James Gunn got handed the keys and made exactly the movie only he could make: a hard R bloodbath that is somehow also the most emotionally generous film in the whole DC line. The Suicide Squad soft reboots the 2016 disaster by keeping Margot Robbie’s Harley and Viola Davis’s Waller, then surrounding them with a cast of absolute losers, including Idris Elba’s weary Bloodsport, John Cena’s gloriously dim Peacemaker, Daniela Melchior’s tender Ratcatcher 2, and a shark that eats people, voiced by Sylvester Stallone.

The joke density is high, the gore is cartoonish, and the structure keeps pulling rug moves, including a beach landing that vaporizes characters you were just starting to like. Underneath the splatter there is a real point about America treating other countries as laboratories, and the Corto Maltese operation gives the story actual teeth. Every character gets one moment to break your heart, and Polka-Dot Man’s arc deserves a spot in the superhero hall of fame.

Gunn’s knack for making you care about nobodies has never been sharper, and the film works as a comedy first and a capes picture second. Our score: 8/10. Nothing else in the connected DC era tops it, and nothing else is nearly as funny.

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