My Review of Son of Batman · 10:03pm Oct 27th, 2022
Rating Scale:
12/10—a complete masterpiece; flawless and outstanding
11/10—Excellent, near-perfect film
10/10—the standard rating; awesome film with a couple of flaws
9/10—a wonderful film with several flaws
8/10–a great film with numerous flaws but not enough to ruin it
7/10—a fun and entertaining movie; not great but still enjoyable
6/10—a slightly above average film; it is something I might watch again
5/10—mediocre movie; not awful but not great either
4/10—a below average film; it could have been much better
3/10—a bad film; poorly written and poorly executed
2/10—a very bad movie; the few good things in the movie overshadowed by the bad things
1/10—a terrible movie; a total waste of time
0/10—a worthless piece of abomination; should have never been made
Greetings, everyone! This is Mr. J back with another movie review for today! This evening, I will be reviewing Warner Bros Animation's Son of Batman from 2014! Now this was one of the multiple animated Batman films I've seen since last year. Because I haven't seen it in a while and wanted to review it this month, I figured I would re-watch it and see if it still holds up. Now that I have seen this the second time, I must admit....it was really good! Yeah, it wasn't perfect per say, but I still enjoyed the overall story nonetheless.
This movie is about Damian Wayne, the son of Batman/Bruce Wayne and Talia al-Ghul, fully trained in the League of Assassins. After his grandfather Ra's al-Ghul was slowly killed by Deathstroke/Slade Wilson, the latter attempts to seize the opportunity to kill Damian as well as raise a huge army of mutated man-bats under his control. Seeing how impulsive and arrogant the boy is, Batman seeks to show him the true path of a heroic warrior unlike what his grandfather taught him.
For those of you who are new to my reviews, not only do I admire Batman's stance on justice and heroism but also how he interacts with those who are vastly different from him, especially Damian. Plus, Jason O'Mara does a pretty solid job giving his own take on Batman. Although some of the voice lines could have used some work, and half of the voice cast could have put more emotion into their dialogue, everyone else did a good job.
Again, I always love the animation style in these later Batman movies, aside from the ones that belong in the DC Animated Universe. It's very fluid and consistent if I may add.
The story itself was very interesting, to say the least. We see clear distinctions between Batman and Damian throughout the entire film. The former stands firm in justice, integrity, and mercy whereas the latter is relentless in deadly tactics in the battlefield. They clash against the other in ideology and morals, yet they manage to work together because they both have the same goal: defeating their common enemy and saving innocent people from danger. As this series progresses, we get to see more of their complex relationship develop further in the following years. Thus, this beginning step of their story was well-written for the most part.
The only issues I have with the film are the following: the pacing and the execution of the film's climax. I didn't like how Damian spared Slade after defeating him in combat whereas, not five minutes ago, he swore to kill him after the guy mortally wounded his mother earlier. Throughout the whole movie, the kid rashly went straight into the action despite Batman telling him not to, and made dozens of attempts to strike a deadly blow on Slade during the final fight. Now he suddenly decides to be a bigger man and spare him? We don't get any scenes of him thinking on his father's words of sound wisdom and judgment and reflecting on the thought that maybe Batman is right when Slade was taunting him. So the way he decided to spare him felt so anti-climatic and rushed. There needed to be some build-up in order for that moment to feel earned.
Other that that, Son of Batman is just as good as I remember. With that said, I will give it a 9/10. Oh, and somebody give poor Killer Croc a new tail. Sweet innocent baby got a boo-boo, aww. Don't worry, I'm sure Dr. Connors will take care of him ;)
Peace!
Wonderful Review.
Will you be reviewing other Batman movies, such as Batman and Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero or Batman Gotham by Gaslight?
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I've been reviewing Batman films since I first started my movie-reviewing hobby, but thanks for the kind words!
Also, I already reviewed "Sub-Zero" two years ago; you can check it out if you want. As for "Gotham by Gaslight", I decided to not review it for...personal reasons.