The animated prequel to Rocksteady’s acclaimed Batman: Arkham video game franchise has finally become available to all in the form of the physical DVD and Blu-Ray releases. This action packed thriller shows us an inside look into the lesser known villains of the Caped Crusader’s vast gallery. With excellent writing, an excellent lack of focus on the Dark Knight himself, and fantastic action, this may very well be DC’s best animated film to date.

Batman: Assault on Arkham is a 2014 action adventure film. It is produced by WB Animation, and distributed by WB Home Video. It is currently available on digital download, DVD, and Blu-Ray.

Warning: This review contains complete, to near complete spoilers for Batman: Assault on Arkham. If you have yet to see the film please avoid this review until having done so, you have been warned folks.

The long awaited animated prequel to the Batman: Arkham franchise is here, adding another fantastic animated film to not only The Dark Knight’s roster, but WB’s overall catalog as well. After years of request the Suicide Squad has finally received their own animated special, and what better way to deliver it to us by inserting them into the grand Arkham video quadrilogy’s storyline.

Yahtzee!

THE GOOD: Batman: Assault on Arkham is an excellently written piece of animation, with the story essentially revolving around a group of Batman nobodies it’s amazing that WB was able to pull off the story, and considering it acted as a B story to the overall Arkham video game storyline, that’s even more impressive.  The writing was excellent and once again pushed the PG-13 boundary. While the action was very reminiscent of the game series it represented but a bit higher on the maturity scale, such as decapitation and the like.

The Suicide Squad as they appear in Assault on Arkham.

The lack of focus on Batman is one of the most excellent moments in Assault on Arkham, this is a story based on the Suicide Squad after all. For fans worried, we do get to see a good handful of scenes featuring Batman, but the limited number of scenes added necessary background on the Suicide Squad and to a lesser extent The Riddler. Amanda Waller acting as the big bad was also pretty great, as while she’s not exactly a lesser known Batman villain, she’s not necessarily the most featured, and hasn’t really been featured in Batman media for quite some time as far as animation is concerned. The Joker became a bit of focus later on in the film, but again the lack of focus from major characters keeps things interesting in Assault on Arkham.

Mr. J.

The Blu-Ray also features 4 additional Batman related episodes from different cartoons. There’s also a sneak peak at the next DC Animation film for those interested in it.

Batman ready to take down all comers.

THE BAD: Nothing.

King Shark attacks.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Assault on Arkham is an excellently written DC Animation film, that focuses on a lesser known group of villains bar, The Riddler, Harley Quinn, Amanda Waller, and The Joker. Fantastic action and story elements puts this Arkham film on the top DC Animation films of recent memory. While Batman is still a significant piece of the story, his lack of focus only does the film a favor more than taking anything away from it. While the Blu-Ray itself isn’t necessarily up on features compared to the DVD, the four bonus Batman episodes and what not is pretty good for anyone looking to kill time. Otaku Dome gives Batman: Assault on Arkham an 90 out of 100.