Son of Batman Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Son of Batman Blu-ray Movie Review

'Assault on Arkham' can't get here fast enough...

Reviewed by Kenneth Brown May 6, 2014

No need to beat around the Batcave. Son of Batman doesn't work. Oh, it has its moments. The animated action is particularly fierce and exciting... when, that is, the lightning quick fisticuffs and superheroics aren't actively contributing to the mounting collection of gaping plot holes and all too convenient developments that threaten suspension of disbelief. (Yes, even in an animated comicbook adaptation.) But the film as a whole? One of the most disappointing DCU Animated Original Movies to date. And not for a lack of effort. Visually, Son of Batman makes an impact. As written, though, it's a mess. The script limps along from explosive dust-up to dust-up, suffers with hit or miss dialogue and even more hit or miss voice performances, neglects character development in favor of debilitating story acceleration and grand leaps in logic, bears little resemblance to Grant Morrison's already divisive "Batman and Son" arc (2006) and doesn't really feel like anything other than a string of decent ideas in need of serious polish. At best, it plays like a rickety, 74-minute wooden roller coaster that lost twenty or thirty minutes of solid, much-needed dramatic material on the tracks. At its worst, it leaves one to wonder if the plan to create a semi-cohesive DC animated universe is already showing signs of mismanagement.

Hidden atop a secret mountain lies the stronghold of the League of Shadows and its deadly leader, Ra's al Ghul (Giancarlo Esposito). Together with his equally dangerous daughter Talia (Morena Baccarin), he oversees a trained army of assassins with plans for global domination. But when an uprising from within the league threatens to shift the balance of power, Talia and her young son, Damian (Stuart Allan), flee to Gotham City. With assassins on their trail, Talia seeks the protection of Batman (Jason O'Mara), who soon learns he's the boy's father. With his son in tow, Batman wages war against Deathstroke (Thomas Gibson), all while teaching his headstrong boy that a hero can't fight crime by becoming a criminal. With help from Gotham's finest, including Commissioner Gordon (Bruce Thomas) and Nightwing (Sean Maher), Batman has to walk a fine line between raising his son and training the next Robin.

Where to start, where to start? Writers James Robinson and Joe R. Lansdale have constructed a strangely disjointed script loaded with climactic encounters, most of which are detached from the narrative in one way or another. Batman's reaction to a son he never knew existed is laughably matter-of-fact. (As are most of his irritatingly two-dimensional interactions. Not that anyone should blame O'Mara. He at least nails the vocal performance.) Damian's evolutionary progression amounts to Point A (I wanna be like pap) and Point B (nah, I wanna be like dad), with no interesting transition from one to the next. Damian and Nightwing's sibling rivalry is horribly shortchanged, to the extent that Batman's penchant for grade-school sidekicks is more of an in-joke than anything else. (Upon seeing a disturbingly young boy don a Robin costume and join Batman on a roof, Commissioner Gordon quips "another one?" and doesn't give it a second thought.) Killer Croc is used as filler. Ra's al Ghul is wasted. Talia is flat and too simplistic. Deathstroke is a joke. (It doesn't help that Gibson is woefully miscast in the role.) The League of Assassins goes down awfully easy. The Man-Bat ninjas are unintentionally funny rather than frightening, and the subplot with Dr. Kirk Langstrom (Xander Berkeley) and his kidnapped family is tiresome and forced. On and on and on. Decisions are often made for little to no reason. Motivations flip on a dime. Events unfold as the director, writers and animators crash against their limitations (the runtime most of all), not as the plot or characters organically demand.

Then there's Damian as an antihero: a small, slender boy meant to be a surprisingly fearsome, highly trained warrior due to his speed, agility and prowess. When the writers and animators stick to those rules, Bruce Jr. delivers. When they don't, brace yourself for impact. Early in the movie, Damian suddenly develops what can only be described as super-human strength, knocking fully grown men across rooms and out of windows with nothing more than a kick. (The baddies don't stumble or trip in these instances. Damian doesn't take advantage by continually knocking them off balance. He just takes a swing and watches as 300-pounds of muscle launches backwards.) It isn't cool, thematically arresting or really all that thrilling. Just a bit silly, and that's a shame. Damian looks the part, the action grants him plenty of opportunities to stand out in a unique way, and Allan doesn't drop the ball, young as he is. The writers and animators could've pulled it off. But somewhere between the script's strained connective tissue and other wildly erratic inconsistencies, Damian doesn't quite make sense in the story as conceived or presented, and it spills over and affects the entire movie. Limited time with Batman only exacerbates each issue, leaving no room for complexity, meaty conflict or anything that might showcase familiar heroes and villains in a new, fascinating light.

If it sounds like I'm being harsh on Son of Batman it's because it's a tough concept to run with and an even tougher adaptation to crack. Of all the Batman stories available, why this one? Why now? Of all the Robins to feature in the "New 52" animated universe, why Damian? I'm sure Warner's finest could come up with good answers to such questions, but I'm not entirely sure the team on tap would be able to offer any satisfying explanations. When making a standalone film, have at. Experiment. Play. Give me something I haven't seen before. But such liberties are more costly when crafting a smaller piece in a greater DCU whole. Son of Batman requires more justification for being and purpose in being than it provides. It's an animated dose of Big Dumb Fun, if you're inclined to be more forgiving. But the DCU animated movie series deserves better. Batman deserves better. Hell, Damian deserves better, and there's an entire cross-section of comicbook fandom that loathes the kid. I have no doubt a number of you will shrug your shoulders, shake your heads and spout "it's not that bad!" And more power to you. Embrace it and enjoy it if it's your cup o' Gotham. All I can respond with is, "Yeah, yeah it kinda is that bad."

Looking for a top-shelf animated Batman movie with plenty of Robin/Nightwing drama? Batman: Under the Red Hood blows Son of Batman out of the water in every regard.

Son of Batman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Banding, banding, banding, banding. Son of Batman is plagued by more color banding, stair-stepping and even macroblocking than most DCU animated releases. Banding in the skies, in the shadows, on faces, masks and capes, in the darkness, circling light sources, in the Batcave, on the streets, in Arkham, dancing around Lazarus pits... anywhere and everywhere, without mercy. Macroblocking intermingles with the banding on occasion as well, while other anomalies -- softness, aliasing, pixilation, several poorly composited animation elements and more -- lurk around every corner. (Peruse the enlarged 1080p screenshots that accompany this review to find far more examples than I care to link to. I wasn't even trying to showcase the aforementioned problems when capturing them and note how often I inadvertently stumbled across a frequent offender.) Bottom line: videophiles will be distracted from start to finish.

However, it's important to note that almost every one of these issues, every eyesore and bit of unsightliness, traces back to the film's animation source. Very little is attributable to Warner's 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation. The number of animation shortcuts -- and even the overall clarity and consistency of the visuals -- also suggest a tight production schedule, and perhaps even a few narrowly averted deadline disasters. The trick then comes in assigning a score, which in this case feels quite arbitrary. From a subjective perspective, a 3.5 is generous. From an objective, technical perspective, a 3.5 is arguably a bit low, as it places more weight on the animation than the encode. But a 3.5 also splits the subjective/objective difference, so I'm sticking to it.

Positives? Colors are sometimes rich and vibrant, black levels are satisfying enough, and contrast, though rather muted, is at least consistent. Detail is quite good too, insofar as the animation allows. Ultimately, it seems all too clear Son of Batman had either a lower budget or a much tighter production schedule than other recent DCU animated original movies. The amount of low lighting used only makes each issue that much more of a common foe. Adjust your expectations accordingly. This one bests its DVD counterpart, but (subjectively) it can still be a pretty rough high definition presentation.

Son of Batman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Son of Batman's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is more impressive, although the movie's sound design is fairly flat and straight forward. Action beats deliver thanks to aggressive LFE output and assertive rear speaker activity, and voices are clean, clear and nicely prioritized. The soundfield isn't all that immersive, particularly when ninjas aren't attacking and supervillains aren't unleashing their fury, but the lossless experience is comparable to the audio mixes on other DCU animated releases. All told, it may not be a jaw dropper, or even all that remarkable, but it certainly gets the job done.

Son of Batman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Fang and the Demon Head: The League of Assassins (HD, 10 minutes): Ra's al Ghul, Talia, the Lazarus Pit, the Demon, the League of Assassins, enhanced ninja, Damian Wayne and family conflict are the topics of conversation between "Batman and Son" writer Grant Morrison, comic book historian Alan Kistler, Son of Batman producer James Tucker and DC Entertainment Animation Creative Director Mike Carlin.
• Strange Blood Ties: Damian Wayne (HD, 15 minutes): The next comic-to-screen featurette narrows the lens and focuses solely on Damian, his motivations and drive, nature vs. nurture, sibling rivalries between Damian and Dick Grayson, and the complications and challenges Damian presents to Batman and Gotham.
• Designing the Characters with Phil Bourassa (HD, 10 minutes): Son of Batman Lead Character Designer Phil Bourassa outlines the process of digging through source materials and developing a unified look and aesthetic for the heroes and villains of the film.
• Batman: Assault on Arkham Sneak Peek (HD, 7 minutes): While an Assault on Arkham trailer plays prior to reaching the disc's main menu, this lengthier sneak peek offers a more in-depth glimpse behind the scenes of the next DCU animated movie.
• From the DC Comics Vault (HD, 88 minutes): Four episodes from past animated series: "Out of the Past" from Batman Beyond, "The Knights of Tomorrow!" and "Sidekicks Assemble!" from Batman: The Brave and the Bold, and "Showdown" from Batman: The Animated Series. Unfortunately, even though the first season of The Brave and the Bold is available on Blu-ray, all four episodes are presented in SD.

Son of Batman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Son of Batman is ambitious but doesn't have the runtime, the refinement or the vision to create the next great DCU animated original movie. It comes up short in every single area that matters (minus the animation, which remains reasonably striking) and the story fails to justify its elevation over stronger, smarter DC Comics stories. If every other DCU release is going to feature Batman or Superman, each one needs to be showcase material. Otherwise, why strand so many other heroes by the wayside? Heroes who have to have more potential and a better script to their names than this. Unfortunately, Warner's Blu-ray release is pretty hit or miss, with a problematic video presentation and a somewhat slim supplemental package. Unless you're a completest, skip Son of Batman... at least until you've seen all the standout DCU animated movies available on the market.