Batman Ninja

CDC Comics' first animated feature in 2018 was a remarkable fusion of Batman and everything Japan! The sheer creativity here is an award-winning stuff, period! From the fluid hand-drawn animation, explosive action sequences and fresh character designs, Batman Ninja is a film that wants you keep coming back to it for more.

Following Gorilla Grodd's time travel machine mishap in Arkham Asylum, every Gotham universe character present during the big battle are transferred back in time to feudal Japan. Our beloved Caped Crusader's regular tools aren't working the way it used to anymore in this new environment, but he has a mammoth task ahead of him to defeat all the villains who have escaped to conquer major provinces in the foreign land, with Joker being the main antagonist once again!

As aforementioned, the robust burst of creativity is the diva element here. Character designer Takashi Okazaki has reincarnated the original personas available in Batman comics archive by giving it a Japanese spin! If you've ever dreamt of seeing how the Japanese counterparts of Catwoman, Red Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, Two-Face, Penguin, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Deathstroke and Joker would look like, here's your one-stop venue! Even Bane has a special cameo as a sumo! As for Batman / Bruce Wayne, we got to witness him in a missionary getup before turning into a Sengeku and Ninja in the climactic warfare!

Furthermore, the animation style, types and ideas are to be lauded here. Bat shaped paddy field, ancient prophecy presentation, still sky patterns, broken mask overlapping face, water sweeping off dawn and calligraphy texts pasted over regions were beautiful! Although Red Hood's interrogation clip of Joker and Harley Quinn was gorgeously stencilled, the transition to it from the film's normal animation template was abrupt and it overstayed its welcome, isolated out like a sore thumb. This could have been done for the effect of uncertainty as per the story's situation during the particular plot point, but it was jarring nevertheless.

Batman's pre-existing technology's already fantastic, and the extra Japanese inventory set plus weaponry arsenal just made the whole show much more badass, 10 times cooler! Batmobile's repeated transformations into Batwing and Batcycle prior to upgrading Batman into the Armored version was dangerously awesome! The same can be said regarding the horse cargo to paraglider change. Other notable additions pertaining to theme were the literal translation of masks for Red Hood and farmer Batman costume, Gorilla Grodd's usage of chess set pieces for mind control and Bat clan.

It's always entertaining to watch the classic banter between Joker and Batman! It's funny, and whenever Batman replies with a solid comeback, be it by words or actions, it's extremely rewarding! Such was the bats illusion scene in the end to play the Batman's demise trick. Joker is the quintessential opponent for Batsy as the former knows exactly how to psychologically toy with the latter's weakness and press hard on the sensitive points - there's a whole lot of this in Batman Ninja!

This is a motion picture packed with highlights after highlights of action episodes! Arkham Castle transfiguration with a giant hand slapping everything in its vicinity and Batman's apparent defeat at the canoe ship ambush were splendidly executed! Castles evolving into colossal robots and combining into one may be a turnoff as it's too far off from Batman's realm. Also, it's unclear how Batgod was formed out of nowhere.

Writing wise, it was good throughout. The makers have tried to redefine Batman and submit novel lore for the evergreen superhero we think we know of everything about. What would Batman do if he had to ditch everything he has learnt so far and rebuild himself from scratch? How would it be if he has his own army and worshippers willing to lend support and life anytime, anywhere? These were the questions and interesting angles explored in Batman Ninja. Moreover, the dialogues were sharp and coordination for all enemy-ally pairing were well thought of! However, Gorilla Grodd's betrayal at the midpoint was a little quick, character introductions via name text was too expository and gimmicky plus the forceful inclusion of all characters into this story notwithstanding Alfred was unnecessarily silly.

On the technical front, Batman Ninja was of premium quality! Be it the sound designs, voice acting performances or score, nothing short of excellence was provided by the team. However, no one could deny that a pinch of Mission: Impossible's theme could be tasted in the background music.