DC Universe Animated Original Movie:
Son of Batman
The latest DC Universe Animated Original Movie is all about Damian Wayne as he is the Son of Batman! We all know how much I LOATHE Damian as a character, so lets see if this film changed my mind at all. This will be somewhat of a SPOILER FREE Review.
So Son of Batman is the latest in the DC Universe Animated Original Movies. Let me state this upfront I’ve NEVER read the comic. Iwas first introduced to the SOB Damian Wayne in the DEATH OF THE FAMILY storyline in the NEW 52. I have several reasons why I hate Damian as a character. The Number One reason is that they created a character sired by Talia and Bruce. Decidedly Talia is evil for the most part, just like her father Ras’ Al Ghul. And then there’s the other side of the coin her beloved Bruce Wayne-Batman. So they saddled Bruce with a son…. ugh! This whole Talia Bruce thing creates so many damn problems for Damian. The major reason WHY I hate Damian as a character, and will never root for him… is that he’s more like his mother and grandfather than Batman.
So I have seen this latest film, and my opinions of Damian in general aside, this film is very good. It tells a compelling narrative. It shows you that Damian has a choice to make… go with what he knows… the stuff his mother and grandfather have tought him. To be utterly ruthless and take what is yours. OR learn from Batman, that there are always other ways of doing things. That violence is not the answer. Specifically that killing is not the answer. The interesting thing about this story is that they combine two of Batman’s rogues gallery in a way I never thought they would. Maybe I am generalizing here, but at the time of this review I had no idea Slade was once a part of The League of Assassins.
The animation in the film is very solid and I like the style. Although I’m still not thrilled with Batman having a chin strap. That is a minor nitpick though. LOVe the way the Batmobile looks in this, and the designs on Nightwing and once Damian becomes Robin are cool too. not that I have a problem with the blood in these films, but I’ll say that it looked fake in this one. I dunno what it was about it. It just didn’t look real. It looked like ketchup. That might be the biggest nitpick I’ve ever written down.
The voice cast is excellent in this film. Jason O’Mara really is stepping into his own Batman voice very well.After hearing O’Mara in this and Justice league War he is my number three overall best Batman voice in animation. Number two is Bruce Greenwood and number one of course is Kevin Conroy. The rest of the cast includes such veterans as David McCallum as Alfred, and holy crap Greg from Dharma and Greg Thomas Gibson as Slade Wilson. that was a voice and an actor I never saw coming for Deathstroke. That was a badass performance by Thomas Gibson. You also have Morena Baccarin as Talia and Fred Tatasciore as Killer Croc. Bruce Thomas plays Commissioner Gordon and Sean Maher plays Nightwing. I almost wish they would have asked Loren Lester to do the nightwing here. It would have worked very well… With the lines that nightwing had in this film. I have zero complaints about the voice cast.
The music by Frederik Wiedmann is excellent. It really brings you into the events of the film. I’ll talk about that a little more in depth with my review of the soundtrack. Honestly even though I like this film, I think that the music is what I like best about it. As stated the voice acting and animation are great, and the story draws you in. However for me I am sick of them focussing on Damian. He’s not a character I will ever care about.
Final Thoughts:
Overall Son of Batman is a decent entry into the DC Universe Animated Original Movies lineup It wasn’t something that made my heart leap into my throat, or something that I was super excited about. At the same time it wasn’t godawful… like Gotham Knight or a few of the other DCUAOM entries. I can safely say that if you’ve read the comic it’s based on and are interested in checking this out it is well worth it. I’m only giving it three and a half stars, because I just can’t get over the fact of how much of a little shithead Damian is. That’s just my personal bias though.
Final Rating:
