Batman Ninja (2018)

Batman Ninja

• I’m sure I would’ve gotten around to watching this at some point in my life, but I got the drive because I wanted to watch the sequel so I could nominate it for a Berry Award (Best Comic Book Movie). That being said, I basically went into it expecting Batman to be a ninja and fight samurai or something. That’s just about the jist of it, to an extent. I don’t think Gorilla Grodd’s time travel device was a great explanation for why Batman was in Japan, because if he was just naturally adapting to Japanese culture, that would’ve made it much more natural and authentic. However, watching Batman in Japan really was cool, and felt a lot like Aztec Batman, in terms of Batman in a different time and setting. The story kind of follows Batman fighting his Rogue’s Gallery, except that they are warlords and have little armies and stuff. All the action scenes and fights were wildly entertaining, though some of the dialogue in between was a bit stiff. The animation also took some getting used to, as it was done in a 2D/3D fashion. Most of the environment was 2D, but the characters had a bit of a 3D pop, if that makes sense. Either way, it was a tiny bit jarring at first, but you quickly become used to it and enjoy it. The voice cast was pretty solid, though nothing unique for an animated DC film. Batman sounds like Batman, and Joker sounds like Joker. However, the character designs were the high point, and injecting each character with Japanese culture was absolutely awesome. Overall, this is a solid film that I definitely want to watch again, and I will definitely enjoy it more the second time. I would recommend it to all DC fans. This film is officially Berry Approved, so go watch it now!