Review
Son of Batman
Son of Batman is a "Batman Family" movie, meaning we get a look into Batman's extended supporting cast, and the second entry in an ongoing continuity in the DC Universe line of direct to video releases. Batman learns he has son named Damian whose mother is Talia al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's al Ghul, leader of a vast global criminal empire. The surly Damian is remanded to Batman's custody after one of Ra's' former proteges, Deathstroke, mounts a coup and initiates his own plans. And there's ninja Man-Bats, too. Batman's got his hands full.
Son of Batman is loosely adapted from Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert's Batman and Son comic book story arc from a few years back. The movie begins at a sanctuary nestled in the mountains. The League of Assassins is deep in fighting drills. The League's leadership - Ra's al Ghul, his son Domo, his daughter Talia, and his grandson Damian - observe. Suddenly, Domo is killed by an assassins' bullet. The League is under assault by an army of mercenaries under the leadership of Deathstroke, a former member of the League and student of Ra's. Ra's falls prey to Deathstroke's plans and is critically injured by missile fire and falls several floors. Damian comes to his rescue and stabs one of Deathstroke's eyes. As Deathstroke's forces retreat, Damian attempts to heal his grandfather in the Lazarus Pit but Talia stops him. The damage is too extensive for the life-giving pit to heal him. Talia decides it is time for Damian to meet his father. Cut to Gotham City. Batman has tracked down a souped-up Killer Croc amid a mutagen heist. Our hero puts up a good fight, but Batman is bailed out by Talia. He soon learns a tryst a couple years back led to the birth of a son he never knew about and it's his problem now. As Batman and Damian track down Deathstroke, Batman attempts to rein his son in and teach him there is another way other than killing. After saving Dr. Kirk Langstrom's family, Batman and Damian, joined by Kirk and Nightwing, confront Deathstroke as he mines a Lazarus Pit for profit. In the end, Damian remains with Batman as the new Robin while Talia goes off to rebuild the League into something better and stronger.
Although Batman is the title character, the title is 'Son of Batman' and Damian is the true star for - better or worse. For a 10 year-old that has undergone a rigorous training regime, Damian still is overpowered. His prowess in battle against Deathstroke and Ubu verges on ridiculousness. The last straw is watching Damian being stabbed, brutally, in both arms and yet still defeating Deathstroke. To add to be befuddlement, he suddenly has no concept of concealment when he works with Batman as Robin despite being trained by the world's stealthiest assassins. Damian also serves as the latest morality commentary aimed at Batman's long and sordid no kill policy. The last straw was Damian choosing to spare Deathstroke's life yet leaving him to die - the same contradiction we've seen in recent live-action movies...
Speaking of Batman. Jason O'Mara definitely sounds more confident and versed as Batman. In Son of Batman, Batman serves as the level-headed, always balanced, straight man even more so than in War. While it is refreshing, it does make him the odd man out in contrast to the more livid performances by Damian and Nightwing. Another oddity was Batman quickly shrugging off Talia's drug-induced rape. Sure, time heals all wounds and there is the hint love wasn't lost between the two. But the one-dimensional response was just off putting. In a strange way, it gave credence to Amanda Waller and Project Batman Beyond a way more practical solution to creating a son of Batman in the acclaimed Justice League Unlimited animated series. Another on and off debate among fans is Batman's interrogation methods. For most part, he exploits fear to get the answers he wants. The most common method, to the point of cliche, is Batman dropping henchmen off roof tops then catching them just in time. Now whether one thinks that is lazy writing to expedite the investigation or hypocritical on Batman's part, the part in this movie when Batman rips Killer Croc's tail off seemed a tad extreme. Yes, Batman likely deduced Croc's tail would fall off anyway due to the lack of steroids from Langstrom and merely exploited an opportunity on the flip side, Batman also does tend to have an odd sense of compassion of his rouges and one has to ask - should a reported genius detective have to resort to that level of violence? It is implied Batman has had encounters with Kirk Langstrom's alter-ego before and with someone as detail oriented as Batman, wouldn't he already have Langstrom's location in his Bat-Computer? What does is this scene serve to do? Was it even needed other than to introduce Arkham Asylum and wink at Two-Face and Joker?
One of the greater fumbles of this movie is the depiction of the League of Assassins. The greatest criminal empire is easily ambushed by several military helicopters. Their leader and the most dangerous man on the planet, Ra's al Ghul, is killed off before the title sequence. There is nothing to characterize him as a villain in the context of the story unless you have a basic knowledge of him from the comics. Maybe that was my problem, I know who he really is. Nonetheless, the fact only one person wanted to try and resurrect Ra's was appalling. I suppose 'the rule' was if a body is horribly damaged, the Pit can't heal. Gunshots, old age - no problem. Go figure. Then again, this could have been a similar scenario in the aftermath of the "Near Apocalypse of '09" in which that version of Ra's could not be healed either. And also, I get there wasn't time but I noted the cliche of not showing a funeral being held, burying his body, or burning his body. And there was Ra's' plan with Ninja Man-Bats. I mean, really? On paper - sounds awesome. In practice, ridiculous. You could remove the Man-Bats completely and it would have no affect on the film.
Talia, stripped of her villainous side, was hard to gauge. On the surface, she was honor-bond to avenge her father's murder even if that scenario led to her own death. Looking a bit deeper at the context of the story, we have Ra's, Talia, and Damian. Much of the focus on grooming Damian to take over the League of Assassins and notably absent, as was any mention of Talia ascending to lead it in the meantime. And consider the underlying "classic ideology" of the League, evidenced by its hideout nestled in nature (versus some hi-tech underground base or high rise tower), its assassins doing a kata during training sessions, their use of traditional weaponry like swords and bows and arrows contrasted with Deathstroke's team using guns and helicopters, Domo ... it felt like a male dominant hierarchy at play with the League. Couple that with Talia at the end of the movie, vowing to rebuild the League and make it stronger and better. With that in mind, upon second viewing, I'm wondering if Talia was taking advantage of Deathstroke's rebellion all along. She knew drawing Batman into the conflict would be in her favor and allow her to take over the League and avoid any protest from Damian. All she had to do was stay alive and stay near a Lazarus Pit. That's why I do wonder if she appears again, if she'll be in a more villainous role like in the comics this movie drew from.
The actual villains, Ubu and Deathstroke, were a disappointment. Ubu is a radical departure from the comics and all other animated depictions. Instead of the unwavering and loyal servant of Ra's al Ghul, Ubu is a former member of the League, lecherous, and cowardly. Watching him being utterly dismantled by Damian and trying run away was a travesty. Deathstroke was an even bigger chump, forced to engage in one of the most convoluted plots ever attempted. I loved the idea of making him a student of Ra's al Ghul but my adoration ends there. So you slowly take over a few bases around the world, amass an army of mercenaries, assassinate Ra's and his son Domo, wrestle control of enhanced Man-Bat serum, and plot to sell Lazarus Pit extract to rich people... but you neglect to blow away the two direct legitimate heirs, Talia and Damian?! There's no pay off to the insurrection. Deathstroke's demise was equally embarrassing. Instead of getting away at the end or getting arrested, he falls for the oldest trick in the book and is left to float away off screen.
Now, there are some aspects of the movie I did actually like. In a short span of time, Son of Batman rapidly expanded on Gotham City after its minor appearance in Justice League: War. Batman's rogues gallery is started up with Ra's al Ghul and Killer Croc. It is implied he had encountered Man-Bat. Two-Face and Joker have cameos. The classic Batman tropes are established - the Batmobile, Batplane, Batcave, Batsignal. Batman's supporting cast is also brought in with Alfred Pennyworth, Kirk Langstrom, Jim Gordon and Nightwing. The geography of Gotham is briefly explored with stately Wayne Manor, Wayne Enterprises, Arkham Asylum, and Gotham Coliseum. The Batcave's display hints at a long war on crime - three retired Batsuit iterations and Dick's Robin costume.
Nightwing shined in the film. Not only is he the only person that whups Damian, his continued dislike of Damian is just as entertaining and sort of channels the audience's likely mindset toward the kid. But the notion of the two son conflict being between Dick, the first son, and the antithetical Damian instead of Tim Drake and Damian is dubious. Could this be positioned to set up a possible future outing of the two as Batman and Robin? Tim Drake's absence was felt but, granted the continuity used the New 52 as a jumping off point, Drake could easily be introduced later on as Red Robin, one of Batman's allies, rather than trying to shoe horn Drake's traditional origin of being the third Robin.
The nods were few but welcome. For the second time in this continuity, LexCorp is referenced as Bruce Wayne walks with his fellow executives and assistants while at work. It was first referenced in War when Superman's battle with Green Lantern and Batman takes place at a LexCorp Demolition Zone. Mike Carlin of DC Entertainment and DC animation writer/producer Michael Jelenic are referenced briefly by officers. The take on Bat-Ape was also rather amusing and a nice break from the overall plot. The use of a few real world locations was also appreciated. While London was a mainstay from the Batman and Son arc, the final battle taking place near the Outer Hebrides was an interesting move. To boot, the coordinates Deathstroke gave to Damian was rather accurate.
Those hoping for some major reveal of continuity between Justice League: War and Son of Batman will be disappointed. Aside from Jason O'Mara reprising the role of Batman, and Batman's suit looking slightly revamped, the only real hint of continuity is implied. At the end of War, Batman is fine with being regarded as a hero if it gets the Gotham City Police Department off his back. In Son of Batman, Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD openly work with Batman and make no attempt to arrest or put him down. Gordon and Batman stride through Arkham Asylum openly, Batman patches into Ubu's room at a hospital and converses with Gordon in front of other police, and Gordon uses the Batsignal to present new evidence to Batman.
Phil Bourassa and the design crew did their usual best. Backgrounds were gorgeous. Animation was top notch. The casting was a pleasure to hear. Jason O'Mara returned as Batman and sounded more confident in the role and a mini-Firefly reunion of Morena Baccarin and Sean Maher as Talia and Nightwing respectively was a boon. Maher was a questionable choice for Nightwing but I quickly became endeared to it. I hope to see more of Nightwing and Maher in future movies. David McCallum brings an interesting air of sophistication to Alfred that long time viewers are accustomed to. As someone who never read anything involving Damian, I had no qualms with Stuart Allen. The rest of the cast did a great job.
I will admit, though, I wondered at times if Ron Perlman was too busy to reprise Deathstroke or if the crew consciously sought out someone new to voice the character. In terms of directing, Ethan Spaulding comes in seamlessly and hopefully supplied a bit of a break for Jay Oliva, who has been directing almost non-stop since becoming a director on the line with the Batman: The Dark Knight Returns two parter.
The movie's Blu-ray bonus features were sadly mediocre, and focused mainly on the comic book history of the League of Assassins, Ra's al Ghul, Talia and Damian Wayne. Glaringly absent is a commentary track and behind the scenes discussion on the development of the script. It was great to finally learn more about Phil Bourassa's design process and how he establishes looks of characters. The included sneak peak does its job and gets you overly excited for the next movie, in this case is a stand alone story - Batman: Assault on Arkham - set in the world of the Arkham video game series.
Son of Batman has a runaway plot with choppy pacing, but the world building and supporting cast balances out this second jaunt into the animated New 52 continuity. I'd say the Blu-ray is worth the purchase, but barely. Audio, video quality, music, and animation are of the high caliber we are used to at this point. However, the voice cast, screenwriting, convoluted plot, and the bonus features was a mixed bag. The underlying feeling is a lot was done too quickly to build up Batman's corner of the world for another Batman and Damian movie in 2015 that may be better by leaps and bounds. So far, War and Son of Batman have been rather bland stories, all told. I know this statement never ends well, but I hope the third movie is way better.
Rating
Main Feature: 3 out of 5
Special Features: 2.5 out of 5
Average Rating: 2.75 out of 5