Today’s quick review: Batman Ninja. When Gorilla Grodd’s (Fred Tatasciore) latest invention malfunctions, it sends Batman (Roger Craig Smith) and Gotham’s most notorious criminals back in time to feudal Japan. The Joker (Tony Hale) quickly takes charge of Japan’s largest state, while the other villains fight to stake their own claims. To save Japan and return home, Batman must master the Way of the Ninja and accept the help of some new allies.
Batman Ninja is an animated superhero movie with heavy anime influences. Batman Ninja mashes up the Batman mythos with anime-style art, a Japanese setting, and rules lifted from the ninja and mech genres of anime. The movie is a hodgepodge of genres, characters, and storytelling styles whose main unifying theme is what would make for the most fun. However, uneven execution and flimsy plot logic keep the movie from living up to its full potential.
Batman Ninja’s chief appeal is its willingness to embrace its far-fetched premise. All the familiar Batman characters receive a Japanese-style redesign, and their gimmicks map surprisingly well to samurai, ninjas, and the other mainstays of feudal Japan. The action is loose and imaginative, the presentation has a few nice flourishes, and the film indulges its creative side continuously. It even throws in a few giant robots for good measure.
But Batman Ninja runs into problems where its story is concerned. The plot is all over the map, a mess of fakeouts and betrayals that never settles into a cohesive story arc. Batman himself drops into the background on two or three occasions as the villains take center stage, and his own growth as a character is only discussed, never shown onscreen. The action also suffers from nonsensical, ill-defined rules, even by the lax standards of the genre.
The result is a movie where anything can happen, including things that shouldn’t. Batman Ninja’s attempts to work mechs into a feudal Japanese setting are appreciated but not very graceful. The ninja aspects of the movie are thematically appropriate but never properly worked into the plot. The movie’s technical execution is generally fine, but there are a handful of noticeable missteps, such as stiff, CGI-based animation and weak mech design.
Watch Batman Ninja if you’re interested in an anime-inspired take on Batman. Though the movie suffers from a poorly structured plot and uneven execution quality, Batman Ninja has enough enthusiasm and creativity to make for an entertaining watch. Viewers willing to sacrifice storytelling for spectacle should give it a watch. Those hoping for a more cohesive animated film should try Son of Batman for the superhero genre and Ninja Scroll for mature anime.
5.7 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 to 7.0 for high creative potential let down by weak plot logic and technical flaws.