DCAUResource.com

Menu:

Review
Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

"Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" re-imagines the classic comic book story by Marv Wolfman and George Perez and tells the tragic tale of pain, adversity, and hope that rocks the Teen Titans of the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line in their first solo movie. It's been a year since Terra has joined the team but she's still haunted by her past as Nightwing returns to the fold amid a series of battles against the criminal organization H.I.V.E. and its immortal cult leader Brother Blood. Things get worse when Blood targets the Titans themselves and contracts Deathstroke to capture them. "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" expands the scope of the long-running DC Universe line of movies beyond Batman and the Justice League as the 10th anniversary looms.

"Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" returns to the Titans Tower and revisits the interpersonal dynamics and familial atmosphere introduced in "Justice League vs. Teen Titans" one year later. Closer in structure to "Batman: Bad Blood" than Justice League, the movie addresses the past and present of several Titans; namely Starfire, Blue Beetle, and Terra. Starfire and Nightwing take their relationship to the next level and adjust to who's the leader as she contemplates her identity and heritage. Blue Beetle still hasn't fully mastered the Scarab and struggles with the distance he's put between himself and his parents and sister. Terra buckles under the weight of her inner demons, being persecuted and hated when she first got her powers, never experiencing real love and acceptance until much later, then manipulated by someone she thought she trusted. The rest of the returning cast have their big moments and don't necessarily fade into the background. Considering her large focus in "Justice League vs. Teen Titans", Raven has the probably the smallest role but even then she still remains a crucial component of the team and story. Beast Boy also is a crucial component to the story and a different side of him is gleaned especially in the climax. The level and violence are on par with what's been seen before in the PG-13 films but some may take issue with the occasional innuendo and the relationship Terra sees herself in with Deathstroke. Regardless, there is a lot of humor to balance out the drama and action. A boon to telling a version of Judas Contract is this movie has 8 extra minutes compared to past releases and clocks in at a 84 minute runtime. "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" takes the baton from this year's first release "Justice League Dark" and tells a second amazing, lean, interwoven, and entertaining epic.

"Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" opens with a flashback to five years ago when the Teen Titans first met Starfire and end up saving her from a squad of aliens, very likely to be the Gordanians given her comics book backstory is mostly preserved. Fans are treated not only to the origin of how Starfire came to be on Earth, but also when Dick Grayson was still Robin, how their friendship began and are introduced to Speedy, Bumblebee, and Kid Flash. The story shifts back to the present with the Titans raiding another H.I.V.E. base but this time, the villains get a last minute tip off from Deathstroke. Brother Blood's creepily devout follower Mother Mayhem gets away. While the recovered intel is decoded, the pacing simmers and the movie spends the time needed to set up the chess pieces so to speak with each Titan and begins to hint at Brother Blood's ultimate goal. The movie could have fallen off the tracks at this point but the pacing, mingling of arcs, and partial reveals that constantly build on the story keeps the audience engaged. In addition, Deathstroke's formal entrance into the movie and Terra's growing instability almost mid-way comes at an opportune time and structurally helps to push the narrative along at a good pace then another shift to Deathstroke's arc also aids the movie in the same way. Then there's the one year party and the kiss between Terra and Beast Boy. Then more action, going into the finale. Essentially, the movie keeps you alert and on your toes so your focus shouldn't ever wander nor the story get boring at any point.

Character designers Phil Bourassa and Dusty Abell provided some neat designs for Nightwing and Deathstroke's new suits, as well as modernizing and tweaking new characters added in this movie like Bumblebee, Kid Flash, Speedy, Jericho, and Brother Blood. Getting to see Dick Grayson in costume as Robin was fitting after seeing it in the Batcave since "Son of Batman" was a great reward for longtime viewers. The toughest design was probably Brother Blood when he took on his so-called "god state" which was visually an amalgamation of all the Titans' designs. The mix of team action from two different versions of Titans at the beginning then the solo battles against Deathstroke like with Robin and Nightwing in the middle then a mix of both at the end keeps the audience on their toes. Considering the source material, the fates of characters like Terra and Brother Blood are telegraphed but changed in a way that fits the new story and maybe even makes more sense. While Deathstroke's fate is open ended, he's a character that proves to be a survivor. It was rewarding to see a lot of callbacks throughout the movie like Robin deducing what happened to Deathstroke after the events of "Son of Batman", Raven and her father, how long Starfire's been on Earth, or Deathstroke's issues with Ra's al Ghul and Damian, or photos from scenes in "Justice League vs. Teen Titans". It was also nice to see a few more nods to classic teen movies like in "Justice League vs. Teen Titans" such as Beast Boy doing that SFX from "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" after he kisses Terra. The homages to Judas Contract when Deathstroke starts picking off Titans like Cyborg's electric chair trap used on Blue Beetle, Deathstroke swinging into Dick's apartment, or the Enervator were amazing and essentially right off the panels. The ending culminates in tragedy and melancholy but emerges with the recurring theme of family and a feeling of hope with reunions, debuts, and one last twist. It was a nice surprise to see Frederik Wiedmann working on the score and Kevin Smith's cameo.

The only real issue I had were with Deathstroke and Brother Blood, the villains -- like any other comic book movie really. Blood was kind of just there to facilitate the story and was hardly in the movie. I mean, in the end, he was something for some of the Titans to hit in the climax. My qualms with Deathstroke are well conflicted and complicated. No question Ferrer did a superb performance and Altbacker adapted the good parts and added some nice spins but it's this version of Deathstroke that fell flat. A foundational component of Teen Titans is the family theme and in the comics, that was also a big part of Deathstroke and Judas Contract. But this animated version is totally stripped of his family, other than an unaddressed cameo of Jericho, and without the death of his other son Grant as a driving force -- here's he's just that guy who takes a job for lot's of money so he can grow his assassin business. Kind of shallow. But does it makes sense in this continuity? Yes. The League of Assassins was his family. He had a dream for its future. He got pushed out. He wants it back. Is Deathstroke a character that's malleable enough to be reinterpreted many times? Yes. Teen Titans. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. Young Justice. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox. Beware The Batman. Overall, producers James Tucker and Alan Burnett, director Sam Liu and writer Ernie Altbacker succeeded in telling both a complete story and loose adaptation, answering the right sub-plots, introducing a few more, and creating more things to brood about.

To comment on the voice cast, I will start by definitively stating that the late, great Miguel Ferrer hands down stole the movie with his stunning performance and take on Deathstroke coupled with Ernie Altbacker's writing and Sam Liu's directing. I caught myself laughing at Deathstroke's lines even though he's a complete bastard. Ferrer delivered. May he continue to rest in peace. Sean Maher, Kari Wahlgren, Jake T. Austin, Taissa Farmiga, Brandon Soo Hoo and Stuart Allan reprise their respective roles and the second outing together as the Titans shows they're getting better and more comftorable with their roles. It was a nice treat to watch Maher, Wahlgren, and Soo Hoo voice younger versions of their characters with subtle changes in their voices. It was also a great bonus to hear and realize Jason Spizak, Masasa Moyo, and Crispin Freeman reprise Kid Flash, Bumblebee, and Speedy respectively especially with Young Justice season three in the works. Among the cast, Christina Ricci had the biggest task. She had one movie to quickly find Terra's voice, endear Terra to the audience, play up the double agent angle, and act like there's no tomorrow when Terra has her freak out moments and meeting her tragic demise at the end. I was sold. Maybe it helped a little that I'm a child of the '80s and am familiar with a lot of Ricci's past work and I have no issue with another amazing take on Terra in animation. Wes Gleason is starting to make voice directing look way too easy.

The home entertainment release of "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" features three solid special features. "Titanic Minds: Reunited Wolfman and Perez" is an 27 and a half-minute history of Marv Wolfman and George Perez looking back on how they came to work together on the Judas Contract comic. Starting off with a hair joke, the laughs and nostalgia puts you in the passenger seat and takes you on an informative trip behind the scenes. The "Villain Rising: Deathstroke" is a 9 minute look at the character. The sneak peak at this Summer's release, "Batman and Harley Quinn" is 9 minutes, 8 seconds and is a mix of storyboards, finished footage, and voice recording sessions. While it's pointed out there are similarities to the "Harlequinade" episode of the classic Batman: The Animated Series, it's evident there's going to a lot of sudden left turns. The animated debut of Plant Master was enough to pique my interest as is the "reunion" of Kevin Conroy and Loren Lester as Batman and Nightwing but I couldn't help but be cognizant of the similar design aesthetic from The New Batman Adventures and the question of "is it canon?" looming over the movie like a specter. Also included in the special features are previews of past releases "Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox" and "Superman/Batman: Public Enemies", bonus episodes of "Terra" and "Titan Rising" from Teen Titans, and trailers for the DC All Access App, "Justice League Dark", "The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-Wrestlemania", and "Injustice 2". The limited edition gift set comes with a very well done Blue Beetle figurine by Gentle Giant Ltd. But of course, like a broken record, I point out that there's no commentary track, making of featurette, character design featurette, or making of the score featurette. They could have at least had a feature about Terra, H.I.V.E. and Brother Blood like they did here with Deathstroke. Still a solid set of special features for the uninitiated or those in need of a refresher course.

Looking ahead, they certainly seeded the possibility Blackfire and the Gordaninans coming to Earth for Starfire and later Jericho in the teaser. Plus, a brief mention of the Fearsome Five. Same like in "Justice League vs. Teen Titans", they seeded H.I.V.E. with the hologram training and Terra with the teaser. And who appeared in this movie - H.I.V.E. and Terra. It's the same structure. Hmm. An invasion story may be passe at this point but man it would be pretty cool to see Blackfire, Thanagarians, Gordanians, Psions, the Branx -- a big Citadel alliance -- invading Earth and shaking things up. Oh man, even introduce the Omega Men! Instead of a straight invasion story, it would be pretty cool to see a time skip and the movie starts with the Citadel having already won and subjugated Earth for a few months and it's more about the TT leading rebellion forces to overthrow them, finding where the other heroes like the Justice League are being held and freeing them, and a big final battle across the planet and in space. A guy can dream.

"Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" is the strongest movie in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie line to date, in my humble opinion. In the aftermath of "Justice League vs. Teen Titans," Judas Contract is unequivocal proof that this line can perform without Batman and the Justice League and can successfully stray from the basic story structure, balance past and present, action, humor, interpersonal dynamics to tell a griping story. "Teen Titans: The Judas Contract" is a very highly recommended purchase. Woo hoo, Donna Troy! Finally!!

Rating
Main Feature: 4.5 out of 5
Special Features: 3.5 out of 5
Average Rating: 4 out of 5