A complaint I've had about the previous animated Batman movies is how little Dick Grayson/Nightwing has on the plot and that he's really just there to act as a contrast to Damian/Robin. Well apparently the producers were listening, as while we get multiple heroes, "Bad Blood" is really Dick's movie.
While "Bad Blood" is mostly an original story, it is partially based on many elements of Grant Morrison's recent run of Batman books. Specifically this includes "Batman R.I.P." (attacks on Bruce's mind), "Batman Reborn" (Dick becoming Batman and working with Damian as Robin), and "Batman Incorporated" (the expansion of the Batfamily and Talia's plans to take over the world). In addition, Talia also has ninja henchwomen dressed as nuns using guns and swords (or in Dick's words, "nunjas"). Much like the Ape-Bat from the "Son of Batman" movie, nunjas are really something you'd expect from a Morrison work.
As I've said, this is really Dick's movie. When Bruce goes missing, Dick's forced to take on the mantle to preserve Batman's presence in Gotham. In addition, when Damian, staying at the monastery from the end of "Batman vs. Robin", learns of his father's disappearance, he returns to Gotham and we have our new Dynamic Duo. The "Batman & Robin" comic featuring Dick and Damian was my favorite DC book before they rebooted and had him become Nightwing again. The light-hearted Batman and gritty Robin was entertaining and so different from past Batman and Robin dynamics. Hell, I think the concept would even work as a live action series. It's just as entertaining in the movie as well.
Character wise, we get a little look into Dick's thoughts about Bruce and wanting to get out of his shadow. I kind of think Dick is remembering things things a bit more harshly than they were, but some resolution does come in the end. I guess it works though because for a time in the comics, this was how Bruce and Dick were. Dick didn't want anything to do with Bruce or Batman and Bruce wanted to respect that, which lead to Jean Paul Valley/Azrael becoming Batman after Bane broke Bruce's back. However, I've always found the whole thing ridiculous. Yes, Dick moved on from Robin to become Nightwing, but no matter where he goes, he'll always be part of the Batfamily, and he is Bruce's heir apparent to the Batman identitiy.
As always, Damian, being the ninja trained 10 year that he is, entertains. But one moment of note in the film is when he attempts to save the life the villain Tusk. In past films, he's always had an internal conflict on whether or not to kill an enemy as Robin. This time, he has no hesitation. His journey and character development as a member of the Batfamily is complete.
In addition, we have two new additions to the Batfamily: Batwoman and Batwing.
A re-imagining of the 1950's character, Kate Kane debuted in 2006. I'm going to be honest and say I don't follow the character that much in the comics but at least know some of her story. That said, Batwoman does make a good addition to the movies.
We are also introduced to Luke Fox, son of Lucius. After his father is injured during a battle, Luke "commandeers" a new flight enabled Bat-armor, calling himself Batwing, to help Dick and the others fight Talia and her group of villains. I'm gonna put it out there too: his suit is basically an Iron Man armor with wings, ears, and a visible mouth. Hell, when Luke puts on the suit in a very Iron Man like way, there some guitar rifts happening in the process. Kind of expected them to go full-on Black Sabbath. While I joke, the inclusion of Batwing actually brings in some entertaining airfights, which is something we haven't seen in an animated Batman movie before, with Killer Moth and Firefly.
In some way, I believe the two new characters bring more of a human side to the Batfamily. Both characters have had military experience and have at least one parental figure in their lives. When we look at Bruce and Dick, they've had years to deal with the trauma from the loss of their parents as well as training. And Damian's been trained by the League of Assassins since he was born. Kate has some tragedy in her background, but it doesn't seem to consume her like the others. Luke is probably the most well-rounded character of the bunch.
If there's anything that really hurts this movie, it's the use of the villains. I've talked before about how these animated movies deliver some unimpressive villains, with the exception of Talon in "Batman vs. Robin". That's not the issue here. My problem is how so cavalier the film is to kill off pretty much everyone in Talia's group. Now most of them are indirectly killed instead of being straight-up murdered, but the issue remains. I mean, I wouldn't had mind if it had been just C/D listers like Killer Moth and Electrocutioner, but they actually kill off some well-known villains like Firefly and Mad Hatter. On that note, I really like this version of the Mad Hatter. He's written as crazy like by Jeph Loeb or in the Arkham games, but more of a tech genius like in The Animated Series. It's such waste to lose him. But even the villain with the most potential in the movie, the Heretic, is killed about half-way through. Hell, when Penguin showed up as a cameo at the end of the movie, I thought "Well, wonder how he's gonna die."
Compared to the past films, "Bad Blood" is better than "Son of Batman" but not as good as "Batman vs. Robin". Still, I look forward to what comes next, and thankfully we won't have to wait long. In April, we will see the release of "Justice League vs. Teen Titans", which will include returns of both Nightwing and Robin, making it a sort of crossover with the Justice League while introducing the Titans. There was even some build up in "Bad Blood" with Dick talking to Kori, aka Starfire (actually making a voice cameo in the film as compared to "Batman vs. Robin") and references to "the Tower", as in Titans Tower. And considering that we've had the abomination of Teen Titans Go! on TV for 3 years, it'll be nice to see glory return to the Teen Titans.
RATING 7.5/10
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