When this was announced as one of DC's future animated films, I was kind of surprised, given that after the "Flashpoint" movie, films after that would be based on the New 52, and the "Batman and Son" story arc which was the basis of the film was pre-Flashpoint. Then it was stated that while future films would be connected and based on the New 52, they would still adapt stories from past continuity and work it to fit their new universe. Since the New 52 comics do make references to stories pre-Flashpoint, it made sense that those stories had to happen very differently than how they actually happened. The same argument could be made for the films as well. When the trailer for "Son of Batman" was released, even though they were going to be making many changes from the comics story, it got me very excited, especially to see Damian. While this isn't the first time Damian has been adapted for animation (the first being an episode of "Batman: The Brave and the Bold as being the son of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle and having a normal childhood), this would be the first time he would be depicted the way he was in the comics, with his mother being Talia al Ghul and being trained by the League of Assassins. As it turns out though, Damian is the one thing that saves this film.
It goes without saying that Damian isn't your normal kid. Even besides the fact that he's Batman's son, being the grandson of Ra's al Ghul and trained with the League of Assassins, it means he's matured very fast, even more than Bruce after his parents were killed. Damian knows how to fight, hack into databases by NORAD and the Batcomputer, and apparently even how to drive. I remember when Damian first appeared in the comics in 2006 and a lot of fans found him annoying, but it wasn't until he officially became Robin under Dick Grayson's Batman that he started to win people over. When I watched the film and see how smug and badass Damian was for a kid, I couldn't help but enjoy it because I knew how his character would develop. I think that some people who watch this film but don't know who Damian is beforehand may find him ridiculous. Then again, the film really condenses Damian's six year character development from bastard to sidekick to son in less than eighty minutes, so it may make it hard to appreciate him.
Speaking of ridiculousness though, there's one scene I really want to talk about. While searching the lab of Dr. Langstrom, who most fans know as Man-Bat, Batman fights an Ape-Bat experiment, basically an ape with bat wings. At first, I thought "this is really happening?", but then I remembered that this was based on a story by Grant Morrison. If I know Morrison, he would have included something like that if he had the chance. It just seems something up his alley.
Along with Damian though, the one thing that helps this film is the action. It's pretty top-notch and the violence is on par with what was depicted in "The Flashpoint Paradox." The best example I can think of is during the final battle between Damian and Deathstroke, where Deathstroke stabs through both of Damian's arms and pins him to the wall. Damian though, the badass he is, slides his arm straight through the knife, still sticking to the wall, to escape. Even after that, Damian still continues the fight without missing a beat, as if nothing happened. Plus, there's one part where Batman rips off Killer Croc's tail. Given the tail was falling off anyway, but talk about an enhanced interrogation.
That's about where the positive things end. Let me start on the negatives, things that may not bug some, but do me.
In this film, Slade Wilson, better known as Deathstroke, was portrayed as Ra's al Ghul's former right-hand man and was in line to be his successor before Batman came along. Feeling betrayed, Deathstroke gathers his own army and plans to take over the League of Assassins by force. Based on my knowledge of Slade, this makes him look like a very petty man. In all past depictions I've seen of Slade, he either does things for money, being a mercenary, or if he has a personal vendetta. Even though he does have a grudge against the al Ghuls, I doubt Slade would have ever given a shit about the fate of the planet, and wouldn't have even joined the League of Assassins to begin with. If you think about it, Slade would like a world where people still felt the need to hire a mercenary, and that means money for him. It really makes me feel that Slade in this movie is like a child throwing a tantrum because you took his toy or video game away.
Next, apparently in this new DC animated universe, Dick has been the only Robin before becoming Nightwing, meaning Jason and Tim never took the role before Damian. I really just think that's disrespectful to the history of the Robins, but based on past animated depictions, I shouldn't be surprised. Aside from appearances and references on "Young Justice", Tim and Jason have each only been depicted one other time in other media. For Tim, it was "The New Batman Adventures", and for Jason was the "Batman: Under the Red Hood" animated film. I'm just saying, Dick may be the best known Robin, but Jason and Tim are great characters that deserve the spotlight as well. Besides that, the relationship between Dick and Damian in this film is more reminiscent of Tim and Damian from Grant Morrison's actually story, in the way it feels like a sibling rivalry. I always enjoyed how Dick was more like a mentor to Damian in the comics, but you don't get that here. One last note here: apparently even though this is based on the New 52, in this animated universe, Dick still didn't wear pants as Robin and wore the classic Robin suit. While a nice reference, it just doesn't fit in this kind of universe in my opinion, especially since Dick's Robin suit in the New 52 comics was more similar to Chris O'Donnel's Robin suit in "Batman Forever."
Then there's Talia, particularly her character design. Look, I know sex sells, but they really overdid her cleavage in this film. I probably wouldn't have minded it, but you think that with her son around, she'd zip up that jumpsuit at least a little bit. Hell, she even tried to seduce Batman in a dress that showed off her legs and had a "viewing window", and Damian was watching and waiting behind a curtain the whole time before she introduced him. I know Damian's really mature for his age, but a kid should not be looking at his mom in such a sexual way.
Lastly, there's the underwater base cliché. You know what happens? It gets destroyed. Imagine that.
For the most part, the voice cast for this film was pretty good. The breakout star was newcomer Stuart Allan as Damian. Being an actual child, Allan seemed a natural fit for Damian and was able to interact well with Dick, and especially Alfred, who he'd refer to as "Pennyworth" and treated like a servant. Even with Jason O'Mara, who I'm still getting used to as the voice of Batman, had some good moment with Allan's Damian; he actually showed some emotion as a father angry with his son. The one person I thought just didn't fit was Thomas Gibson as Deathstroke. I tried to like him, but compared to Ron Perlman on "Teen Titans" or JG Hertzler in "Injustice", he just didn't sound badass like Slade should. But Gibson just didn't pull it off. I guess I shouldn't have expected much from Greg from "Dharma and Greg."
Unlike "Justice League: War", there was no teaser for a future film. All we get is flashes of the fight between Nightwing and Damian, which wasn't actually shown in the film. It makes me wonder why they wouldn't have just showed the fight. Did they blow through the rest of the animation budget? Besides that though, Ra's al Ghul supposedly died in the film, but like Batman, I was very skeptic, given the nature of his continuous resurrections. A hint that he survived would have been nice. A hint to anything would have been nice. I mean, if I had my pick, the next Batman animated movie would be based on either "Court of the Owls" or "Death of the Family."
While not as good as "Justice League: War", the true animated debut of Damian Wayne really shines in an otherwise forgettable film along the lines of past DC animated films like "Superman/Batman: Apocalypse" and "Superman Unbound."
RATING: 6.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment