Batman: Bad Blood Review

CAUSE BABY NOW WE GOT BAT BLOOD...Because that reference hasn't been run into the ground since the first trailer of this movie...

Greetings Ladies and Gents! It is I, The Shaman of Animation back again with a new review! A brand new DC Animated Film is upon us folks, Batman: Bad Blood. This movie in the time trailers were coming out had me nervous as it is in The New 52 inspired DC Animated Film Universe that started in Justice League War; and ninety-nine percent of those movies that have taken place in this shared Universe have...well...sucked. But who knows, maybe this film is the one that changes the game for The DC Animated Film Universe. Only one way to find out: let's dive into Batman: Bad Blood!

Synopsis: Batman: Bad Blood is the sequel to 'Batman vs Robin'. Bruce Wayne has been missing for weeks; and with him gone, so is Batman. With the implications a Gotham City without the Dark Knight could mean for the law enforcers and the villains, Dick Grayson A.K.A Nightwing, A.K.A The Original Robin must don the costume of the Caped Crusader and with the help of Damien Wayne, Bruce's son and the current Robin, they must protect Gotham. But they're not the only Bat themed characters along for the ride as this film features the debuts of Batwoman and Batwing in a medium outside the comics.

The Good: Apparently Director Jay Oliva got the message that the best parts of The New 52 inspired Animated films were the action because the amount of fight scenes in this film is cranked up to eleven. This film is loaded with fights, even in the beginning (Even Alfred gets to whoop some ass in this movie); and it is all top notch stuff. Oliva's always been great when it comes to choreography in fights, but Bad Blood may be the best stuff he's done for the animated films.

With Bruce Wayne being gone for a large portion of the movie it gives center stage for Dick Grayson as Batman. I've always felt that one of the key elements of Dick's character is his drive to be away from Batman's shadow and to have his own identity; and this movie does a decent job of showing that. Decent, but could have been done better, and I'll get to it later on.

As stated earlier in the synopsis, we've got some new kids on the Bat Block. First off is Kate Kane as Batwoman. A lot of the film's time is taken to introduce the audience to her character (Something that DC Animation has always done well). Her origins in the milittary, her connection so to speak with Batman, and hey, the movie had no problem with showing her Sexual Orientation. She was a real show stealer in this film and I think everyone seeing this will get a kick from the character of Kate.

Another Plus in this film is just how much I chuckled from the film. Once again, because it's Dick in the suit throughout this movie and not Bruce, there's a lot more wiggle room for humorous dialogue, something I think the movie takes full advantage of with Dick and his interactions with Kate and Damien in particular. 

The Bad: The fight scenes in Bad Blood are great, there's no denying that, but I feel that the story might have suffered in exchange for more of the fight scenes. What I mean by that is the scenes that scenes that involve the characters sitting down and taking the time to reflect on actions that have taken place don't have as big an impact as they should've been. For example, early on in the movie when Dick and Damian are in the Batmobile, Dick blows up at Damian saying just how much he wanted to escape Batman's shadow, but now he's stuck in the suit because Bruce is gone. It feels like the scene could go on for a few more minutes, but Alfred comes in and takes the dynamic duo to another fight scene. This is something that kind of happens a lot in the film. Speaking of Dick and wanting to separate himself from Bruce, the whole movie spends time building tension between Dick and Bruce but it never feels like it's ever resolved.

Maybe this is me, but the third act of this film kind of had me scratching my head with what's done with the villain of the film, The Heretic and the "True" villain of it all. I won't spoil it for those who've seen the film, but I feel like it kind of comes out of nowhere and was just rushed out for the sake of having the entire Batfamily in a giant fight movie.

And speaking of the new Bat themed character introduced, there's Batwing A.K.A Luke Fox, the son of Lucius Fox. Yeah, if I had to have an image that describes a character as "Just being there" Batwing would fill that quota no problem. It's just, he's the least interesting character in the film. In the movie, he's introduced as a character that came home from the military, even though there's a character like that with Batwoman and his whole character is: "Hey, I don't want to work with Bruce Wayne...until I have to." Which sucks because I went into the film wanting to like Batwing after hearing such good things about his long cancelled comic series. But hey, what are you gonna do?

Conclusion: Batman: Bad Blood is an action-packed movie, one that's leagues above the last two animated Batman Films; and one that I whole heartedly could recommend people to watch and even buy, something I haven't been able to do for the New 52 animated movies since Justice League War. With this movie and "Gods and Monsters" last year, it seems the DC Animated movies are slowly getting back on track. Here's hoping "Justice League vs Teen Titans" is another winner and will create a trifecta of good DC Animated films.

Til Next Time folks, I'm The Shaman of Animation.

Take Care...