Batman: Bad Blood, 2016.
Directed by Jay Oliva.
Featuring the voice talents of Jason O’Mara, Sean Maher, Yvonne Strahovski, Stuart Allan, Morena Baccarin, Steve Blum, Gaius Charles, John DiMaggio, James Garrett, Ernie Hudson, Robin Atkin Downes, Vanessa Marshall, Bruce Thomas, Matthew Mercer, Jason Spisak, Travis Willingham and Kari Wahlgren.
SYNOPSIS:
Bruce Wayne is missing. Alfred covers for him while Nightwing and Robin patrol Gotham City in his stead. And a new player, Batwoman, investigates Batman’s disappearance.
One of Batman’s most well-known traits in the modern era of comics is the number of sidekicks or extended members of the Bat-family he has. I’m not just speaking of the various characters who have held the Robin mantle, but Batwing, Batwoman and several Batgirls. DC’s latest animated movie has brought together most of Gotham’s protectors together after Bruce Wayne is presumed dead, leaving Gotham defenseless without the real Batman.
Batman: Bad Blood has a lot going on it, from introducing Batwoman and Batwing to putting Dick Grayson in the Batsuit. There’s a lot of potential in the story, but the film never fully realizes it. This is a shame after the great stories this film is loosely based off of. Instead, Bad Blood jams together many elements from Grant Morrison’s run on the Batman comics, from ‘Batman & Robin’ to ‘Batman Incorporated’, never making anything truly cohesive as it jumps from point to point.
The most interesting addition to this movie is Batwoman, a fan-favourite character developed by Greg Rucka who has become a very popular and interesting superhero. Voiced by Chuck and Dexter alum Yvonne Strahovski, Kate Kane/Batwoman is a great character, but she doesn’t get much of an arc or time to show how awesome her character is. Bad Blood never delves into what truly makes her tick, barely scratching the surface of her own mythology. She gets a few cool moments of her own, but not enough to make her character stand out.
Similarly Luke Fox/Batwing, voiced by Gaius Charles, is also introduced in this film, but doesn’t get much time on his own either. His characterization is interesting as a recently returned veteran from Afghanistan, and in one memorable scene he proves how capable he is without a costume. As with Batwoman, his character isn’t explored enough and I can’t help but wonder if Bad Blood might have been better with only one of them rather than cramming both characters in together.
The villain front is also mismanaged. The Heretic (a combination of that character and the Third Batman from Morrison’s run) has some cool moments both on the action and development fronts, but halfway through the film he’s dismissed as no big deal in favour of another famous Batman villain. It’s too bad he was pushed aside because he was not only interesting, but also a great physical threat to Batman and the rest of the family. The other side-villains don’t get much time or development and one factor that really lessened the movie is how they are dispatched due to an accident or ineptitude on the hero’s part.
Returning for this film are Jason O’Mara, Stuart Allan and Sean Maher as Batman, Robin and Nightwing respectively. Of them all Sean Maher has the most intriguing material to work with as he takes up Batman’s mantle in the first half of the movie, but this concept is again not fully fleshed out enough to realize its potential. O’Mara and Allan do fine work, but not quite enough to make them stand out either.
The animation is well done, displaying some great choreography in several of the fight scenes. WB Animation’s blend of anime and American animation still takes some getting used to, especially after we were just reminded of Bruce Timm’s excellent animation last summer in Justice League: Gods and Monsters. Overall, though, the animation is not enough to save this film. It crams too many elements from Morrison’s ‘Batman & Robin’ and ‘Batman Incorporated’ comics to create a cohesive story, meddling much of the character development in what is at least an interesting premise. Ultimately, Bad Blood suffers too much from its own ambition and would have been better served if it took a ‘less is more’ approach.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Ricky Church
https://youtu.be/0aIsNl6XwEk?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published January 25, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
