Ninja Batman Review By Jgames

Ninja Batman is a direct to DVD movie from DC animation directed by Junpei Mizusaki and is indeed an anime movie about Batman. While I am annoyed at the fact that almost every DC animated movie has to be about Batman or involve him in some way, I do like that they are at least trying new things. Is like taking a risk, but also being safe at the same time. So I was interested when I heard about the upcoming anime movie of Batman, until I saw that it was CGI, and thought this is probably going to be terrible. Let's see if I'm right.

The story is about Batman being transported back to time to feudal Japan along with the Bat family, and his rogue of villains. The villains are currently fighting each other over control of Japan with the Joker having the time machine. Now is up to Batman to get back the time machine from the Joker and Harley and prevent the past from being changed.

The story overall is simple, fun and over the top stupid. There not really much to the story as far as character development, or depth. It just Batman in feudal Japan trying to go back to the present and having to defeat the Joker and the rest with betrayals and tricks. Which I mean I guess is cool to see the different designs, like sumo Bane or lord Joker, and some cool ninja moves. That being said it just looks like the story took place in Japan so it can be an over the top anime as it can be with ninja and another genre I did not expect to see. Which I guess is fine, I love fun action superhero movie, but a bit over the halfway point the story gets a bit too over the top. Than it gets even more over the top, and than when you think it could not get any crazier, it proves me wrong. I have no problem with over the top anime like Gurren Laggan or Keijo, or anime movies like Redline, but they usually ease you with the insanity or craziness or at least, in the beginning, show the audience that it will be over the top. While I guess the beginning did have its weird moment, it was mostly somewhat as grounded as you expect when you have a telepathic gorilla who invented the time machine with the action being a bit over the top. But the pure over the top nature it gets in the second half was just too much and might put off lots of people by how stupid it gets. At best it can still be fun, but undeniable stupid and not really clever. Maybe if the show was taking itself less seriously or clearly meant to be hilarious it could have work, but it looks like is trying to be taken seriously. So at worst this is a stupid Batman movie, and at worst this is a fun stupid Batman movie. While I guess I did had some fun, I did wish it would have tone down some of the insanity. Also there a part where Batman decide he has to be one with the Ninja and use the tool he has in Japan to beat the villain instead of relying on his technology which he depleted. It reminded me of one of the Batman story in the comic book where he gets too reliant on technology when fighting and than get bankrupt and have to go back to his basic as he try to remember how it was fighting without all his gadget. I wish the movie did something like that instead of Batman being like welp I exhausted all the resources I had left, so I guess I need to use ninja tools which are not that hard to use since I am already basically a ninja. Just overall an underwhelming story that I guess kept me entertained, but was undeniably stupid.

The characters were underwhelming aside for the Joker. The story mostly revolves around Batman, Catwoman, Grodd, and the Joker. With the other Gotham villain and bat family having few screen time and really none of them stand out aside from the dub voice actors. With the Penguin being played by the voice actor for the Ice King in Adventure time which just feels right and got a giggle from me. Also, Red Hood voice actor played Suzaku from Code Geass and Sasuke from Naruto which just felt right. But aside from that, they were forgettable and barely had any screen time. Also, Damian Wayne does not act like a prick and has a pet monkey, which I guess that is nice. Batman is portrayed as he almost always has (let not talk about Batman v Superman), as a badass that does not want to kill anybody and always try his best to save everybody. Catwoman is just there to kick Harley ass and to betray Batman only to go back to him. Grodd was the calm intelligent villain who thinks he is always two step ahead. I mean I guess Batman, Grodd, and Catwoman are fine with how they are portrayed with the voice actor doing a decent job, but they were not the stand out of the movie. The stand out was the Joker and to some extent Harley. The Joker was just a fun chaotic villain he always was, but the animation did help to make him creepier and insane, with one great scene of him and Harley with the animation looking somewhat like Tale of Kaguya that was just done wonderfully. The Joker and Harley made this movie a fun time as they were just fun and creepy villains with some decent jokes and lines. Every time they were on screen, I was just having a nice time and honestly was more interested in them than the rest of the characters. Also there this ninja group who worship Batman, I guess they are in the movie. I said that, but I cannot remember them at all. So in summary Joker was great, and the rest were at best okay and at worst forgettable.

The animation is where this movie both succeed and fails. First let me tackle the elephant in the room, the CGI. Normally CGI anime tend to be horrible, and while there is some exception like Land of the Lustrous, most of them just look like garbage. The CGI was a mixed bag, as the movie mixes both 2d and 3d animation. Is not like Land of the Lustrous where they use 2d animation as a shortcut and blend it in perfectly with the CGI animation. In here the 2d animation does stand out quite a bit. With lots of the background and random civilians being 2D and looking fairly well. As for the characters, the only one who looks fantastic with the CGI animation was Harley and the Joker. The Joker and Harley animation never bother me and they did look great. Their expression was on point with some great looking scene with them. Also Joker bleeding is just haunting to look at, in a good way. But as for the rest, either they were alright like Alfred, or they were terrible like with Catwoman and Bruce Wayne under his Batman mask. Batman under his mask has a fat chin that makes it look like he has food in his mouth and was just haunting to look at in a bad way. Catwoman had a scene where she was in 2D, and she actually does look pretty cute, but in CGI animation, oh wow does she looks unattractive and have something uncanny about her. Every time Catwoman was on screen, she just felt out of place, and at first, I thought maybe it was the design, but again in 2D she looks great, but I guess she did not transition well to 2d. Plus even character that looks decent like Grodd, just have something off like the fact all the hair around his body is standing up almost like he put gel and are permanently stuck. That being said the action was actually well done with them taking advantage of the camera angle that can be done with CGI, and being both fast pace and fun. That being said I did not get as much hand to hand action as I would have liked, as the movie does add a genre I was not expecting, which was disappointing. I did want more hand to hand action that was actually well executed and sort of remind me of the Naruto game cutscenes, just with better lip flap and pace. The design, for the most part, were great, especially for the villains. It's fun to see all the character in their feudal Japan designs, but Nightwing looks awful in my opinion with his Super Saiyan hair. One of the biggest stand out from the movie is how it manages to cooperate many different styles of animation, not just having CGI animation, but entire scene with 2D animation, with some of them being stylized way to introduce the villain in a video game format like street fighter, or using traditional Japanese art style, with most of them looking gorgeous and colorful. The movie really wanted to show many of the different styles Japan has to offer which is nice to see but only make me hate the fact that the entire movie is not in 2D. While the actions are great, most of the characters just do not look great in 3D, and whenever I see them in 2D, I see what it could have been and the 2D version clearly look better. That being said it was still a visual rollercoaster through Japan different style, and while it has its up and down, it was overall a ride worth paying for (if you rent it).

Overall the movie is stupid, but fun and stylize. I think the main reason people will love this movie is how stylized the animation can be with lot of different Japanese art style. While I wish there was more hand to hand action, and wish they did not went too over the top, I had a fun enough time. If you just looking to turn off your brain and see a visually all over the place anime movie of Batman in feudal Japan, I guess this movie will entertain you, as I had a fun enough time and this movie gets a C.