MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Batman: Assault on Arkham" (2014)

I'm not gonna lie, I'm not a big DC fan. Sure, I know the big names like any nerd worth his weight in first editions, but the worlds and characters presented to us by the folks at Detective Comics have never really reached out to me the way that Marvel's mainstays have.  That doesn't mean, however, that I don't occasionally enjoy seeing how the other half lives. I've played all the games in  the Arkham series to date by Rocksteady and I've enjoyed several of the DC animated series such as Justice League, Teen Titans, and - of course - Batman: The Animated Series.  There have also been quite a few offerings from Warner Bros. Animation over the years that I've enjoyed, such as Batman: Gotham Knight and Justice League: Doom.

Really, DC is to animation what Marvel is to live action films...and comics.

So, I recently had my eye turned onto one of the latest direct to DVD release from the studio, Batman: Assault on Arkham.  I found it to be quite an enjoyable ride from start to finish. Made to fit cozily within the Arkham series of games, it focuses on some payoff after some of the setup done in the DLC of Arkham Origins involving the Suicide Squad - a group of anti-heroes and even outright villains who get "acquired" by the government to perform high-risk black ops missions, kept on task by an explosive device implanted in them that can be set off at any point.  And, as their name implies, the group is entirely expendable in any case.

As it happens, beginning with the film, Amanda Waller (once again C.C.H. Pounder reprising her role from Justice League Unlimited) requires a new formation of the Suicide Squad in order to retrieve information that is at the risk of being leaked by one Edward Nygma aka The Riddler. So she acquires the services of Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Black Spider, Killer Frost, KGBeast, Captain Boomerang, and King Shark in order to break into Arkham Asylum to retrieve the data following the Riddler's arrest by Batman (Kevin Conroy).  The Batman who, as they go on they learn, is working a separate case involving the Joker (Troy Baker) having rigged a dirty bomb to blow most of Gotham to Kingdom Come.

The animation and the voice acting are pretty good.  The story itself is very interesting and I really wish they had done more on the Suicide Squad itself.  For the first part of the time, they actually manage to do that well.  Batman is hardly involved in the beginning, shows up for a scene in the middle, and then reveals himself in the end and aids in cleaning house. Honestly, besides his bits as part of the weaving of the narrative and the fact that the story does take place in Gotham, there's really no reason for him to even be there.

But, hey, brand recognition is always nice.

And, of course, Batman comes in at the last minute to save the day and kick ass, as one might expect from a Batman production.  As I stated above, I really didn't care for his bits in it.  The fact is, despite the Chuck Norris-esque qualities of Batman, he just really isn't all that interesting and it shows here.  While not all the members of the Suicide Squad can be written home about, they all were rather distinct and made for a rather fun time seeing their skill sets and personalities both work with and bounce off one another. Batman doesn't really aid much in that and could have just been left out entirely to pursue his own side plot, as could have the Joker.

I'm sure those who have also seen the film are going to point out that the conflict between Batman and the Joker contributes heavily to the final parts of the film, which I do agree with.  However, the stakes are already enough.  Thanks to Waller pulling an Escape from New York/The Running Man on everyone on the team, they could very easily be taken out at any moment. Not to mention just the difficulty of the mission itself - breaking into Arkham Asylum (though considering how easy it is to break out of there, one might question the difficulty). The fact that an all-out jailbreak happens at the end is quite enough for the film's climax (including several cameos of various Batman villains, as one would expect).

That all being said, as I said throughout the whole, this is a great little jaunt through the universe.  It's a heist movie, and a good one at that.  If more films get made in this vein, I definitely want to see them. So, if you're looking for a way to kill 76 minutes and be entertained, definitely should try Assault on Arkham.

Batman:  Assault on Arkham is now available on DVD from Warner Bros. Animation, DC Entertainment and Warner Home Video.

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