Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (2018)

Movie Info

You’re going to need a crew

Amanda Waller is assembling a new squad for an undercover operation.  Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Killer Frost, Captain Boomerang, Copperhead, and Bronze Tiger are after a card…a card which grants its owner a boon that can even overcome death.  Unfortunately, the card is a popular item.  Zoom, Silver Banshee, and Blockbuster are after the card while Vandal Savage, his daughter, Professor Pyg, and Knockout also are on the card’s trail.  The card only works once, and the game is afoot.

Directed by Sam Liu, Suicide Squad:  Hell to Pay is an animated superhero feature.  Following Batman:  Gotham by Gaslight, the film is the thirty first film in the DC Universe Animated series.

Suicide Squad was a bust, but that doesn’t mean the franchise doesn’t have merit.  This movie is a solid entry and it always amazes me how DC can make a much more solid animated feature than some of their big pictures.

Doctor Fate is “hella hot”…just ask him

The movie not only is a solid action movie but it ties in a lot of the DC Universe.  You have a great group of villains and a tie to one of DC’s more brutal movies…Justice League:  The Flashpoint Paradox.  While the MCU has done this type of ties for ages, DC has managed to create a similar world in their animated films.  Unlike the MCU, they don’t all have to tie together, so it is nice when a film like this does have connections which help enrich the storyline.

DC always also employs good voice actors which adds some weight to the movie.  The movie has a solid mix of screen and television actors and voice actors while also helps elevate the screen actors.  The credits include Christian Slater, Vanessa Williams, Tara Strong, Billy Brown, Liam McIntyre, Gideon Emery, C. Thomas Howell, Dania Ramirez, Jim Pirri, Kristen Bauer van Straten, Cissy Jones, Dave Fennoy, Dave Boat, Julie Nathanson, James Urbaniak, and Greg Grunberg among others.

Do not pass go, do not collect $200…

Visually, the movie isn’t the level of a theatrical release, but it is high quality.  The animation for all the DC animated films either generally presents a stylized look or follows in the footsteps of Batman:  The Animated Series.  Since this is tied into the bigger mythos, the film is in standard style, but the cinematography and art direction for composition of each scene is high.

Suicide Squad:  Hell to Pay is a solid follow-up to the DC Animated Movies line and a fun watch in general.  It isn’t too distinctive (in general it feels like a big episode), but the little moves to bring it into a bigger picture does help distinguish it a bit.  Suicide Squad:  Hell to Pay is followed by The Death of Superman also released in 2018.

Related Links:

Suicide Squad (2016)

The Suicide Squad (2021)

Justice League:  The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020)