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After seeing just how wonderful the Arkham games designs and overall style takes to animation, I’m hoping that maybe we’ll get a few more of these. Anything involving the Suicide Squad, or Task Force X depending on which character is spouting their code name, should be like this: dirty, smaller scale, and with a strong focus on a small handful of characters. They’re a duplicitous gang of amoral scoundrels, and half of the fun in watching them is wondering if they’ll turn on each other before completing their mission or getting revenge on their captors.
If you’re wondering if that description was a read at the live-action film, then yes, your reading skills are fundamentally solid. Assault on Arkham was the movie that I wanted Suicide Squad to be, but alas, that was not meant to be. I hope that a sequel or something like Gotham City Sirens can prove a course-corrective and bring the scale down to a smaller scale. We can clearly differentiate each character here, get a feel for their personalities and talents, and which ones are mostly likely to prove expendable as the narrative chugs along.
Coherence is always a solidly dependable friend to any storyteller, and there’s a clear objective in mind here. There’s the requisite twists and shocks that raise the dramatics like a frog in a boiling pot, but none of it strays from the core of these characters. It’s also just a ton of fun to watch Deadshot, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn, Shark King, Killer Frost, and Black Spider interact with each other. Throw in smaller roles for Batman, the Joker, Penguin, and the Riddler and you have a solid ensemble of major names dropping in to fill in some gaps on which these lesser-known entities are.
Of course, it’s all fun and games until the Joker breaks loose, heads start exploding, Arkham turns into a madhouse, and there’s a dirty bomb on the loose. By this point, Assault on Arkham threatens to fly completely off the tracks, but the strength of the characters saves the day. Deadshot, Harley, and Joker fighting it out on a helicopter while Batman tries to defuse a bomb is solidly entertaining stuff. I’m not entirely sure we needed seemingly every boss fight from Arkham Asylum glimpsed in quick cameos, but they’re so nicely done that I can’t complain too loudly.
I would if we can get a whole spinoff series from the Arkham-verse of these films. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Arkham-verse variation of Gotham City Sirens, Birds of Prey, Hush, or any number of other stories that the games have either flirted with or outright referenced through mini-games without digging into their larger significance and strengths. While not as strong as Under the Red Hood or Year One, Assault on Arkham still ranks fairly high in DC’s animated Batman film canon.
