Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay

Dir: Sam Liu

2018

****

The DC films made by Warner Bros. Animation are sometimes hit and miss but moreover they are average. Sam Liu seems to be their director of choice and I have to say his films are generally the best of the bunch, although you can never really match the greatness of the early Batman animations of the 1990s. Since then the characters have had their ups and downs and many of the direct graphic novel adaptations have been questionable. It’s always best to have an original idea in my opinion and if you do adapt something, make sure it isn’t anything too popular or iconic. Instead of basing the story on anything that already existed, the story ties-in with Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox but is its own thing. I would argue that it is the best Suicide Squad film so far, making far more sense than the 2016 live-action version. It wasn’t afraid to dabble in a bit of ultra-violent and the characters felt right. The legendary DC animation writer Alan Burnett wasn’t afraid to pull and punches on his last project before his retirement and, apart from a few dodgy moments of animation, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is one of the best DC films from Warner Bros. Animation from the studio yet. It’s the 4th DC animation to get an adult rating and so it should, I’m pleased that everyone involved realises that this is how it is in the comic so this is how it should be in the animated films. I would argue that it is their most authentic film yet. I certainly never thought I’d ever see Punch and Jewelee make it to the screen that’s for sure and it was nice to see Professor Pyg make an appearance. Having Doctor Fate now working as a male-stripper was a mark of genius and the sort of thing Suicide Squad should be all about, rather than what we saw in 2016 in the big screen. The film start off with Amanda Waller dispatching the Task Force X, consisting of Deadshot, Count Vertigo, Black Manta and criminal couple Punch and Jewelee to recover a flash drive containing leaked intelligence from Tobias Whale. Vertigo and Jewelee betray the team and kill Punch - an unexpected twist that made the film interesting from the outset. Having become lovers in jail, they plan to copy the flash drive and sell it but Waller overhears everything through Deadshot's communicator so Waller detonates Vertigo's head bomb and Deadshot mercy-kills Jewelee. Bang - cue the intro credits. Meanwhile in Gotham City, Professor Pyg is just about to do a touch of plastic surgery to Harvey Dent (AKA Harvey Two-Face) to make the evil side of his face the same on both sides, but is kidnapped by Scandal Savage and Knockout before be can begin. It’s nice to see relatively new characters such as Scandal Savage and Knockout make their animated debuts and it nice to see that their characters are authentic, particularly that they are lesbians in a relationship with one another. Meanwhile, Waller discovers that she is diagnosed with a terminal illness and reassembles Task Force X with a new roster: Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Killer Frost, Copperhead, and Bronze Tiger. Once again, the characters are authentic and I would argue that this is the best representation of Copperhead for a long time. Their mission: to find a man named Steel Maxum and retrieve a mystical black card emblazoned "Get Out of Hell Free." In order to remain undercover, the team embarks on their trip in a large RV and I have to say there is nothing more satisfying than watching Copperhead driving a large family automobile while the other sleep and play cards (DC does have a sense of humour after all). The humour doesn’t stop there either, for when the team discover Steel Maxum they discover that not only is he a male stripper, but he was also once Doctor Fate. The strip-club soon gets invaded by Professor Zoom, Silver Banshee and Blockbuster who are also after the magic card. The squad escape with Maxum and he explains that the card allows the user to bypass Hell and gain access to Heaven but it can only be used once. Scandal and Knockout stole the card from the Tower of Fate, which resulted in Maxum being stripped of his title by Nabu. Upon finding Scandal and Knockout's apartment, the team acquires the card, but they are intercepted by Vandal Savage and his men. Savage retrieves the card but leaves the wounded Knockout to die despite Scandal's pleas. As Savage escapes, Zoom places a tracer on his ship. Deadshot visits his estranged daughter Zoe but is forcibly retrieved by Tiger. Next day, Zoom's henchmen kidnap Frost at a gas station. Zoom removes Frost's bomb by waving his hands over her head really fast and convinces her to join him. Zoom lures the Squad into a trap and detonates the bomb. They manage to escape, but Tiger is heavily injured in the blast. Scandal covertly informs Deadshot of Vandal's location and the Squad infiltrates his lair but are captured. Savage reveals that he had Pyg surgically implant the card into his chest cavity so they can’t kill him, otherwise he will go to heaven and the card would be useless. Zoom and his henchmen attack and remove the card from Savage's body with Zoom’s super fast hands, killing him. Zoom explains that he was killed by Batman in another timeline and reveals a massive hole in the middle of his head. He managed to stay alive by calling on the Speed Force, the same force that makes him do the speedy hand thing. Frost double-crosses Zoom, killing Silver Banshee and Blockbuster and stealing the card for ransom. Copperhead fights Frost until Waller detonates his bomb and kills them both. Captain Boomerang attempts to steal the card but is incapacitated by Zoom. Tiger battles Zoom, but Zoom slices him multiple times with a small dagger. Tiger, dying from blood loss, uses the last of his strength to cut the card from Zoom's fingers. Deadshot kills Zoom and gives the card to Tiger, who dies and ascends to Heaven. With only Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn remaining alive in his team, Deadshot gives the now-useless card to the unsuspecting Waller before leaving. Having served his time, Deadshot visits his daughter Zoe as a free man. The only thing that was predictable about the film was that Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn would survive, I’m glad to say that everyone else died magnificently. The animation was patchy in places but overall it was good. The voice acting was also good but I didn’t recognise Christian Slater’s voice at all as Deadshot. I thought Tara Strong was just right for Harley Quinn and I’m glad her character didn’t take over the show too much. I confess that my attention often wonders with these DC animations – they are much better than the Marvel offerings but it isn’t until now that one of them has had my full attention.