Say what you want about James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, but I thought it was a lot of fun. So much fun that when I heard James Gunn was making a spin-off based on John Cena’s Peacemaker, I was all in. I am going to start by saying that Peacemaker is my favorite thing that James Gunn has done to date!
How to Download Peacemaker (TV series)
You can download or stream the film from HBO Max. Click on the Download button at the end of this review.
The Movie Review
This takes place just after the events of The Suicide Squad. Peacemaker AKA, Christopher Smith is recovering after the beating he took at the end of the movie. However, he is not going to get the chance to take some time to himself and take it easy as his freedom is coming at a hefty cost.
This price is revealed when ARGUS comes calling and they want him to lead a special team called Project Butterfly. The point of Project Butterfly is to travel the world and find these parasitic butterfly-like creatures that are taking over the bodies of people from all corners of the globe!
What I love about the story in Peacemaker is that it is part action, part sci-fi, and part comic book movie and it makes fun of the tropes that all these genres have. If you enjoy James Gunn’s work, you are going to have a fantastic time with this show, it is only eight episodes long and they just fly by as it is so entertaining.
There is absolutely no filler here, even things that seem like a throwaway are often brought back and paid off. Now, you may think that Peacemaker is just all about mayhem and lewd humor, however, John Cena really gets the chance to show off his acting chops here too as we get to see his vulnerable side too.
Peacemaker has a very rocky relationship with his jailbird and white supremacist father that abused him as a child. His dad is played by Robert Patrick who is awesome in everything and they have great chemistry. Seeing and feeling the trauma he suffered explains a lot in regards to why he is the way he is.
He is not alone! Peacemaker is joined by a rather “basic” team of agents that will help him along the way and the relationships he has with his team are awesome. The absolute highlight of the show for me is the relationship he has with Leota who is actually the daughter of Amanda Waller. She is played by Danielle Brooks and she is awesome.
I would say the best comparison as far as the tone of the show goes is The Boys. Peacemaker has some brutal action, some very lewd comedy, and also some very deep and powerful stuff going on too. In many ways, it is very typical James Gunn and I mean that as a good thing.
Not only is this my favorite thing James Gunn has done. Peacemaker is one of my favorite parts of this current DCEU we find ourselves in right now. As far as HBO MAX goes, to me, this is the best and biggest show that the service has to offer. If you do not have HBO Max, do not worry as it is also available on DVD and Blu-Ray and I highly recommend it.
