Batman Ninja Review

I found this pretty awful, probably because reviews and recommendations gave me high expectations. It's not a bad film but it's entirely throwaway with no heart; it's a Michael Bay action movie rather than a Nolan one.

It started so strong (aside from the planet of the apes reject) but then it just got silly with an over saturation of villains and bat boys which ruined the whole thing because none of them could possibly get the screen time to flesh them out at all. I could say a lot more but I don't want to start throwing spoilers in for people who haven't seen it.

If this had been a series they could have done it more justice with the path they chose but as a film they should have kept this as a simple story with batman going grass roots, old school (a bit like early in Batman Begins) instead of trying to shoehorn in as many nods to both Batman & Japanese culture.

The graphics were good (mostly) though and the switches between visual styles were really good, definitely a big high point.


It's far from the worst Batman though:

 
I found this pretty awful, probably because reviews and recommendations gave me high expectations. It's not a bad film but it's entirely throwaway with no heart; it's a Michael Bay action movie rather than a Nolan one.

It started so strong (aside from the planet of the apes reject) but then it just got silly with an over saturation of villains and bat boys which ruined the whole thing because none of them could possibly get the screen time to flesh them out at all. I could say a lot more but I don't want to start throwing spoilers in for people who haven't seen it.

If this had been a series they could have done it more justice with the path they chose but as a film they should have kept this as a simple story with batman going grass roots, old school (a bit like early in Batman Begins) instead of trying to shoehorn in as many nods to both Batman & Japanese culture.

The graphics were good (mostly) though and the switches between visual styles were really good, definitely a big high point.


It's far from the worst Batman though:


I guess it depends what you want out of a film. I'm totally content with a film being over the top silly nonsense as long as it's entertaining, which this film certainly is, at least to me. Not everything has to have depth to be good.
 
Not everything has to have depth to be good.

I agree. I am a big fan of some real throwaway/cheesy popcorn flicks and as a heavy collector of martial arts cinema I'm used to terrible plots etc; I just didn't find it at all engaging or approachable and even as an action film it disappointed.

It jumped about far too much, throwing ideas and set pieces here and there but rarely ever fleshing them out or offering much screen time, like those old anime films they'd take and badly cut down into a film for those with short attention spans.
The set pieces themselves would have been good but they felt like they were victims of fast cuts and too much shifting about, much like a bad fight scene (really not necessary in an anime) and because there were so many none really had a decent amount of screen time.

A good example is the end where everyone pairs up to duke it out, with so many going on you don't get to fully enjoy the fights as it flits back and forth, not offering much of an epic fight.

The modern stuff really bugged me too, shoehorning in the bat mobile briefly and the worst bit... The mech castles. They didn't feel consistent with the tone and felt like they were there to throw something relatable to westerners that's instantly seen as Japanese (as if being set in feudal Japan & featuring ninjas & Samurai wasn't enough) especially when they linked up and then the terrible pied piper of the monkeys which was only eclipsed by the ridiculous Batman amalgamation
 
I agree. I am a big fan of some real throwaway/cheesy popcorn flicks and as a heavy collector of martial arts cinema I'm used to terrible plots etc; I just didn't find it at all engaging or approachable and even as an action film it disappointed.

It jumped about far too much, throwing ideas and set pieces here and there but rarely ever fleshing them out or offering much screen time, like those old anime films they'd take and badly cut down into a film for those with short attention spans.
The set pieces themselves would have been good but they felt like they were victims of fast cuts and too much shifting about, much like a bad fight scene (really not necessary in an anime) and because there were so many none really had a decent amount of screen time.

A good example is the end where everyone pairs up to duke it out, with so many going on you don't get to fully enjoy the fights as it flits back and forth, not offering much of an epic fight.

The modern stuff really bugged me too, shoehorning in the bat mobile briefly and the worst bit... The mech castles. They didn't feel consistent with the tone and felt like they were there to throw something relatable to westerners that's instantly seen as Japanese (as if being set in feudal Japan & featuring ninjas & Samurai wasn't enough) especially when they linked up and then the terrible pied piper of the monkeys which was only eclipsed by the ridiculous Batman amalgamation

See, I really loved all that late movie stuff because I found how absurd it all was to be hilarious. The film doesn't really take itself seriously so I felt it could get away with all the total ridiculousness of the monkeys and the like. I was just in for the ride at that point. I do agree with the one on one fights though, I'd have liked to have seen them expanded upon.
 
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