BATMAN vs ROBIN | Review

The Dark Knight and The Boy Wonder, never has there been a Superhero/Sidekick team that has endured the test of time like these two. Batman vs Robin is a sequel to The Son of Batman, starting pretty much where we left off last time, with Damian taking up the mantle of Robin after no longer serving under the league of assassins. The father-son conflict between the two continues, as a sinister organization known as The Court of Owls threatens to turn Robin against Batman to accomplish their objectives, and all this goes down with deadly consequences.

So in The Son of Batman (2014), we find out that Ra’s Al Ghul’s daughter, Talia, had a child with Bruce Wayne. The child was then raised by his grandfather and trained in the dark assassin arts. When the league is attacked and Ra’s killed, Talia goes to Gotham to seek the help of Bruce Wayne, and there he finds out he has a kid. Was an okay movie back then and it all ended with Damian now becoming the new Robin. This time, the two fight crime together but Robin and Batman don’t see eye on the whole, “Not killing” thing, coz remember, Damian was trained as an assassin. A new vigilante clad in an owlish costume only known as “Owl Lieutenant” aka “Talon” appears in Gotham and then takes advantage of this conflict and slowly aims to recruit Robin to their organization, promising him that he won’t hold back on the act of killing criminals. From there it’s all out war between Batman and Robin.

Straight to my general thoughts; I have to say this was a great movie! I didn’t hide the fact that I was worried with future D.C animations after the very mediocre Throne of Atlantis earlier this year, nonetheless I never lost hope with D.C, and that paid off big time. The atmosphere in this movie was menacing and dark, exactly what we’ve come to expect from the Batman franchise. The duo have very different personalities, in that Batman stands for justice and upholds his morals, and on the other hand Damian sees no sense in keeping criminals alive. Batman plays the father role brilliantly in trying to show him the right way of doing things. The exchanges between the two were always a blast and at times emotional. Despite their bitter disagreements, Batman stays very protective of his son to the very end. This is a very different portrayal of Batman, in that; sure we’ve seen him care for others, but never for someone of his own blood. So in this case you’d expect him to tackle situations differently, and the movie delivers on that.

Voice acting in our generation always has to be good, no excuse! And it is here. Jason O’ Mara who isn’t new to voicing Batman did a great job and really brings out that deep husky Batman voice. Thomas Wayne makes a brief appearance in a vision and is voiced by Kevin Conroy, the guy who voiced Batman for years and is well known for Batman: The Animated Series, and now voicing the father of Bruce… How AWESOME was that?! That’s exactly the kinda thing that makes you go geek in the middle of a review. I won’t get into the story too much to avoid running the risk of spoiling it, but from my plot summery you can tell that it’s something intriguing and will definitely entertain you all through. I enjoyed the story a hell lot, but for those who read comic books you’ll notice that the story is very loosely based on “The Court of Owls” comic. In general though the story was just decent, so nothing too extraordinary.

Now to what really matters, the ACTION…in capital letters there, coz it’s a lot! Oh boy there’s a lot of action in this movie! The fight scenes have such fluid and dynamic choreography that will just blow your mind away. My favorite moment involves Nightwing and a couple of sticks, his Escrima Sticks to be precise. So if you watch it solely for the action and completely ignore the story, you’ll still enjoy this to the maximum.

My Decree:
Well there are a few negatives here and there; Firstly the voice acting in general was great, but Damian/Robin’s voice, voiced by Stuart Allan, wasn’t all that great…if anything it sort of irritated me as it reminded me of badly dub anime. Another thing is the story…Sure the whole Batman vs Robin is a great concept, but why then base it on The Court of Owls comic? I believe it should have been completely original instead of basing it on a totally different story, of which that story was already epic. The point I’m trying to make is that Court of Owls would have been absolutely brilliant as a stand alone animated project. Wrapping up, Batman vs Robin is absolutely a great time. The few things that are a let down will only upset the hardcore fans, but everyone else casual to the franchise looking for a bit of action-packed animation will have a solid watch and damn good time.

Grand Epic!