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Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014)



Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014)




5/10



Voice acting by
Kevin Conroy
Neal McDonough
Hynden Walch
Matthew Gray Gubler


Directed by Jay Oliva and Ethan Spaulding


Batman: Assault on Arkham is different from the rest of the DC Universe direct-to-video animations. The movie has dark elements, raw action scenes with blood and heads blown off, and sexual content that includes nudity (though no explicit nude scenes) and references to sex.

In this poorly written script, Batman feels more like a supporting actor to the annoying Deadshot and the obnoxious Harley Quinn (the Joker’s girl). The movie relies heavily on the interactions within the Suicide Squad to carry the story, leaving me questioning why some of these villains were even included in the squad in the first place. You must forgive me, I have never read the Suicide Squad comic and this is my first introduction to it.

If you’re into animation, the animation here is good enough. The characterization is also decent, and I’ll give credit to Heath Corson for that. I remember feeling a sense of joy when one of the villain characters died, and for that, I applaud the writer. It’s not often that a villain is so annoying and irritating that you just want them gone already.


The movie also features some of the classic Batman villains:

  • The Riddler is the central focus of the movie, as his death is the Suicide Squad’s mission. We see him briefly at the beginning and the end.
  • The Penguin makes a cameo appearance, helping the squad get closer to the Riddler.
  • The Joker, who initially seems like just a mention, becomes a key part of the plot by the end.

The Suicide Squad is assembled by Amanda Waller to kill the Riddler, who was rescued from a black ops raid (ordered by Amanda) by Batman and placed in Arkham Asylum. Amanda wants to ensure that the information the Riddler possesses dies with him, so she puts together a team of villains—Black Spider, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Killer Frost, KGBeast, and King Shark (a.k.a. the Suicide Squad)—to get the job done.

Not everyone recruited makes it to the mission, but the team has to break into Arkham, kill the Riddler, and escape without Batman finding out. Of course, things don’t go as planned—otherwise, we wouldn’t have a movie.

My final note on this movie is that the writer tried something new by letting the main characters take a backseat while some wannabe villains (excluding Deadshot and Harley Quinn) take center stage. I liked the dark action and comedy, but I wish the script had been better.



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