Re: What Did You Watch? 2024-06-17 (Monday)

On 6/18/2024 10:17 AM, Adam H. Kerman wrote:

Arthur Lipscomb <arthur@alum.calberkeley.org> wrote:
 

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay (4K disc) 2018 R-rated DC animated movie set
in the DCAMU.  Amanda Waller assembles a team of villains to retrieve a
card that will send whoever is holding it straight to heaven when they
die.  But Waller isn't the only one who wants it and the movie turns
into a bloodbath as everyone is out to get their hands on that card.
This movie ties directly in with "Justice League: The Flashpoint
Paradox" which was the first movie in the DCAMU.

 Could I have a few more plot points? Who made the card, and why? Is this
for some sort of post-death soul assasination to absolutely positively
keep someone from coming back to life?
 

. . .

SPOILERS
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The movie opens with the Squad out on a mission.  My first reaction was Harley Quinn is dating a low rent Joker knock off.  And when the low rent Joker knock off quickly bought it before the opening credits, I wasn't surprised, but when "Harley" bought it too, I knew something was up.  Turn out It wasn't Harley, it "Punch and Jewelee" two characters I never heard of before, but were clearly Joker and Harley knockoffs.
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/villains/images/6/66/Punch_%26_Jewelee.png/revision/latest?cb=20140228070144
And I don't want to hear technically they predate Harley Quinn!  Anyway, Deadshot (Christian Slater) is the only survivor of the mission, so Waller (Vanessa Williams) assembles a new team for Deadshot to lead, including the real Harley Quinn (Tara Strong).
Their mission is to locate a (I think) playing card.  The card has magical properties that will cause whoever is holding the card at death to instantly bypass Hell and go straight to Heaven.  But the card can only be used once.  Within the movie itself, I don't think they ever explain exactly who created the card.  At one point Doctor Fate (Greg Grunberg) had the card, but he didn't create it, he simply had possession of it.
Waller wants the card because she has been diagnosed with a terminal illness.  She wants that card by any means necessary, no matter how many heads she has to explode to get it!  There are two rival groups of villains also after the card.
One group is lead by Vandal Savage.  Many of the villains catch on early that if they are holding the card no one dares kill them, because the holder will go straight to heaven and the card will be rendered useless.   Savage decides the best way to ensure he holds onto the card is to have it surgically implanted into his body in a way that will kill him if ever removed.
The other group after the card is lead by Reverse Flash (C. Thomas Howell).  In "Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox" Batman put a bullet through his brain killing him.  Reverse Flash explains that as soon as the bullet hit him he began to move so fast that he bought himself a few days of life before dying.  Yeah, it doesn't make any sense to me either.
So each side needs the card because their leader will die, probably going to straight to hell, without it.  The card can't keep them from dying, but it will keep them out of hell.