Son of Batman Review

The new Dynamic Duo

Son of Batman is the latest in DC Comics animation following on from the last two releases about the Justice League (War and Flashpoint Paradox). It is released as a part of the celebrations for 75 Years of Batman, and is the first release preceding Assault on Arkham later this year. It is a mixed release with some good animation but an ultimately hollow experience for fans of the original story by Grant Morrison and of Batman and Damian. Some story spoilers to follow.

The story based off the beginning of Grant Morrison's most recent run overseeing Batman comics. An overview is that Batman has unknowningly fathered a son, Damian, with Talia Al Gul. After an attack on the League of Assassins by Deathstroke in which Ra's Al Gul is killed, Talia decides that it is safer for Damian to stay with his father until Deathstroke can be stopped. From here the story focuses on how Damian struggles to adapt from the disparity between what was expected in upbringing to what Batman expects of him. Some of these scenes are well done, of particular note is the banter between Damian and Nightwing/Alfred. 

Too sarcastic to care. Alfred has the best scenes.

As is usually the case with DC Comics releases, the animation is visually great and the fight scenes are well done. In particular the fights involving Deathstroke and the ninja Man-Bats are well choreographed and smoothly animated. The design of the characters is the same as in Justice League: War and new 52. Although there are a few odd design choices. 1) Ubu looks less assassin and more generic mobster (complete with suit) 2) Nightwings design is the same as in Young Justice, not the New 52 design. These are minor issues however. Yet again DC sets the standard visually when it comes to animated film releases.

The voice acting is hit and miss. Jason O'Mara reprises Batman from Justice League: War and gives a stronger performance, particularly during the scenes where Batman is more calm. Sean Maher, Giancarlo Eposito and David McCallum give excellent accounts of Nightwing, Ra's Al Gul and Alfred. The best scenes in the film revolve around the presence of one of these actors. Stuart Allan as Damian Wayne gives a decent account, however I almost expected Damian to sound more aristocratic. Unfortunately Thomas Gibson does not give a particularly good version of Deathstroke. Likewise for Morena Baccarin's Talia. Given the previous strong voice casting in DC movies it is unfortunate that this movie doesn't hit all the right castings.

Damian and Tim are not the best buddies.

However something is a miss with this release. There are some changes to Grant Morrison's original story. For example Damian fights with Nightwing rather than Tim Drake, it makes for an odd choice as Nightwing gave up becoming Robin, whilst Tim was the current Robin. In the original set up it makes more sense for Damian to fight the robin who he sees has taken his birth right as robin. In any case Damian's fight with Nightwing is not included in the film when this fight would have been cool to see.

Unlike some other fans, I do not mind if there are some changes to the story to make it more watchable, but this is essentially a completely different story. The purpose of the ninja Man-bats are never fully explained and they are just an exposition for a couple of cool fight scenes. At times the plot is heavy-handed and feels forced, little is done to make Damian appear more likeable or how he benefits from his being around Batman.

Certain characterisations are also poorly done. For example, the League of Assassins, a world wide terrorist organisation, defending themselves with only swords and trebuchets rather than any form of fire-arm is ridiculous. Another example is a 10-year old Damian being able to parry a fully grown mans attacks as if they are nothing but an inconvenience. Suspension of disbelief has to take place in a story based off a comic book and it may have different rules but those rules have to be applied consistently to that universe.

Trebuchets: Destroying helicopters circa 2014

More jarring is that the depictation of some of the characters are so far removed from their comic counterparts. Deathstroke is not cunning, charming or displays any tactical nous but instead is beaten by a 10-year Damian (twice). In the first instance, Deathstroke runs away with the entire League of Assassins base after getting eye-gouged by Damian. Talia is nothing more than a damsel in distress and bears no resemblance to the ruthless leader of a multi-national ninja organisation. Damian is portrayed as bratty, although this is partially intentional, he shows little growth or the naivety during fighting that is present in the original stories with Damian and that help him grow. The complex relationship between Damian, Talia and Batman is completely lost bar one short scene. Part of the appeal of Damian is the difference in parenting he receives. Talia does not show Damian love and raises him to physically. Batman however does the opposite, he gives Damian that emotional development (Spoilers from Batman & Robin 18). It makes the movie lack a little bit of heart which was made abundantly clear during Grant Morrison's version. Bottom line these are not the characters and character dynamics that we know from the comics and in some cases are so far removed from what makes these characters awesome.
 

Justice League: The Bruce Timm era

It is also unfortunate that there is no setup to possible future Batman films based on Grant Morrisons run. This could have lead to a sequal or series of films culiminating in something similar to the finale of Batman Inc.This could have lead to shared consequential filming similar to what Bruce Timm achieved with Batman/Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League. I think that viewers enjoy seeing multiple arcs and develop over sequential films. This sort of planning just isn't evidenced here or in Justice League: War. Although this may change with the upcoming Aquaman centric Justice League animation based off Throne of Atlantis.

This being said, the movie would be enjoyable for those who have a general interest in Batman and may be surprised to know that he biological son. It puts Batman into a new situation that he is not necessarily comfortable with. Again visually the fight scenes are well done. It is does however change characters to the point of them being unrecognisable to their comic counterparts and this does to some extent make it difficult to watch. The story doesn't quite hit the points that it wants to and because of this is a good premise but one that is ultimately executed inconsistently.