Batman Ninja (2018)

 

A truly bizarre but quite entertaining direct to video superhero movie. 

If this film seems very different from your average Batman movie, this should come as no surprise. This movie is mostly not made by the same crew who made these direct to video DC movies. Instead it is made by a crew of anime greats. The film's director is Junpei Mizusaki (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure), the writer is Kazuki Nakashima (Gurren Lagann, the Kamen Rider franchise) and the character designer was Takashi Okazaki (Afro Samurai). As such this movie is more in the style of an action-based anime than the typical DC comics movie. This even goes as far as having giant robot fights. As such this film may not appeal to a lot of average Batman fans but is fun for anime fans and those with a very open mind.

This film begins with Batman fighting Gorilla Grodd in modern day. All the sudden Grodd's time displacement machine transports Batman back to feudal Japan. Soon Batman discovers that not only did he travel back in time, but so did his enemies, such as The Joker, The Penguin, Two-Face, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn and Grodd himself. Many of these enemies have taken over parts of Japan and it is up to Batman (as well as Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing and Red Hood) to set history right. 

This is not a movie to take too seriously, but if you just take it as silly fun it is quite enjoyable. The animation is wonderful and perfectly captures the silly experimental feel of this story. I love how this movie switches between 2d and 3d animation in a perfectly natural way. Both the 3d animation and the 2d animation look wonderful and perfectly work for each scene they are used in. The action scenes are simply a lot of fun. They move at a fast pace and are true visual treats. Batman is also well handled here, and this film does a good job of conveying who he is without all his technology and money. He has neither to rely on here and in the technology department, his villains are far ahead of him. This makes the film a great look at who Batman really is and what makes him really a hero. The Joker and Harley are also excellent here. This movie mostly plays on the lighter and sillier sides of these characters and they are simply a lot of fun and get some great laughs. However there are also a few times where the darker and creepier side of these characters comes out and those scenes are appropriately disturbing. 

Despite this movie having a bit of a simplistic plot, it can also feel rushed and overcrowded. There are simply too many villains and heroes for a film that runs under an hour and a half. Because of this many of them feel squeezed in here and never get a chance to shine. If you were not already a Batman fan, you know nothing more about some of these characters then their names and whether they are a hero or a villain. There are also too many double crosses and characters lying and deceiving that it simply gets tiresome and repetitive. 

This may not be one of the best of these animated DC movies, but with the right mind set, it is quite a bit of fun.