at that point as needed.”

Of course, playing two different characters within the same film brings its own set of challenges as well. During scenes where Rocket and Kraglin shared screen time, Gunn claims that he had work twice as hard in order to be prepared.

“There are four different scenes where [Rocket and Kraglin] are not only together [in Vol. 2], but they both have dialog. We really would just kind of shoot around each character and plug me in as much as we could. I always think that the preparation and focus are the most important components to go to acting on set and I had to sort of double my preparation and double my focus on those days. It wasn’t easy because I can’t really squat down as Rocket in Kraglin’s wardrobe. So, I was also having to do these costume changes where I would get and jumpsuit, which is a little stiff and hard to maneuver, and into my Rocket sweats, which is basically a track suit that I’m wearing. So yeah, we’d just have to go back and forth. We’d really have to just take a little longer to shoot and I would be doing the scene twice from the point of view of each character.”

Of course, the Guardians franchise signaled a shift in tone for the Marvel Cinematic Universe upon its release. While offering more humour and brighter colour schemes than other franchises (and not to mention the best soundtracks in the MCU), the most interesting thing about the Guardiansfranchise has been its ability to help audiences fall in love with the anti-hero. When asked about whether he feels this franchise looks for the good in the ‘bad guys’, Gunn argues that the backstories of characters like Rocket gives them the chance to explore what it means to be a hero.

“Well, I certainly don’t view them as bad guys,” he explains, “but they’re not motivated by altruistic qualities the way that the Avengers are certainly… But, I agree with your premise that over the course of the movies, I think the arc of those characters are still learning to identify the goodness that’s already inside of them. I think they’d had lives that have encouraged them to squash the goodness, like Quill living with the Ravagers or Rocket having been where he’s been, sort of lonely most of his whole life. They’ve been encouraged to not think about the good inside of them so I think part of the movies is them finding that.”

Having worked with an ensemble cast on Guardians, his experience on Avengers: Infinity Warmoves to another level entirely. Billed as the ‘largest cross-over event in history’, the film features most (if not all) of the major characters that Marvel has introduced to audiences over the last decade. Nevertheless, Gunn believes that the film honours each character and hopes that the fans agree.

“There are a lot of characters and I think that that’s handled particularly well over the course of the two movies–which, if I can’t talk about the first one, imagine how little I can say it about the second one,” he muses. “We filmed them back to back. There’s still some additional photography to do for the second movie as is always the case and but I think the way that that issue of all these different characters participating in one story is really interesting and I think it works really well. We’ll have to wait and see what people think about. It certainly is a lot of balls in the air to juggle.”

Providing the motivation for the Avengers to assemble this time is the impending threat of alien overlord, Thanos. Hell-bent on destroying the universe, Thanos’ quest for the Infinity Stones is rumoured to give the film a darker tone than other entries into the MCU. Despite its intensity, Gunn also feels that Infinity Waralso balances it with Marvel’s trademark humour.

“I haven’t seen the movie yet so I’ve got to start with that,” he begins, “but I do think that it has a heaviness to it that I think is super cool. I think it’s warranted, personally. I mean you can’t have all these disparate franchises that you’re tying together under one massive banner and be sort of glib about it. I think that these movies are going to be serious. There’s certainly plenty of comedy though. I mean, you know, we have the Guardians in there. We’ve got the crew from Ragnarok in there. I think there’s a lot of laughs, but I think the overall tone of piece is not super light. I think fans will like that because it’s pretty serious. Thanos is serious business.”

Furthermore, one of the highlights for Gunn of working on Infinity War was the opportunity to combine the Guardians crew with a more diverse cast, allowing new interactions and conflicts.

Says Gunn, “I think every actor in one way or another helps define who the character you’re playing is, particularly from Rocket’s point of view. Rocket has been in space his whole life. He knows very little about Earth or the people who live there other than what he knows through his friendship with [Peter] Quill. So, his whole relationship to the earth is based on what Quill has told him and when he comes across any of these people from the Avengers universe, he has a very different perspective of them than any of us would have of them from down here. If anything, I think they’re not quite so impressive to Rocket.”

With his success in the Marvel Universe and Gilmore Girls, one might wonder what Gunn hopes to do next. Still, rather than get preoccupied with what is to come, he prefers to simply focus on looking for great stories to help bring to life.

“I try not to prognosticate or wish too much about where my career is going to go because then you’re only setting yourself up for disappointment. I’ve been very, very lucky to work with incredibly talented people with my brother in Guardians, with the Russos and everyone else they’re working with on Avengers and the list goes on and on, but also with Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband, Dan, on Gilmore Girls. They’re such great writers and I’ve been so lucky and I really just try to chase the words. I think story is king still. Good stories and good content still rule the day and I just want to keep doing stuff like that. I’d love to revisit Kirk on Gilmore girls if we ever make more, which I don’t think would happen anytime soon. I’d take a look at the character again at some point down the line. I’d love it.”

To hear full audio of our conversation with Sean, click here.

Avengers: Infinity War opens April 27th, 2018.

3.19 Defending the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

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This week, Steve and comic guru Arnaldo Reyes celebrate their 2nd podcast anniversary to defend GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2. The latest entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe has wild colours and an awesome soundtrack but it also has a lot of heart–and even seems to want to talk about god (small ‘g’, of course).

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.19 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Thanks Arnaldo for coming on the show!

 

 

All music from the soundtrack is copyrighted by Marvel Music, Inc.

Theme song is ‘Month 2 Month/Love St.’ by Connections.

Boarding BELKO: An Interview with John C. McGinley

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Written by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and directed by Greg McLean (Wolf Creek), The Belko Experiment tells the story of eighty Americans working in a company in Bogota, Colombia.  When an unknown voice comes over the company intercom system, they hear an announcement that they must kill thirty co-workers or be killed themselves.  Trapped within the confines of the building, the entire staff find themselves in the midst of the cruelest of circumstances and must decide how they’re going to survive.

One of these trapped employees is Wendell Dukes (John C. McGinley), a socially awkward top executive who becomes aide de camp to Belko’s villainous COO.  A veteran of stage and screen, McGinley’s career spans more than four decades and features an incredible variety of projects ranging from dramas (Platoon, Wall Street) to action (The Rock, Point Break) to comedies (Office Space, Scrubs).  When asked what would draw him to a project like this, McGinley admits that, for any film to be attractive, it begins with the quality of the writing.

“First, it’s the script… if it’s not on the page, I’m out,” he remarks.  “You get in the room with these people and they try to convince you of all of the things they’re going to do on the set and it’s not true.  If it’s not on the page, you’re dead meat.  So, if it’s on the page, that’s good.”

While The Belko Experiment has drawn comparisons to other genre films such as Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, McGinley argues that what sets this film apart from the rest is both the quality of James Gunn’s writing and its cast.  In the end, McGinley was stunned by Gunn’s ability to spin a strong narrative while also allowing McLean space to create his own vision as well.

“I think James Gunn is such an agile writer and Greg McLean was so adept at handling this huge ensemble that what sets it apart is the quality of the cast and the quality of [the] writing,” he claims.  “He put it all on the page and he largely let Greg orchestrate the film. [James] was pretty amazing at not stepping on [his] toes and usurping his power as director.  [That would be] hard when you’re someone as skilled and as amazing as James is to not kind of elbow in there… which he did not.  Ever.  He did stay for about three weeks longer than he meant to because he was having so much fun.”

As for his first time working with McLean, McGinley was extremely impressed by his work ethic and ability to balance multiple character arcs.

“He was just cranking.  His pace of work and his ability to orchestrate that set with, maybe 20 principles on the set which is very unusual.  Usually there’s the leading man, the leading girl, the best friend and the bad guy.  Usually there’s four principles.  And, in this, there were twenty of us.”

“We had a real family experience down there,” he continues, “which is very unusual as you progress forward… Actors have become hired hands and they kind of come and go and then they’re on to the next thing.  It was a lot of bonding and some lovely friendships that evolved out of that gig, which is not usually the case.  People have families.  They have places they have to go.  You have to commit to the next picture.  Then, all of a sudden, you have something outstanding like Belko where we’re all down in Columbia together in Bogota.  That’s a real treat.”

One of the most unique characteristics of the film is its location.  With all the action taking place within the confines of Belko’s claustrophobic office space, one might wonder how the film can maintain its intensity.  Nevertheless, McGinley believes that the tone is maintained largely due to the strength of the film’s background artists.

“The big difference for me was the background artists were all soap stars in Bogota and they played the tone of the piece.  As the piece evolves, obviously, it becomes more and more desperate and they played the tone so real and were so invested that it was stunning.  I mean, these are soap stars—they’re huge stars in Bogota—and, [with us,] they were background artists.  They’re unbelievable [and it really] contributes to the tone of the piece.”

Unfortunately, however, sometimes real world events have an impact on productions such as these.  Despite the film’s sci-fi setting, the cast and crew found themselves given pause for reflection after the events in San Bernardino, CA in December 2015.

“We shot it down in Bogota, a year and half or two years ago,” he recalls. “[Then], in the intervening time, there was that workplace slaughter in San Bernardino, California.  Even though it’s science fiction, I think Belko had to take a chill pill for a second because, if you’re not into [that genre, it] could be confused with workplace violence.  It’s not about any of that.  It’s science fiction.  It largely had to take a time out for a while.”

Of course, McGinley is most fascinated by the film’s examination of characters in a heightened hyper-reality.  For instance, he believes that the most thought-provoking aspect of the film is watching characters decide how to deal with their circumstances.

“What becomes interesting about the film is the decisions that people make in order to stay alive.  What cliques become vital?  Who chooses to hide?  Who chooses to band together?  Who chooses to go underneath their desk and pray?  The different decisions that people make is what, to me, is most interesting.”

When asked what he might do under the same circumstances, McGinley doesn’t hesitate when he reflects on what his motivation would be.

“I would find a way to get home to my family.  I’d do whatever it took.  That’s probably why they cast me.  I don’t think there’s that big a distance between me and Wendell.  I think I’d have a different approach than him… but I’d do whatever it takes to get home to my family.”

It doesn’t take long speaking with McGinley to discover that family is the most important aspect of his life.  In fact, McGinley insists that his family comes first, even to the extent that they travel with him whenever possible.

“My people travel with me now–not to Bogota.  It’s too dangerous.  But… my whole troop came with me last summer [while filming Stan Against Evil],” he beams.  “They made that whole thing doable.  I don’t have any interest in traveling away from them.”

What’s more, McGinley’s love of his family has also spread into his desire to help those in need as well.  Referring to himself as a ‘special needs advocate’, he serves on the board of the Global Down Syndrome Foundation an ambassador for the Special Olympics.  According to McGinley, this passion is also personal, rooted in the deep love he has for his son.

Says McGinley, “My son Max was born nineteen years ago with Down Syndrome and, once you get your head out of the sand and start looking around after—in Max’s case, his infantile seizures and sleep apnea.  Once those things abate and the playing field starts to level out, you look around and see who else you can help.  Being a part of the special needs community is sort of my main job and I’m a storyteller after that.  I like to help people that can’t help themselves.  What greater cause?  People that can’t advocate for themselves.”

By demonstrating his commitment to his family, John C. McGinley continues to prove that he is not only a renowned character actor but also a man of character.  Soon, when The Belko Experiment is released in theaters, we’ll also get to see if Wendell Dukes is as well.

The Belko Experiment opens nationwide on Friday, March 17th, 2017.

To hear more from John C. McGinley about his body of work and current projects and passions, listen to the interview audio below.