HBO Go: Review of PEACEMAKER: Paradoxical Pacifist

February 17, 2022

After his shocking murder of Rick Flag in "The Suicide Squad" (2021) for which he incurred serious injuries, Peacemaker (John Cena) is forced to join the A.R.G.U.S. black ops squad dubbed "Project Butterfly," with a mission to eliminate a race of aliens who had intentions of world domination. These butterfly-shaped parasites enter through bodily orifices of their human hosts to gain control of their brains. 

Under the leadership of Murn (Chukwudi Iwuji), who answered directly to none other than A.R.G.U.S. leader Angela Waller (Viola Davis) herself, the members of his team were suspicious of each other at first. They include: veteran agent Emilia Harcourt (Jennifer Holland), technical support John Economos (Steve Agee) and neophyte operative Waller's own lesbian daughter Leota Adebayo (Danielle Brooks).

With each episode, we will get to know more about the past of Christopher Smith, the man behind Peacemaker. He had a traumatic childhood living with his sadistic, white supremacist father Auggie Smith (Robert Patrick), who also was super-villain White Dragon. Aside from his pet eagle named Eagly (in delightful CGI), Peacemaker also had a sociopathic human sidekick who called himself Vigilante (Freddie Stroma).

Also under the direction of James Gunn, this 8-episode mini-series also carried the same brand of Rated-R language, violence, gore and humor as the "Suicide Squad" reboot, with the currently requisite racial and LGBT inclusivity. Fearless and shameless John Cena was able to get under the skin and emotions of this ironic character who was not averse to perform acts of extreme violence to fulfill his mission to preserve peace. 

Unlike the opening credits of other series, this one was very irresistible to watch and re-watch in full every week as the deadpan cast awkwardly danced to the catchy song “Do Ya Wanna Taste It” by Wig Wam. The way the twists and turns were revealed in every episode were very entertaining and engaging. There were even exciting guest cameos in the final episode that kicked the rating up one full point. Certainly looking forward to the next season! 8/10.