FilmSnobReviews

Title: Batman Ninja
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: PG-13
Starring: Roger Craig Smith, Tony Hale, Grey Griffin
Runtime: 1 hr 25 mins

What It Is: When Batman (Roger Craig Smith) is transported to feudal Japan he doesn’t go alone. He is joined by The Joker (Hale), Harley Quinn (Tara Strong) as well as a bevy of Gotham’s other most wanted. The Joker is planning something, probably terrible, and it is up to The Caped Crusader to plot a way to not just survive this, but get himself back to modern times. With the help of his faithful butler Alfred (Adam Croasdell) and the far less faithful Catwoman (Griffin)

What We Think: Looking strictly from an animation standpoint this film stands out among the pantheon of DC’s animated films. Structurally the story is a tad disjointed and the fact that this is dubbed from Japanese is obvious. Tony Hale’s performance as the Clown Prince was a bit too much for me. His high-pitched shriek came off a bit too overblown to work here. The feudal setting looks absolutely beautiful even if the stories mixed tone makes it hard to follow and even harder to care. Certainly worth time for fans of the Dark Knight.

Our Grade: C+, Where fans of Batman will love this those that are casual fans of comic book movies will find little here to make them change their minds. Do I recommend this film on solely its merits? Meh not really. It’s simply a beautifully drawn film that simply does just an okay job with the storytelling. There’s other, better stories told in the DC Animated Universe. Perhaps checking out one of those several would prove more beneficial. Roger Craig Smith is a fantastic voice actor but he’s just not Batman to me. That can sometimes throw me off with these animated features. Especially a man that grew up on Batman: The Animated Series.