A Toast to ‘The Suicide Squad’ with Fresh Start Hoppy Pale Lager
The new movie succeeds exactly where its 2016 predecessor failed. With the DCEU needing a win lately, that’s something we can all cheers to!
The Movie: Superhero-Antihero Action / 2021 / DC Films – Atlas Entertainment
The Beer: Hopped Pale Lager / 4.6% ABV / Confluence Brewing Co. – Des Moines, IA
*Mild Spoilers*
Whoa, did the DC Extended Universe finally bring its A-game!?
It did! After the Justice League snoozefest and a long lineup of other disappointments, the DCEU’s The Suicide Squad feels like a breath of fresh air.
Seriously folks, we’ve been needing this — even Birds of Prey was fun but stumbled over itself at times. If you’ve seen 2016’s (pretty dull) Suicide Squad as well as the new movie or read the director James Gunn’s own comments on the subject, you already know that The Suicide Squad is technically neither a sequel nor a reboot. It’s more of a fresh start than anything, which is exactly why I’m pairing it with Confluence Brewing’s Fresh Start Hopped Pale Lager.
If you’ve never had a beer in this style, it’s a new take on both the American Lager (known for being light and refreshing) and the Pale Ale (known for being “hoppy” with fruit flavors and mild bitterness). The Confluence brewers do a great job explaining it with their description for Fresh Start:
“Our Fresh Start is a new take on a tried and true style. New world hops and a pilsner-style malt bill allow the aroma of citrus and fruit to dominate while an edging bitterness is held at bay by the all-malt grain bill.”
Every sip is supremely drinkable, swirled with plenty of surprising nuance. And as such, it’s the perfect thing to sip while discovering all that The Suicide Squad has in store. Gunn came in and did his own take on a movie that wasn’t exactly a flop but was far from a critical hit. He took what worked from David Ayer’s original movie — namely Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Viola Davis’ Amanda Waller, and Joel Kinnaman’s Rick Flag — and tossed the rest.
The difference is tangible from the start. Not only are there some welcome cameos from Gunn’s former Guardians of the Galaxy crew (hello Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn!), but it’s made clear early on that no character in this movie — even fan favorites — are safe.
It’s also worth mentioning that the absences of Will Smith’s Deadshot and Jared Leto’s Joker go unfelt. The amount of scene-chewing and line-hogging in The Suicide Squad is considerably less with those two out of the way (and we’re talking about a movie with a man-eating man-shark voiced by Sylvester Stallone!), and the cast shines brightly both as a team and individuals. There are no weak links here, though they do benefit considerably from a healthy script that moves along at a steady pace — unlike literally almost all of the DCEU flicks to date.
The movies just works, plain and simple. Whereas previous DCEU movies leaned too hard into trying to be like the MCU and delivering realism with the weird, this movie finds its own groove within the DC Comics’ strange backbone. A guy with some serious mommy issues who throws polka-dots? A giant space starfish trying to take over a South American city? The whole thing is ludicrously exciting and watchably gross, peppered with just the right doses of drama and humor.
If ensuing DCEU films can take a hint, the whole franchise may have finally found its stride. And whether you opt for Confluence Brewing’s Fresh Start or a different brew, that’s something definitely worth toasting to.
That, and some truly amazing one-liners:
*Bonus Beers*
- Landshark Lager / American Lager / 4.6% ABV / Margaritaville Brewing Co. – St. Louis, MN
- Natural Villain / American Lager / 4.7% ABV / Goose Island Beer Co. – Chicago, IL
- Friendship Picnic / Cherry Pineapple Milkshake IPA / 6.6% ABV / Bad Habit Brewing Co. – St. Joseph, MN
- Suicid’Ale / India Pale Lager / 8% ABV / Brasserie Haarddrech – France
- Harley Quinn 3.0 / Fruited Gose / 6.5% ABV / Zen Brewery – Ukraine
