There’s no shortage of amazing action sequences in James Gunn’s Suicide Squad, but one scene, in particular, that stands out is Harley Quinn’s escape from the Corto Maltese palace. After breaking free from her prison cell following the murder of President Silvio Luna, Harley goes on a rampage through the halls of the palace, killing everyone that stands in her way.
The violence and bloodshed is juxtaposed by an explosion of flowers that erupt behind her. As she makes her way down the hall, vibrant animations and even adorable birdies pop out. In some ways, it’s reminiscent of a Disney princess... if that Disney princess went on a murderous rampage.
As it turns out, “Harley-Vision” — as it's referred to as by Suicide Squad production designer Beth Mickle and director James Gunn — is inspired by an old video game that Gunn actually worked on almost a decade ago. Speaking to Collider, Gunn revealed that the concept of “Harley Vision” stems from the 2012 video game Lollipop Chainsaw, which he worked on alongside prominent Japanese video game designer Goichi Suda (better known as SUDA51).
“Well, I think in some ways it's something that ... I did a video game called Lollipop Chainsaw, and I always loved the sort of ... In that game, which I did was with Suda in Japan, I always loved the way that the hearts and beautiful little things came out of people mixed with blood. So, a lot of it goes back to that, the aesthetic of mixing this horrible gore with Harley's starry-eyed way of looking at life and creating Harley-vision basically. So that was something that came on very early. It was in the first draft of the script.”
For those unfamiliar, Lollipop Chainsaw is a very twisted, action-packed video game about a high school cheerleader/zombie hunter, named Juliet Starling, on a quest to uncover the root of a colossal zombie outbreak. As Starling slices her way through hordes of undead with a giant chainsaw, it isn’t blood that fills the screen, but rather giant explosions of colorful fireworks, vibrant animations of hearts, rainbows, and stars, and even candy that contrast perfectly with the violence — much like what we see with Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad.
Oh, did we mention that Starling is accompanied on her adventure by her boyfriend, Nick, who is a disembodied head hanging from her waist? That’s just the tip of Lollipop Chainsaw's insanity from the brilliantly twisted minds of both SUDA51 and James Gunn.
Check out some of the trailers for Lollipop Chainsaw below to get a better idea as to what inspired Harley Quinn’s scene in Suicide Squad.
Suicide Squad has now grossed over $100 million worldwide, an impressive feat considering the simultaneous release on HBO Max and the ongoing pandemic. Lollipop Chainsaw was originally released on Xbox 360 and PS3, so if you have one of those older consoles it might be worth checking out if you're a fan of Gunn.