Batman: Ataque a Arkham

I saw the SDCC exclusive trailer for Suicide Squad very recently and it got me so hyped up to see what the DC cinematic universe had in store for us. At first the DCU looked like it was trying to be what Marvel had set up but looking at the two latest trailers it looks like they really do have some spectacular surprises in store! Anyway, after seeing the trailer i wanted to see a lot more of the Suicide Squad in action. I was lucky enough to find Batman Assault on Arkham and well.. as if i wasn't already excited enough for Suicide Squad!

First things first, this film may have the Batman name in the title, but this really isn't a Batman he is merely a co-star. This film very much belongs to the squad themselves. Amanda Waller needs to get a thumb drive from the Riddler's cane so in order to do so she recruits the baddest criminals she can find from the very walls of Arkham Asylum to get it out. Meanwhile Batman is attempting to find a dirty bomb left behind by the Joker who is still trapped in his own cell, which he of course links to Harley Quinn. We get to see characters we will soon be introduced to in the film including Harley, Captain Boomerang and Deadshot who serves as the protagonist. Among these 'big names' we also encounter lesser-known villains like King Shark and Killer Frost who form an unexpected bond and Black Spider (voiced by Giancarlo Esposito from Breaking Bad). All ending with a climatic battle between Task force X, the Joker and Batman himself.

The film claims to be based off of the Batman Arkham series of games. The voice of Batman is as always played to perfection by veteran Batman actor Kevin Conroy. Every time Conroy lends his voice to the character, even only for a small role like this film, you really feel like you are listening to the only actor fit for voicing him. Troy Baker mirrors Mark Hamill like he did in Arkham Origins and steals the show. He may not be as threatening and villainous as Hamill is but he comes a close second. I also loved Hynden Walch as Harley Quinn and I will go as far as to say that Harley was my favourite character in this film. She takes on the role and manages to be both ditzy and villainous, which is all a fan really wants from such an iconic character. Each member of Task Force X gets their own chance to shine in a different way and i was on board with each character so well that I was rooting for them more than i was for Batman by the end of it.

DC can be hit and miss with their animated features, and this is in the ranks as being one of the best they have developed so far. I hope that the adaption of 'The Killing Joke' that is in the works can be as great as this one manages to be. It is also the right element of dark. The violence was not watered down for this one and we get our fair share of head explosions. I am hoping the movie is not watered down and manages an 'R' rating because it has the potential to be something very special. This film raises the hype metre even higher and i am hoping for something great that could even trump The Dark Knight in terms of darkness and pure character development. The DC Universe will be kicked off with a 'BANG!' (Pun intended) and i hope more animated DC adaptions take a leaf out of its book.

Batman is a real badass, the Joker is a total wacko, Harley Quinn is hot. What else do you need? No but seriously, Aussault on Arkham did many things right, the characters are fun (especially Boomerang who is the major comic relief in this movie, the Joker and of course Quinn), the action is pretty awesome and there were some very fine One-Liners also.

What I liked the most was the very mature style of the movie, there is blood spilled, heads are blown of and teeth get punched in but nothing is never totally over the top (as many already said it's very surprising Assault on Arkham was rated PG-13 and not R).

Altogether I liked:

-gritty style

-mature humor

-well animated action/fight scenes

-actuall plot surprises

-real fight consequences (villains DIE, and don't flee with a black eye)

-GREAT voice acting

Now for the things I did not like:

-not enough Joker (yes his role was pretty major but it was not quite enough screen time for my taste)

-overall to short (71 mins? really?)

I just finishing watching Son of Batman, and I was thinking to myself, this movie is pretty edgy and leans more toward adults than I would ever expected. Than I saw Assault on Arkham, and can see were the DCAU is going. This is far more Edgy.

The movie takes elements from the recent run of Suicide Squad of the new 52s revamp at DC comics and mixes it with elements of the Batman Akrham game series. Batman wears the costume from the game, but has the voice of the greatest man ever to play (voice) Batman, Kevin Conroy.

Batman takes a slight step back in this movie as Amanda Waller assembles the suicide Squad to get a thumb drive the Riddler has on all the members of the Suicide Squad before he makes it public. They have to infiltrate Arkham in order to do it.

The animated film is Dark, it reminds me of the late 80's early 90's anime like Gogolo 13 and fist of the North Star that got me into anime in the first place. I'm happy to see Warner Bros. animation go in this direction.

Two thumbs up!

Even though it feels more like a Suicide Squad film than a Batman movie, Batman: Assault on Arkham is an incredible DC animated movie that fits nicely into the Arkham video game timeline. Kevin Conroy is reliably perfect as Batman, Matthew Gray Gubler is excellent as The Riddler and Troy Baker is an amazing Joker. Neal McDonough and Hynden Walch are both great. It's extremely well paced. The animation and the direction by Jay Oliva and Ethan Spaulding are also great. It's effectively unpredictable and funny. The music by Robert J. Kral is really good.

DC animated movies almost never fail to please me and Batman: Assault on Arkham, directed by Jay Oliva and Ethan Spaulding, portrays criminals with a vicious and sexy attitude.

With almost all the same voice actors from the Batman Arkham series including Kevin Conroy, Oliva and Spaulding take the Batman animated movies into Arkham Asylum just as portrayed in the Arkham video games series. In my opinion, it's about time Warner Brothers created a Batman animated movie based on the atmosphere of the Arkham games as it is so popular with the fans.

Interestingly enough, this movie focuses more on a criminal special task force created by Amanda Waller, who also created the Suicide Squad, rather than Batman; however, there was still enough of Batman to satisfy our Dark Knight needs especially when the voice is Kevin Conroy. What surprised me the most was Troy Baker as the voice of the Joker. Though he has been the voice of Joker before, I almost thought it was Mark Hamill until I looked up the cast. With that in mind, Baker's acting inspires me with high hopes for the Jokers future.

Overall, this Batman animated movie had a sexy, trilling, attitude which was packed full of lethal action that would please any Batman fan. A perfect 10!