Teen Titans: The Judas Contract is both a sequel to last year's Justice League vs. Teen Titans and an adaptation of the popular comic book storyline of the same name. The latter fact is a much bigger selling point, as Justice League vs. Teen Titans wasn't exactly one of the more memorable additions to DC's lineup of direct-to-DVD animated movies. And sadly, despite the strong source material, The Judas Contract is only marginally more entertaining than its predecessor.

The Judas Contract features the same core lineup of Titans from the previous movie - Robin (Stuart Allan), Raven (Taissa Farmiga), Beast Boy (Brandon Soo Hoo), Blue Beetle (Jake T. Austin), Starfire (Kari Wahlgreen) and Nightwing (Sean Maher) - with new addition Terra (Christina Ricci) rounding out the cast. This time, the team is confronted with the dual threat of Deathstroke (the late Miguel Ferrer in his final performance) and Brother Blood (Gregg Henry), the latter of whom is obsessed with draining the powers of the Titans and turning himself into a god. Along the way, the film also focuses a great deal on the Titans' various personal struggles, from Nightwing's efforts to move forward in his relationship with Starfire to Blue Beetle's isolation from his family to Terra's struggle to confront the demons of her past.

Compared to rigidly faithful adaptations like The Dark Knight Returns, The Judas Contract is a pretty loose take on the source material. That's probably for the best, honestly. That storyline came in the middle of a lengthy run by creators Marv Wolfman and George Perez and built on a great deal of continuity that simply isn't in place in this particular animated universe. The problem with this adaptation, though, is that it still attempts to cover too much ground. The 80-minute run-time simply isn't enough to do justice to the various plot threads or flesh out the main characters to the degree they deserve. Brother Blood comes across as your textbook supervillain in search of absolute power. Much of the drama involving Blue Beetle's homesickness and the Nightwing/Starfire romance feels tacked-on and poorly developed. Very little is done with the always enjoyable Dick Grayson/Damian Wayne dynamic.

Of the Titans, only Terra undergoes a satisfying, complete character arc. The big twist involving her character is well-known to comic readers, though because it's not featured in the trailer, I'll avoid discussing it here. Suffice it to say, she's a very dark, tortured character even by the standards of teammates like Robin and Starfire, and the film does a fine job of showcasing her inner struggles without getting too mired in pointless backstory. It helps that Christina Ricci captures Terra's surly, defiant voice so well. Like its predecessor, The Judas Contract suffers from a great deal of stiff, lifeless vocal work, which really robs the film of its energy. Ricci is a welcome exception in that regard.

Deathstroke is a more complicated case. Ferrer's vocal performance is terrific. He brings the right blend of tough guy machismo and and swagger, and with Ricci is the main standout in the otherwise bland sea of performances. But Deathstroke's characterization in these animated movies has been spotty dating back to his role in 2014's Son of Batman. The decision to portray Slade as a jilted ex-member of the League of Assassins works against his fundamental appeal as a self-made mercenary with a fearsome, carefully honed reputation. Too often Slade comes across as petulant in these movies, and that's unfortunately the case here, too.

Slade suffers more than any character from the the compressed approach to the source material. The Judas Contract was notable for establishing Slade's origin story and family history and deepening his rivalry with the Titans. None of that is present here, nor does Slade's son Jericho play a role. It's all the more frustrating because it's easy to see how that material could have been worked into the plot if the writers allowed themselves more room.

Annoyingly, with all the material that was cut from the original Judas Contract storyline, the movie chooses to retain the most questionable story element. As in the comic, the movie features a subplot involving a romantic affair between Slade and a teenage character. Not only is this relationship incredibly creepy, it's completely unnecessary to the plot. I suppose The Judas Contract still has a leg-up on Batman: The Killing Joke, which added a creepy romantic subplot that wasn't even in the original source material, but why the writers felt that this element needed to be retained is a mystery. It's a little bizarre how the romance in this movie falls into one of two extremes. You have Deathstroke's weird affair on one hand, and on the other there's the awkward, oddly chaste romance between Nightwing and Starfire. For whatever reason, romance and sexuality are elements these animated movies just don't handle well.

The Judas Contract has its entertaining moments. The fight scenes are generally well executed, particularly where Raven and Terra's powers are concerned. And despite the mostly bland vocal work, some of the strong team dynamic from the Wolfman/Perez New Teen Titans days survives intact. In the end, it's not the Judas Contract comic that casts a shadow over this movie so much as DC's animated TV series. Even at its best, The Judas Contract doesn't really hold a candle to the 2003 Teen Titans series or Young Justice. It's telling that both projects had stronger voice casts and far more room to work with in terms of developing these characters and their relationships. The Titans may just be inherently better suited for TV than film.

Verdict

DC's animated adaptation of The Judas Contract has been a long time coming, but maybe it should have been left in limbo. The film loses too much of what makes the source material memorable, while the limited run-time prevents the writers from fully taking advantage of the team dynamic or properly fleshing out the villains. The solid actions sequences and Terra's character arc help, but it's clear that DC has a much better handle on the Teen TItans on TV than they do in film.