So earlier this year, we got two animated DC films and because they released at a time where I was reviewing other new releases, I decided to hold off until there was a break so that I can review them and that time is now. So everyone knows who Batman is and since the film in 2016, everyone also knows who the Suicide Squad are as well. So we have two films to look at so let's get right to it:
Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay
Set in the same continuity of the recent Justice League films since
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, Task Force X are sent out to recover a flash drive that contains leaked intelligence from Tobias Whale (voiced by David Fennoy). But when two members of the team betray the others, both Amanda Waller (voiced by Vanessa Williams) via remote access and Deadshot (voiced by Christian Slater) kill the traitors. Some time later, events occur in Gotham City and Waller sends a newly formed Task Force X to deal with Vandal Savage (voiced by Jim Pirri) who has some unorthodox plans to get out of hell. As the first animated Suicide Squad film to be just that without Batman in the title (though he does get mentioned and appears later on), its pretty good. Its got good jokes, lots of action and it willingly kills off key characters when other films fail to do even that. Of course not everything works, but how it handles things is pretty decent at that. Not much more to say than that methinks. 8/10
Batman Ninja
The first thing that bothers me about this film is its name. Wouldn't Ninja Batman be a better name? Perhaps, but its only one minor thing that could've changed. Anyway, so this film was created by a small group of japanese studios thus making this essentially an anime of sorts. The end result is this. One night in present day Gotham, Batman (reprised by Roger Craig Smith from
Arkham Origins) battles Gorilla Grodd (voiced by DC veteran Fred Tatasciore) before witnessing his Quake Engine time displacement machine that sends the Bat family, the villains of Gotham and Grodd to Feudal Japan. Batman arrives years after everyone else to find the top villains have become feudal lords and are battling for dominance. In order to prevent history changing, Batman learns of a prophecy and upon finding his weapons, gadgets and vehicles are no match for the villains, he abandons all he once knew to learn the ways of the samurai, all ending in a climactic showdown. You know I've seen, read and played many Batman stories for as long as I can remember. But for once, we actually get probably the most original Batman thing in a very long time. Not only does it have all or most of the most popular Batman characters all in one film, but it puts Batman in a more vulnerable position than ever before and has us witness him fall but rise again just like before. The animation is fantastic, the voice acting is well done and its just one of those stories that is unlike any Batman story before it and yet it works ever so well. Now I heard that the original Japanese version has a different script to the English dub which in a way makes this one of a few films to have two different versions even if its the same film which is kind of interesting in a way. Still its a lot of fun and Batman fans will definitely enjoy it. 9/10
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