So, we finally got around to watching Batman Ninja and uh… it is the quintessential exercise in suspension of disbelief. Compared to the endless library of Batman stories through the decades of his existence, this is one of the weirdest, with the least amount of plausibility. That said, it was freaking awesome!
***MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD***
The viewers are dropped into an action sequence with no context and in less than a minute, we are transported to feudal Japan via… something Gorilla Grodd made. I think it was called a Quake Machine or something. Luckily for Batman, Catwoman is there too, along with Alfred and all the former/present Robins. Unluckily, there is a re-writing of history by the ink of the pen of the Joker already being written. Along with a collection of other top-tier Batman villainy, an all-out war comes to an apex in a steampunk-ed, Voltron-esque battle that sees a Joker-driven giant castle robot go fist-to-fist with an enlarged Batman figure coalesced from bats and monkeys (seriously). It sounds even stranger when I type it out.
They even found a way to squeeze Bane in as E. Honda from Street Fighter.
The action sequences are unmatched by anything we have seen in recent Batman animated films. The art is actually pretty amazing and also better than previous Batman animated films. There is even a sequence in the second act, in which Joker and Harley Quinn are thought to be reformed, that the art shifts so dramatically, you could swear you were watching a different movie entirely. It is an excellent juxtaposition that mirrors the contradictory behavior of the aforementioned characters. In the climactic finale, there is a long sword fight between Batman and the Joker that reminds you that the movie is called Batman NINJA. Some may think of the dialogue between the two characters as cliché, but I think of it as a classic depiction, echoing the battle between two dynamics that (thanks to this story) now spans centuries time. One does not simply deny Joker his Batman-induced insanity.
Moving on to my favorite on-again/off-again Dark Knight companion, we see Catwoman act very catty. In classic Selina Kyle fashion, she straddles the line of honorable and not-so-much. Her sultry voice (on loan by the ever-popular Grey Griffin in the English version) carries the warm affection she always has for Bruce and also the deception needed to get what she wants, when she wants it, no matter the cost. I really like the way she is visually depicted in this film. Her levels of sexy and bad-ass are in tandem and proportionate. There is also a nice mid-credit scene featuring our favorite feline fatale back in modern Gotham pawning off an ancient Japanese vase. Classic Selina.
I give major kudos to the creativity of whomever (writer, production team, artists, etc.) that envisioned the mass of technology used in this film. From the awesome Batmobile-turned-Batwing-turned-Batcycle to the many steam-driven buildings-turned-robots, to the horse-drawn Batcarriage, it was all very awesome.
I would definitely not let the IMDb score of 5.8 or the Audience Score of 43% on Rotten Tomatoes keep you from watching this conceptually creative characterization of our beloved Caped Crusader. Turn the logic in your brain to the “off” setting and just enjoy this tour-de-Batforce.
Sources:
Batman Ninja, produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, distributed by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.
Dark Like The Knight 