Reviews for "Suicide Squad" are starting to trickle in, hailing the sequel as one of the best live-action comic book films of all time This is a pretty strong accolade for a film that no one wanted

The film currently has a 98% rating on the popular review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes This is considerably higher than the latest Marvel film, Black Window, which received only an 81% rating This latest film, set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has also earned a "certified fresh" badge, comparable to "Suicide Squad"

It should be noted that the score for "Suicide Squad" is currently calculated from 63 reviews Normally, a score of 98% is far from set in stone, as major films that are released to the public receive hundreds of reviews However, it is rare for a film that gets such a warm initial response to drop significantly as more reviews come in The film is expected to drop only a few percent at most

The latest film in the DC franchise is the quasi-sequel to 2016's "Suicide Squad," which received a dismal 22% on Rotten Tomatoes In other words, "Suicide Squad" is a major step up in quality In fact, "Suicide Squad" is currently the highest rated DC film of all time, beating even "The Dark Knight," which received 94%

David Ehrlich of IndieWire described it as "the funniest, least depressing superhero movie in a very long time," and Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times said, "I couldn't imagine liking another movie called 'Suicide Squad' I couldn't imagine liking another movie called 'Suicide Squad,' and I could barely stomach the idea of seeing it I was proven wrong

Matt Goldberg of Collider calls it "the best [DC Extended Universe] movie ever made" To be fair, however, that is not a particularly high bar Only two films in the interconnected franchise have ever scored above 90%, "Shazam" and "Wonder Woman," and five have been labeled rotten (meaning they scored below 60%)

For those who don't know, "Suicide Squad" was directed by James Gunn, director of Marvel's two "Guardians of the Galaxy" films, and features a stellar cast including Margot Robbie, Idris Elba and John Cena The film, which tells the story of a group of comic book villains forced to team up to save the world or face execution, is scheduled for simultaneous release in theaters and on HBO Max on August 6 Critical reception has been positive, but the wait seems a bit long