Today’s quick review: Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts. In a futuristic Gotham, Batman (Roger Craig Smith) teams up with Nightwing (Will Friedle), Red Robin (Yuri Lowenthal), Green Arrow (Chris Diamantopoulos), and the Flash (Charlie Schlatter) to investigate a series of high-profile robberies. After clashing with a group of animal-themed villains, the heroes uncover a plot by the Penguin (Dana Snyder) that puts the entire city in danger.
Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts is a family animated superhero movie set in a futuristic take on the DC Universe. Fitting the movie’s ties to a Batman toy line, Animal Instincts shows off new costumes, new gadgets, and a new trio of robotic animals controlled by the Penguin. The light sense of adventure, the expansive cast, and the grab bag of sci-fi elements all serve Animal Instincts well, but it remains a shallow watch.
Animal Instincts’ best feature is that it is proactive. Instead of playing coy with its world or its characters, the movie dives straight into the action, assembling a cast of roughly ten heroes and villains. The science fiction setting works well, putting a technological spin on the classic superheroes. And while the character designs are not fantastic, they are fresh enough to set the movie apart from other takes on Batman.
Animal Instincts has the expected limitations of a kids’ movie. The story is simple, a series of robberies culminating in a master plan by Penguin. There is next to no character drama or growth. The writing only stretches itself as far as quips by Flash and Red Robin; everything else is focused on the various elements of the Penguin’s plan.
Batman Unlimited: Animal Instincts will not have much to offer older viewers, but it does manage to tell the story it sets out to. The combination of a new setting and an eager approach to using characters like Green Arrow and the Flash gives the movie a fresh quality that other incarnations of Batman tend to lack. However, the shallow approach to storytelling and world-building severely limits what the movie can do.
For another family-friendly superhero adventure from DC, try Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash. For a Marvel counterpart, try Iron Man & Captain America: Heroes United or Iron Man & Hulk: Heroes United. For a television series featuring Batman in a similar future, try Batman Beyond.
[5.8 out of 10 on IMDB.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4437640/) I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for plain but enjoyable family-friendly action.