Teen Titans: The Judas Contract

• USA • 2017 • 84m •

• Directed by: Sam Liu. • Starring: Stuart Allan, Jake T. Austin, Taissa Farmiga, Sean Maher, Christina Ricci, Brandon Soo Hoo, Kari Wahlgren, Miguel Ferrer, Gregg Henry, Maria Canals-Barrera, Meg Foster, Crispin Freeman, David Kaye. • Music by: Frederik Wiedmann.

Led by Starfire, the Teen Titans - Beast Boy, Raven, Blue Beetle, Robin and the just-returned Nightwing - have built a cohesive team in their never-ending battle against evil but their newest teammate, the mysterious, and powerful, Terra, may be altering that dynamic. Meanwhile, an ancient evil - Brother Blood - has awakened, and familiar foe Deathstroke is lurking in the shadows, both waiting to pounce. Ultimately, the Teen Titans will need to battle their enemies and their own internal doubts to come together and overcome the malicious forces around them in this twisting tale of intrigue, adventure and deception.

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1:54

Review:

Image from: Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2017)

Among the collection of young heroes and their mentors, what really shines in Judas Contract is the villainous Deathstroke. More than just physical threat, he's brimming with delightfully despicable glow thanks to the writing and impeccable voice acting. New rendition of Terra also shows wide range of character spectrum, not many animations deliver a thin line between tragic heroine and crude villain this provocatively.

The early tone serves as reintroduction for the Titans, then slowly moves towards Terra and her questionable loyalty. Most of the portion goes to Starfire and Nightwing's romantic subplot. They have good chemistry and occasional kinky humor, mostly on Nightwing's expense. Starfire has attractive attribute which she is fully aware of, yet not overly displayed like in few comic interpretations. There's also a hint of her gullible self, a nice nod to the more juvenile side.

Some of the Titans are given more development, especially Beast Boy and Blue Beetle. These are mainly your typical self-acceptance routine, but still a kind exposure for the characters. Beast Boy's pun can be either amusing or rather cringe-worthy at times, a tad more than intended. Raven doesn't get the same amount of spotlight compared to the prequel, but I'm still amazed on how well the voice of Taissa Farmiga fits the character.

The main spotlight goes to new girl Terra, who is equally sympathetic and detestable. Her story is devastating enough yet her action is just short of being worthy of donning hero's cape. She and Deathstroke feed off each other malice, there's even one scene where it's made clear that she has romantic attraction to the much older mentor, inappropriately so. It's even more eerie considering that Terra look so very uncomfortably young. Miguel Ferrer as Deathstroke is simply amazing. The antagonist spews bile insults to any heroes he met in such authoritative nearly calming voice.

Judas Contract shows a lot of relationships and family oriented ties, yet it's the dysfunctional one that really rises above them. Sinister it may be, not every good will can mend broken bond and sometimes a scornful betrayal is a more humane way to bring the best of superheroes.

Review by quincytheodore from the Internet Movie Database.