Year: 2014
Runtime: 76 mins
Language: English
Directors: Ethan Spaulding, Jay Oliva
Batman races against time to locate a bomb set by the Joker. Simultaneously, Amanda Waller dispatches the Suicide Squad to infiltrate Arkham Asylum. Their mission is to retrieve stolen information from the Riddler, all while Batman struggles to prevent a catastrophic event. The fate of Gotham hangs in the balance as heroes and villains collide within the infamous asylum.
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Read the complete plot breakdown of Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
Batman, Kevin Conroy, rescues the Riddler, Matthew Gray Gubler, from a covert black-ops order led by Amanda Waller, CCH Pounder, and returns him to Arkham Asylum. In response, Waller strikes a dangerous deal and pulls together the Suicide Squad, including Black Spider, Giancarlo Esposito, Deadshot, Neal McDonough, Harley Quinn, Hynden Walch, KGBeast, Nolan North, Killer Frost, Jennifer Hale, and King Shark, John DiMaggio, to breach Arkham and recover a thumbdrive hidden inside the Riddler’s cane that holds highly sensitive information about the squad. Waller also slips nano-bombs into the squad’s necks to ensure their compliance, setting a brutal clock on their mission.
Before the operation dives into chaos, the Squad heads to Gotham City to receive equipment from The Penguin, Nolan North, a move that ties the plan to the city’s darker corners. The Squad’s overnight stop at the Iceberg Lounge adds a charged, personal note to the mission when Harley and Deadshot share a, one-night stand, a moment that complicates loyalties and allegiances. The following day, Harley draws Batman’s attention during his search for a dirty bomb the Joker, Troy Baker, has hidden in Gotham to trigger a larger catastrophe and send the city into further turmoil. As she’s escorted back to her cell, an incarcerated Joker taunts Harley, and she erupts in anger, stealing a guard’s gun and blasting open his cell.
Back at Arkham, the rest of the Squad moves quickly, replaying and looping the previous day’s security footage to distract Batman and Waller. They locate the Riddler’s cane and Harley’s mallet, though the Riddler’s cell appears empty, revealing the ruse. Batman subdues the squad and even slips into Black Spider’s suit to slip among them, creating confusion while the real plan continues. Killer Frost, secretly ordered by Waller to kill the Riddler, makes her move but reveals a crucial truth: she’s a former Squad member who knows how to disarm the nano-bombs. She escorts the others to a safer place so they can work out a deal—her help in disarming the bombs in exchange for a chance to escape. The Joker, ever-one step ahead, notices a structural weakness Harley exploited earlier and short-circuits a cell door, seizing his chance to escape.
The Riddler retaliates with an electroshock device that fries the squad’s bombs, prompting Waller to escalate and detonate, hoping to crush the mutiny. The blast, however, fatally seals the fate of King Shark, whose thick skin proves immune to the electric pulse, and Spider, leaving the rest already reeling from the mounting betrayals. Batman steps into the fray, confronting the Squad directly, while the Joker moves to finish Deadshot for his affair with Harley, a dark erasure of loyalties that Harley must face and, in a tense moment, convince Deadshot to forgive her.
In the torn-up aftermath, Batman deduces that the Joker hid his bomb inside Harley’s mallet, a realization that triggers a vicious breakout as the Joker frees inmates to cover his escape. Frost is killed in the ensuing chaos, Captain Boomerang is left behind, and Deadshot escapes in a helicopter, unaware that the Joker and Harley have stowed away. The pursuit leads to a dramatic crash when the helicopter collides with a building in the streets below. Deadshot pins the Joker to the chopper before pushing it off the roof, while Batman knocks Harley unconscious and disarms her bomb in time.
In the quiet that follows, Batman confronts Waller about allowing the Riddler to escape and urges her to discontinue the Task Force X program. Waller dismisses him, taunting him with the unresolved fate of the Joker’s body in the wreckage. As Batman leaves, Deadshot—now reunited with his daughter—continues to target Waller from a distance, quietly watching and waiting for the next move. The city remains on edge, as the lines between heroism, coercion, and revenge blur in the shadow of Arkham’s walls.
Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 13:07
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Teams trapped in hostile environments with a ticking clock and shifting loyalties.Discover movies like Batman: Assault on Arkham where characters are trapped in a hostile environment with a ticking clock. This collection features high-stakes missions, forced collaborations, and chaotic action set within confined spaces like prisons, fortresses, or isolated facilities. If you liked the tense, urgent feel of Batman: Assault on Arkham, you’ll find similar stories here.
These narratives typically begin with a team or group being inserted into a high-security or hostile location with a critical objective. The plot is driven by the constant pressure of a time limit (a bomb, a lockdown, an approaching threat) and the unraveling of the initial plan due to unforeseen complications and betrayals. The story unfolds in a series of violent confrontations, narrow escapes, and moral compromises as the characters battle both external enemies and internal distrust.
Movies are grouped here based on their shared core premise of a contained, high-stakes mission. They deliver a similar viewing experience defined by relentless pacing, a tense and claustrophobic atmosphere, and the psychological tension of unreliable allies in a life-or-death situation.
Stories of anti-heroes and villains coerced into carrying out shadowy, violent operations.If you enjoyed the Suicide Squad's mission in Batman: Assault on Arkham, explore this list of movies about morally compromised teams on dangerous assignments. These films feature coerced collaborations, shadowy government agendas, and endings where the line between hero and villain is erased. Find similar tales of betrayal and survival driven by cynical worldviews.
The narrative follows a group of outcasts, criminals, or disavowed agents who are blackmailed or forced into a mission they would never choose. The journey is one of reluctant cooperation amidst deep-seated mistrust, where team members are as dangerous to each other as the mission's obstacles. The conclusion is often morally ambiguous or bleak, reinforcing the theme that in such a world, there are no clean wins or true heroes.
These films are connected by their focus on the 'dirty mission' trope executed by an anti-hero team. They share a dark tone, heavy emotional weight stemming from betrayal and moral compromise, and a pacing that balances brutal action with psychological tension among untrustworthy allies.
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