James Gunn's recently released The Suicide Squad falls behind Wonder Woman on Rotten Tomatoes, allowing the former to resume its spot as the DCEU movie with the highest rating on the site. Since its much-hyped 2017 release, Wonder Woman has retained the highest rating of any DCEU movie on Rotten Tomatoes. Directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine, the film explores the DC hero's origin story as Diana, warrior princess of the Amazons. Jenkins' depiction has been lauded for its feminist messaging, sublime fight sequences, and sense of humor.
Warner Bros. tapped the Guardians of the Galaxy director to helm a sequel to David Ayer's Suicide Squad in 2018 after Ayer and other directors passed on the project. Gunn's standalone sequel places members of Ayer's cast in a new, unrelated story with new characters, and the result has been well received by audiences and critics. Gunn's movie was released in US theaters on Friday, August 6, following a successful UK release a week prior. On July 31, Gunn celebrated The Suicide Squad's reception abroad on Twitter as his first movie to be Certified Fresh ahead of its US premiere. More than a few of the acclaimed director's movies have already earned the distinction, but his latest is the only one to be so widely approved that the review aggregator confirmed its success before American audiences had even seen it.
As more reviews come in after the film's US release, The Suicide Squad now holds an aggregate critic score of 92% on Rotten Tomatoes, causing it to slip below Wonder Woman in the rankings by one percent. Wonder Woman currently has a critic score of 93% on the Tomatometer, the highest of any DCEU movie on Rotten Tomatoes. While Wonder Woman seems to be the favorite among cinephiles, The Suicide Squad currently holds a higher audience score of 86% compared to Wonder Woman's 83%. Shazam! occupies the #3 spot in RT's DCEU rankings with a 90% score on the Tomatometer, followed by Birds of Prey at 79%. Zack Snyder's Justice League and Aquaman are the only other DC films that have been Certified Fresh.
Of course, these percentages are highly subject to increasing viewership numbers over time. It's expected that a given movie's mean score will decline as more critics and audiences see the film, and additional negative reactions chip away at its rating. On the other hand, it's possible that Gunn's film will jump ahead in the race with both movies ratings so close to one another and the former still fresh in viewers' minds. The Suicide Squad saw a smaller box office premiere turnout than Birds of Prey, which itself drew smaller numbers than anticipated. The Suicide Squad's box office success is hardly an indication of its critical approval or even audience appreciation, as David Ayer's Suicide Squad was a financial win that didn't manage to click with viewers.
Gunn, who wrote and directed the movie, has been praised for telling the story that Suicide Squad should have told. The film brings back Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, and Jai Courtney, joined by Idris Elba, John Cena, and Sylvester Stallone, to fight a giant starfish in a Nazi-era island prison. The story, which was inspired by John Ostrander's Suicide Squad comics and took cues from the war movie genre, has gained the approval of critics. Viewers have also praised the film's humor, casting, and well-developed characters, particularly Idris Elba's antihero Bloodsport. The Suicide Squad's current hype notwithstanding, fans are still talking about Wonder Woman years after the film's theatrical release.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
