Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is a 2018 American adult animated superhero film produced by Warner Bros. Animation and distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The film was produced and directed by Sam Liu and written by Alan Burnett (his last work before his retirement). It is the 31st film of the DC Universe Animated Original Movies and the tenth film of the DC Animated Movie Universe. The voice cast includes Christian Slater as Deadshot, Tara Strong as Harley Quinn and Vanessa Williams as Amanda Waller. The film was released digitally on March 27, 2018  and released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 10, 2018. Plot. Three years ago, Amanda Waller dispatches Task Force X, a secret operative of criminals with nanite bombs implanted in their head, led by the hitman Deadshot, to retrieve a hard drive containing leaked intelligence from Tobias Whale. However, after the mission succeeds, members Count Vertigo and Jewelee betray the team, and plan to steal the drive for themselves, killing Punch in the process. Waller, having overheard the conversation through their communication system, detonates Vertigo's nanite bomb while Deadshot mercy-kills Jewelee as Waller prepares to detonate her  bomb. In the present-day, Waller learns she had been diagnosed with a terminal illness but discovers the existence of a powerful artifact, a card with the phrase "Get Out of Hell Free" printed on its surface. According to legend, anyone possessing the card when they die is able to bypass Hell and gain access to Heaven regardless of whatever sins they committed in life. The card is revealed to currently be in the possession of male stripper Steele Maxum, who formerly wielded the mantle of Doctor Fate, given to him by the spirit of Nabu. Waller recruits criminals Harley  Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Killer Frost, Copperhead, and Bronze Tiger to retrieve the card. Rivaling Waller's team are Vandal Savage and his daughter Scandal, and speedster Reverse-Flash, and his team consisting of Silver Banshee, and Blockbuster, who are all also after the card. Waller's team find Maxum performing at a strip club but are confronted by the Reverse-Flash and his team. Waller's team manage to defeat Reverse-Flash's team and escape with Maxum. The team learn that the card had been stolen from Maxum by Scandal and her lover Knockout, which led to Maxum losing  his mantle of Doctor Fate. Upon arriving at Scandal and Knockout's apartment, Waller's team extract the card, however, they are intercepted by Savage and his men. Savage retrieves the card and wounds Knockout, killing her. As Savage escapes, Reverse-Flash places a tracker on his ship. Meanwhile, Deadshot fails to find his daughter Zoe, and is forced to return to the team by Bronze Tiger. While stopping at a gas station, the Reverse-Flash kidnaps Killer Frost, removing her bomb, and convincing her to join his team. Using Killer Frost, the Reverse-Flash lures Waller's team and  detonates her bomb, wounding Tiger. To gain revenge on her father, Scandal reveals his whereabouts where Waller's team are captured by Savage. Savage reveals he had Professor Pyg implant the card into his chest, before killing Pyg. Reverse-Flash then finds Savage and uses his abilities to phase through Savage's body and take the card, resulting in Savage's death. Reverse-Flash explains to Deadshot he was killed in another timeline by their version of Batman, but managed to survive by using the most dangerous and strongest "Speed Force" ability to temporarily delay his death despite slowly fading  out of existence. Killer Frost double-crosses Reverse-Flash by killing Silver Banshee and Blockbuster. Members of Waller's team then attempt to steal the card for themselves, resulting in Copperhead and Killer Frost’s deaths. Bronze Tiger battles Reverse-Flash but the latter fatally injures the former using a small dagger, but then having dropped the weapon, Bronze Tiger wounds Reverse-Flash with it and distracts him: Deadshot shoots Reverse-Flash through his head, causing the latter to eventually erase from existence. Deadshot gives the card to Bronze Tiger, who ascends to Heaven. Deadshot then gives the now useless  card to an unwitting Waller, who pardons his decade-long prison sentence, making him a free man and allowing him to visit Zoe. Production. This film was announced at San Diego Comic-Con on July 21, 2017. It features an original story by Alan Burnett marking his last film before retirement. Tie-in media. On March 21, a 12-issue digital comic was released on a weekly basis. Written by Jeff Parker with artwork by Matthew Dow Smith, Agustin Padilla, Stefano Raffaele and Cat Staggs, the story takes place immediately after the events of the film as Amanda Waller is  still looking to avoid death. With the Spectre bearing down on her, she enlists Jason Blood a.k.a. Etrigan into her team for their latest mission. The series was then released in a trade paperback collecting all 12 issues on February 19, 2019. Reception. Sales. The film earned $851,440 from domestic DVD sales and $1,976,142 from domestic Blu-ray sales, bringing its total domestic home video earnings to $2,834,427 . Critical response. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of , with an average score of , based on reviews. IGN awarded "Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay" a score  of 7.5 out of 10, saying that while not everything in the film worked, it deserves praise for its "sense of humor, willingness to kill off key characters, and exploration of a spiritual subject". WeGotThisCovered.com gave it a 9/10, calling it one of the best DC animated films, praising its writing and fun tone. A "Comicsverse" review by Chris Zhang notes problems with graphics, but Zhang still calls it the best Suicide Squad film ever, noting it is giving a correct portrayal of the Squad as "a bunch of backstabbing criminals being managed by a backstabbing bureaucrat" instead of a  comparatively friendly team like the 2016 film.