As long as DC continues cranking out animated movies, Batman will continue to be a major player in their lineup each and every year.
In fact, since they first started producing these, not a year has gone by that Batman either didn’t headline or co-star in one of the DCU Animated Originals.
Although fans had criticized the fact that the rollout has been very Bat heavy (and they’re not wrong), as long as they maintain a high quality, you won’t hear this fan complaining. I always look forward to the next animated Batman movie.
Having said that, last year’s double dose of animated Bat movies left me underwhelmed and wanting more. Thankfully, Batman vs. Robin has made up for it and delivered another solid entry in their animated library.
Batman vs. Robin is the follow up to last year’s Son of Batman and it improves on it. While that story introduced Damian into these animated movies, this one kicks off with Damian established as Robin and can really delve into his relationship with Bruce and catch us even further up to speed with current comics continuity.
The main players from the previous installment return with Batman, Robin, Nightwing, and Alfred’s respective actor each reprising their roles. I wasn’t crazy about Robin previously but he’s grown on me this time around, which is in line with how I felt about the character’s introduction in the comics. Alfred is always cast perfectly and I think Sean Maher is my all time favorite Nightwing (apologies to Loren Lester, you never forget your first).
Jason O’Mara is not bad as Batman, but he’s no Kevin Conroy. Of course no one is or ever will compare, but Conroy does get to voice Thomas Wayne, which is a nice tribute. However, I’d much rather he was Batman every time.
This movie has the advantage of borrowing story elements from much stronger material than Son of Batman.
The Court of Owls storyline has been a high point for the New 52 and it was pretty cool to see how they adapted that into the movie. While it would be nice to see the entire Owl saga up on the screen, obviously that’s not possible with the budgets of these movies but given what parameters they have to work with, they still managed to capture the tone and really made me want to go back and read the comics.
One of the best additions to the plot was the story of Talon. Not only is he an interesting character with more than one side to his personality, I thought Jeremy Sisto was the standout performance. The last time I was aware of him voicing a DC character was as Batman in Justice League: The New Frontier. He wasn’t bad in that role, but again, he wasn’t Conroy and so I wasn’t crazy about it either. However here, with no one to compare him to, I thought his deep register and pathos were perfect for Talon.
Special shout out to director Jay Oliva and storyboard artists (who also did a bang up job on The Dark Knight Returns) for the fantastic action sequences, which were always a pleasure to watch. There was a nice balance between action and story and when the fight scenes kicked in, it was always a blast.
Comics veteran J.M. DeMatteis handled scripting duties and it’s no surprise that he pulled off the daunting task of introducing the Court of Owls story to a new audience as he is also responsible for penning my favorite Brave and the Bold episode of all time. I hope they continue giving this guy more work writing in animation.
THE BAD
Despite being a fan of the script, I was a little nervous going in as Batman had a couple cheesy lines that felt very un-Batman to me, but luckily this only lasted the intro and from there I was completely on board.
I thought Bruce’s love interest was a little flat. I knew from the moment they introduced her where her story was headed so it was mostly predictable (despite one small twist I didn’t see coming), but even that wasn’t enough to really make her memorable in the way Talon was.
THE BAT
It was very cool to see elements of Snyder and Capullo’s run incorporated into animation and I’m sure they’d be pleased with the results. For myself who’s read the source material, it was fun to pick out specific scenes they borrowed and reworked into the movie.
I also enjoyed the scene that paid tribute to Morrison and Kubert’s Batman #666. Anyone whose read it will know what I’m talking about.
One cool Easter egg that I caught was when faced with a keypad, Damian enters the code 1939, the year Batman was first introduced.
Dollmaker also makes an appearance here and it’s pretty creepy. Another popular villain during this period of New 52 comics so it makes sense to include him. As much as I love Joker and other A-list villains, it’s cool to see them dig a little deeper when selecting villains to showcase.
THE CONCLUSION
Just when I was starting to lose enthusiasm for the animated Bat movies, this one came along at just the right time.
This doesn’t take away from Batman vs. Robin, because it is an enjoyable movie in its own right, but for myself personally, I’ve finally let go of the impossible expectation that at the rapid pace they keep spitting these out year after year, we’re not going to see one that lives up to, or even surpasses The Mask of the Phantasm. That’s just not going to happen.
The Dark Knight Returns is the only one that came even close. It’s not a fair comparison because I hold that movie in such high regard and it’s the benchmark, which I held all following animated Bat movies to, but it was a different time and these movies aren’t trying to be the definitive Bat movie of a generation. They aim to tell cool stories and entertain you in the process and that’s exactly what this movie did so on that front it succeeded.
So as long as I go in with my expectations in check and just take each movie as it is, I can enjoy them without that baggage.
I’ve said this before, but I do hope that at some point we’ll see some ORIGINAL movies and not stories recycled from the current crop of comics. After all, the line is called DC Universe Animated Original Movies.
Hopefully instead of just pulling from their greatest hits, we’ll eventually see some content that’s wholly original, written for the screen.
And here’s hoping for a Batman Beyond revival at some point in the future. Until then, Batman vs. Robin is worth a watch and I look forward to watching it again.
