Ninja Batman

Let’s be honest, if this didn’t have Batman and other DC characters in it, very few people would hesitate to call it a dumpster fire. The story is confusing nonsense, the action scenes are messy, the low framerate is headache-inducing, and the pacing is just a pathetic failure.

On paper, Ninja Batman's plot sounds like a fun time, but this film just skipped the whole storytelling process. To summarize the plot better than the film does: Gorilla Grodd created a time machine and now a dozen iconic DC heroes and villains are transported to feudal Japan. If Batman doesn’t stop the Joker, he will rewrite history and they’ll all be trapped forever. Most of the screentime is on Batman and a few friends like Catwoman, Robin, and Alfred, all with spiced up character designs to resemble the time period.

With a plot as convoluted as this one, the audience needs to be able to understand what's happening at all times. Typically your average superhero flick would do what's necessary to hold your attention by slowing down the pacing during exposition scenes to clarify the story, of course with some cringy comic relief to ensure no one gets bored. It's not the most impressive form of storytelling, but it's at least functional. Ninja Batman opted to give us all the 'classic' cringy comic relief and very little of the typical formulaic storytelling. Instead, we're dropped into action scenes with the occasional catchphrase at the start and during fight scenes so we can gauge how important

At the beginning of the film, Batman is seen running around the side of a building, then suddenly we're in Japan and he's wearing a Samurai costume. Very little makes sense and the movie expects you to forgive it by tossing in a bunch of familiar characters. A desperate attempt to make you feel nostalgia, that is frankly so transparent it resembles a toy commercial. It's the definition of 'turn off your brain entertainment' but how can I if criticize and appreciate what the film does well if I'm not thinking about it??

This one wouldn’t be a problem if the action looked good, but it’s at best decent and at worst an eyesore. Right away you’ll notice it’s all in CGI, not even faces are drawn. Due to the overabundance of effects, individually animated objects, and a constant explosion of color it is very hard to keep track of what’s even occurring. While I can’t deny it looks good when it focuses on one set piece at a time, it is rarely content with simplicity. It wants very badly for you to be entertained, going so far as to vomit all over your screen to ensure you keep watching. The CGI used here isn’t bad on a whole, but the character models are noticeably on a lower frame rate from the rest of the film, which gives them a headache-inducing inconsistency. Showcasing the franchise's iconic heroes in their feudal costumes and wacky anime hairstyles is what this film cares about the most, but no amount topknots and katanas can distract us from the hideous janky character animation.

What’s worse is the voice acting rarely is synced with the 3D character models. This wouldn't have been such a distracting issue if the characters mouths had been drawn on, sadly chose the easier option. The English voice acting is mediocre at best, I would place it slightly below the modern DC cartoons. Batman sounds fine but nowhere near Kevin Conroy, only able to decently replicate his voice at a certain range and rarely given the opportunity to showcase talent. It’s clear the voice of the Joker was trying his best, and it comes through in his overdone performance, but he still has nothing on Mark Hamill. So if you’re dead set on watching Ninja Batman there’s that to consider, the voices of the many characters aren’t performed by the best actors.

At any chance the film gets it does try and cash in on nostalgia, always throwing random characters at you like Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Bane, Deathstroke, Gorilla Grodd, Poison Ivy, and of course the Joker. It doesn’t care if it makes sense that they’re all teleported to Japan, this movie wasn’t intended to be thought about but to be watched and forgotten.

The dialogue depends way too much on the characters' previous versions, rather than developing the characters it gives us recognizable catchphrases. Which means if you’re not a fan of the series you will be completely lost. No development beyond surface level characterization makes it very hard for us to care about any of them, which is largely the reason why the stakes are not tangible. It should have been exciting to watch but instead, it was just alienating and boring. At least the visuals were somewhat decent.

There were a few interesting ideas thrown into the mix to keep you from falling asleep. Halfway through, the film switches into a style similar to Masaaki Yuasa’s work where the visuals look hand-drawn rather than CGI, and it genuinely grabbed my attention. It wasn’t very visually appealing in its own right, but I appreciated the director trying to give us a reprieve from the CGI action.

There are a few references to past entries in the franchise, not that they made any sense being put where they were. Usually, it was a single catchphrase you've heard millions of times before just to distract you from the clusterfuck of a movie. The most notable reference was the ridiculous use of the giant mecha Voltron fighting against an equally sized mech in the shape of 1970s Batman. Nothing made sense, and it didn't matter really, at 60 minutes in I had given up expecting a well-made film.

Plenty of old jokes are dug up to be milked a bit more before they send them back to whichever better DC film they came from. The action is still a little bit exciting in all its visual disjointedness, but it’s leagues below any previous Batman movies it steals its jokes from. Even the latest DC dumpster fires looked better than this. There’s still fun to be had with it, just like you could have fun watching the equally terrible Suicide Squad, if you can forgive the horrible writing and messy directing.

Unless if you’re a big fan of the DC universe, avoid it.

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Fantastic movie! This is my 1st review btw, SPOILER WARNING ALSO!

There were references and easter eggs from JoJos Bizarre Adventure, Gurren Laggan, Code Geass, Naruto, Black Lagoon, Cowboy Bebop, and even the 1988 Batman movie from what I gathered!

Story

Very well done, although I wanted more then just 1 movie, here's hoping for a sequel!

Art

Animation was great, it reminded me of what Borderlands 3 may look like whenever it gets revealed.

Sound

Effects were on fleek

Characters

There's quite a bit to say about the characters, There's most of all your favorite heroes and villains all in 1 85 minute movie with some unique changes. Bane was hilarious in the brief scene he was in and 2 face was a total badass! And the Joker was a great villain as usual along with Grodd who was surprisingly played in big role in this movie. Never thought Catwoman would make such a great Waifu. The fights at the end could have gone on longer, but they had to fit it all into 85 minutes.

Enjoyment

I came into this movie not expecting much and ended up getting a fantastic action packed joy ride with a great story and character development!

Overall

9/10

If you like action movies and or anime at all I highly recomment checking this one out and or buying the physical copy, TOTALLY WORTH IT!

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Story: 1
Nothing atypical from the realms of DC when they are not actively implementing a propagandistic agenda (Endless resurrections, extraterrestrial invasions, the very conception of duela dent. Nothing too outlandish). In other words, a sentient gorilla sends all profitable DC characters back in time to Feudal Japan. Colonization ensues. All villainous characters transported back in time are now actively ruling sectioned states as feudal lords. Batman, meanwhile, has conveniently obtained back his batmobile, batfamily, and an entire "batclan" during this Feudal Farce. Nightwing dons Final Fantasy Cloud's hair for complimentary purposes while Red Hood's costume equivalent is a red basket which could cause the wearer to become prone to imbalance, blindness, and uneven tan lines (strangely, this is the most efficient means when trying to conceal your identity 7/10). Over the course of this Feudal Fiasco, the villains thoroughly industrialize Japan with Batman successfully reverting this damage using jutsus. Yes, Batman used ninjutsu naruto style to create a batsengan and restore order. Diplomacy at its finest. The End.

Art: 5
Anyone here really a fan of the amalgamation between CG + japanese animation? I thought so.

Sound: 5
They used their main score for the trailer. Kind of telling.

Character: 1
The character's hairstyles were the most compelling part of their personality.

Enjoyment: 10
Sometimes terrible art is so ridiculous it transcends all normative standards and thus inclines the individual suffering under such circumstances to ponder upon the metaphysical and begin to enjoy the absurd in proper Kierkegaardian virtue.

Overall: 1
It is not one of the better animated projects from DC (Batman: the Animated Series) and not as ironically entertaining as some other bizarre DC works (Batman: All Star).

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Two months ago, Pop Team Team epic did their Batman vs. Joker crossover. One month ago, Dethklok animated music video series was continued with 'Batmetal Forever'. And today, Batman Ninja was released. Christopher Nolan was first bitch slapped in the face, then kicked in the nuts and now not even a 5-dimensional bookshelf can save him from the power of the new Batman Trilogy, and neither can it save you.

Story:

Batman is a manly man. This makes many people angry, so they decide to travel to Japan and kick his ass. Unfortunately for them, Batman is also a pretty bro person, so he calls his buddies Lobin, Alveleddo and Naito Wingu (Robin, Alfred and Nightwing if you weebs don't speak Japanese) and ask "yo, wanna kick some ass" and they be like "cool" and then they do. That's pretty much the entirety of the storyboard. It's simply an amazing action packet. I can unironically say I love the idea above everything else Batman related.

Characters:

I am really into that bro and manly stuff, but I occasionally also like that manly and bro stuff. This is a bit of both. Batman is pretty cool guy eh isn't afraid of any villain, and has abandont some of this moral faggotry which he is most famous for. Definitely a good call. This version of Joker is not exactly as talented in crossdressing as Jared Leto nor can clap his hands like Heath Ledger, but he damn cool alright, and shares the same smile with Heath for sure. Pretty much everyone is awe-inspiringly manly or sexy beyond belief. Especially Alfred who falls under both. Also, whenever he is on the screen I am afraid I will get murdered by him.

Directing:

"This is my Work, you and me, we're nothing alike."
-Mizusaki Junpei to Christopher Nolan

When I am watching Baatoman Ninju I really feel like I am in a city which ownership is clear to all of its citizens. I am at the 16th story window looking how bunch of assholes beat each others with shurikens, swordos and all sort of ninjitsu arts. Pretty neat. The audiovisual execution is superb. Pretty much anyone can see that only right decisions were made during the making of Batman Ninja. The target audience was very clear from the start, and not even the PG-13 logo is enough to make this look lame or restrained. By that I mean there was no holding back and the available-for-all-ages has not limited the work.

Art:

Holy production values. I never knew an anime could look like a comicbook. The details are insane, yet never too much. Almost remind me of 'Katanagatari' where simplicity and complexity live in harmony. The characters design can be referred to with just about any praising adjective, and if CGI looked this good every time, I wouldn't have to call it nu-anime anymore.

Sounds:

Lead composer is Yugo Kanno. Expect Hollywood tier action wobs and declamatory drops. The voice acting is what makes this so badass and manly. Everyone is mature and no typical loli tsunderes are there. High pitched vocal range is banned.

Enjoyment:

Ever since I saw the Japanese dubbed version of airplane scene ("It would be extremely painful" - "You're a big guy" - ".... 4 u", I have been wanting to see something exactly as entertaining, and damn if Japan didn't deliver. I can recommend this to anyone who ever hyped it.

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