Batman vs. Robin (2015) Reviews

• A major "hoot"!

  crimson_knight_72015-04-10

  Batman vs Robin, directed by Jay Oliva and written by J.M. DeMatteis, was an action packed, whirlwind of a ride and a significant improvement to Ethan Spaulding's "Son of Batman". In addition to choosing a life with his father, Bruce Wayne (Batman), Damian (Robin) assists his father's continued fight at night for Gotham's soul as the next Robin. However, Damian finds himself struggling to cope with his father's "no- killing" policy due to the philosophical form of combat training he received under Ra's al Ghul. As a result of this philosophical conflict between Damian, and Bruce Wayne, Damian is forced into a lifestyle of isolation. As Bruce Wayne tightens the noose around Damian's freedom, Damian is sought out by a member of the Court of Owls. While struggling with his own identity, Damian must decide whether he will adhere to his father's morals, or become a member of the Court of Owls. First I would like to say that this DC animated film was spectacular! The animation was fluid, flawless, and the voice acting was superb. Though I wasn't initially a fan of Jason O'Mara, I have definitely come to appreciate him as the new Dark Knight. With the level of graphic realism as well as the psychopathic trills currently shown in the recent DC animated Batman series, I believe Jay Oliva has perfectly presented us with an accurate portrayal of Gotham's twisted atmosphere. However, the title was slightly misleading as Batman and Robin only fought against each other for a short time. If anything, it should have been called "Batman: The Court of Owls". In the end, Batman vs Robin is an excellent addition to the DC animated series as well as is something every Batman fan will appreciate. 7 Stars.

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• You have much to learn

  SlyGuy212016-08-01

  I appreciate the darker tone that this had compared to "Son of Batman", the main problem I had was with the plot. Everything else is great, but the story is something I've seen a lot of. That's a small negative however, the acting is once again fantastic, the animation is great, and Bruce and Damian's relationship is growing. Again, I don't have a problem with how Damian acts, he's a 10 year old that's been trained to be ruthless and without mercy, and this movie's more focused on him still having trouble adapting to Bruce's code. Only one more movie to go, then it's the grand finale of the Bat-a-thon. The "Son of Batman" trilogy is still doing great and I can't wait for the final chapter.

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• The Same Problems Persist

  dramafreak422015-09-03

  I used to really look forward to new DC animated films. At this point I kind of dread them. I'm watching them more out of obligation and a desperate hope that they'll get good again than anything else. This continuity based on the New 52 continues to never rise above the level of being mediocre. There is one thing I'll give this film credit for and that's the villain. It's worth bringing special mention to it because villains have been a major weak point for films in this continuity. Darkseid had no personality and felt more like a boss fight in a video game than a character, Deathstroke was just terrible (really bad voice acting on that one,) and Ocean Master was an idiot. By contrast, Talon is really head and shoulders above any of those other three. He's also superior to the comic book character on which he's based because they changed his back-story into something that isn't just stupid on it's face. Really though most of the credit has to go to Jeremy Sisto, who does fantastic voice work and his casting adds a certain bit of meta-textual weight because he voiced Batman back in New Frontier. Now that I've praised the best part of this film, onto everything else. Damian is somehow even MORE insufferable than he was in "Son of Batman," I swear the voice actor got worse (to the point that I had to check to see if they recast.) He demands respect and trust from Batman while never giving even a tiny bit of it back (the first thing we see him do is steal the Batmobile and flat out lie to Batman over the radio.) I understand that kids can in fact be like that, particularly rebellious ones. But I will take entertaining story that stretches credibility over a slog that justifies characters I hate because they're more "real." Batman doesn't come away from this very well either. Jason O'Mara so far has been the highlight of most of these films, but I realized something in this one: we've pretty much only heard him do Batman at this point. In this film he spends quite a bit of time as Bruce Wayne and... he's just not great as Bruce. Not terrible but there's very little distinction between the two in terms of the vocal performance (certainly in contrast to somebody like Kevin Conroy.) And also, as in Son of Batman, he stretches the "Batman doesn't kill" rule almost to breaking. When facing off against the ninja style assassins he basically begins using deadly force the instant he sees under a mask and they look slightly less than human. He doesn't know if they're lab creations, some kind of undead, or innocent people infected with something but not knowing that doesn't stop him from blowing one up. Look, having Batman stretch his "no kill" rule because they victims aren't truly human isn't automatically a bad thing. However when the "no kill" rule is one of the major rifts between Batman and Robin then it doesn't work to have Batman play fast and loose with it the same time he's chastising Robin for wanting to break it. It makes Batman hypocritical and nit-picky, which makes me not like him either. This really came to bear during an extended fight between the two when I realized that I did not care who won. I suppose the other thing I'll say is that the action is good, but that's just not a saving grace anymore. Action in a vacuum can't save a bad product. Action works best when it's in the context of a strong story, and this just isn't that. Overall this isn't really any better or worse than most of the DCAU that's been based on the New 52, but I'm just tired of it not getting any better at this point.

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• JUSTICE, NOT VENGEANCE

  nogodnomasters2018-04-17

  This film follows "Son of Batman." If you haven't seen that film, you will gather the gist of it in this one. Damian, as Robin opts to venture out on his own to the dismay of Batman. Damian gets mixed up with a powerful group of vigilantes, like Batman known as Owls. The only real difference is that Owls like to kill their prey while Batman does not. Damian must choose between being the assassin he was trained to be or becoming Batman's son. The cartoon was 79 minutes long. There was a lot of fighting as expected. I still miss the "Pows" but concede its time has past. This film included a lot of Batman flashbacks and questions vigilante justice as being no better than the criminals, but not too hard. If you didn't like the first one, don't bother.

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• Batman, Robin and the Court of Owls

  TheLittleSongbird2018-01-09

  Love animation and have really enjoyed to loved many superhero films, animated and live-action. Of the DC animated films, there are some good ones out there as well as some disappointments and ones that fall in between. 'Batman vs. Robin' is neither among the best or worst of the DC animated films. To me it's somewhere around high middle. Despite the somewhat misleading misnomer that is the film's title, the versus being more of the conflict between father and son over what Robin's path should be rather than some kind of action showdown, 'Batman vs. Robin' is vastly improved over 'Son of Batman' (good idea, weakly executed). It is not perfect by all means. It has the same faults that quite a number of the DC animated films have, that it needed to be about 10 minutes longer in order for the many characters and the many things going on in the story to be effective. What 'Batman vs. Robin' has over a lot of them is that the story is always compelling and surprisingly dark, darker than usual, and the characters aren't one dimensional, with for example a far more conflicted Damian than portrayed in the other films he's featured in. Talon and the Dollmaker are two of the series' better villains for instance. Sure, 'Batman vs. Robin' is a little rushed in places, complicated occasionally and Talon's real motivation is anti-climactically handled. On the other hand, the father and son relationship is handled much better here. It's not neglected, while not taking over too much of the story that it neglects the conflict, and has the heart, emotion and tension that 'Son of Batman' did not have so it was easier to invest in it. Batman is more interesting here while Damian is nowhere near as annoying and is more a realistic depiction of a conflicted teenager. The animation is very good, often great. There are some very nice detailed backgrounds, the characters are designed well and the colours are dynamic and atmospheric. The music is both haunting and rousing, a good fit for the film's mood. Writing is far from simplistic or childish, quite the opposite, while the story has a few issues but is compelling with some exciting and thrilling action. Saying that the villains are among the best of the DC animated superhero films is saying a good deal, DC have had a very hit and miss track record with their villains (an example of a hit being Joker in 'Assault on Arkham' and a miss being Deathstroke in 'Son of Batman'). The Court of Owls provides very believable, sometimes creepy conflict. Voice acting is very well done. Not just Jason O'Mara, Stuart Allan and Sean Maher but particularly Weird Al Yankovic and Jeremy Sisto. In conclusion, doesn't blow the mind but not bad at all. 7/10 Bethany Cox

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