Hey, FAN. we got a caper! On this edition of Direct to DVD Dissection, it’s another release from DC Animation, as we focus on an attempt to break into Arkham Asylum to recover a sensitive item from one of it’s residence. Considering the last release, will this fair better?
The Story
When the government teams up a group of supervillains with the code name Suicide Squad and forces them to break into Arkham Asylum to bring back top secret information the Riddler has stolen, Batman soon becomes involved. But things go from bad to worse when one of the Squad (Harley Quinn) frees the Joker, who has the means to not only blow up the asylum, but most of Gotham City as well.
The Bullets
-Released by Warner Home Video
-Runtime: 75 minutes
-DVD Release Date: August 12, 2014
-Audio & Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, German, and Portuguese.
The Dissection
Ever since the release of the video game BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM, there’s been this developed universe that has spawned from it.
Harley, reunited with her puddin on the inside, Joker (Troy Baker)
First off, it should be known that Batman, as well as Kevin Conroy, plays the Danny Trejo role in this film, as he is put on the title of this, and yet he is not the main focus of the film. This film is really focused on the quote unquote “Suicide Squad” and their infiltration of one of the most twisted places on Earth in Arkham. Granted, it’s not exactly hard to get OUT of Arkham Asylum, so it is not as impressive when you are trying to get IN.
Since we follow the aforementioned Squad around for most of the story, the film ends up doing a pretty good job of building the characters up. The leaders of the Squad are Deadshot (voiced by the Dum Dum Doogan himself, Neal McDonough) as well as Harley Quinn, (voiced here by Hynden “Starfire” Walch. ) They do have some interesting chemistry together, which also is a reference to their history in the comics. Plus, the interactions with all the different members of the Suicide Squad, and Greg Ellis‘ Captain Boomerang in particular,gives the film some entertaining impact building to the actual assault.
Who’d of thought that there would be people jealous of someone named Floyd?
The art style is more in line of what appear in CRISIS ON TWO WORLDS than SON OF BATMAN, so meaning you got these big bulky figures for the characters, though it’s a bit better done in this than it was during CRISIS. Onto the tone in the film is a bit more darker than the usual entries. There’s a good chunk of violence and gore, and a good touch of sideboob and a PG-13 sex scene added to the mix.
As for extras, the film has a commentary track from the director, writer, and executive producer that goes into details on the production of the film. There are also featurettes on both Arkham Asylum, the upcoming film based on Aquaman, and on Harley Quinn, featuring BRIAN BLESSED calling himself Paul Dini for some reason. Also, as usual for DC animation films, it comes with some DC animated episodes from their various animated shows, here focusing on YOUNG JUSTICE, JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED, BRAVE AND THE BOLD, and THE BATMAN. Finally, there’s some trailers for other DC films.
The Verdict
ASSAULT ON ARKHAM feels like a more solid release and more up to par of the studio’s previous work. It gives some lesser known people with some good time to shine, and has some good moments to make it worth a recommendation.