One of the best elements of the new HBOmax platform is the large number of various Batman shows/movies that they keep adding to their library. Apparently, most of this content was on the DC App for a while but lets be honest, only about 5 people actually paid for that, the rest of us just borrowed their passwords. But now that HBOmax has entered the DC Fanzone, I’m finding all sorts of new movies that I had never known existed. Case in point, Batman Ninja.
This was actually a movie I’ve been trying to watch for the past month since first stumbling upon it while watching Batman Beyond. But when you have a baby, a wife, and a job, it’s hard to find a free 90 minutes to watch it. My wife is cool, but she’s not “Let’s watch Batman Ninja” cool, so when she said she had to work late, I know this was my shot.
In case you weren’t aware of this movie’s existence, I’ll give a brief synopsis. Simply put, an evil experiment attempted by Gorilla Grodd transports Gotham Cities Heroes and Villains back to ancient Japan. I won’t include any spoilers other than to say the movie includes Ninjas (obviously), giant robots, and several stretches of what I assume in traditional Japanese anime. It also includes multiple Robins and the best Villains of Gotham City.
Was the movie bad, no, it actually held attention pretty well. But when it was all over, I found myself asking “What the hell did I just watch”. I just had never seen a movie like it before. I literally sat on the couch for 5 minutes after it ended trying to wrap my head around the entire plot.
The movie flows between animation that we usually see here in the US and Japanese animation with random twist and turns along the way. There are even parts that have a “Power Rangers” feel to it. And by Power Rangers feel, I mean huge robots that transform into even larger robots, so basically exactly like the Power Rangers. And yes, watching giant robots battle in a Batman movie was awesome. My favorite part of the Movie was just how well the Joker was portrayed. He’s always crazy, but this time he was crazy as a samurai.
Will I watch it again, probably not. Will I tell people to watch it, absolutely. Again, it’s not a bad film, just wasn’t what I expected, though thinking back on it now, what should I expect from a movie called Batman Ninja?
