Son of Batman – Review

sonofbatmanposter

When it was announced that James Tucker was going to succeed Bruce Timm as the head of DC’s animated film line, I think people thought Tucker would succeed, but did they think he would succeed this well? Ladies and gentlemen, there is a new king in town. It started with Justice League: War, which quickly rivaled Under the Hood as my favorite DC animated movie. Son of Batman is even better. James Tucker is now responsible for two of the three best DC animated movies, or the two best, depending on which day of the week you ask me the question (Justice League: War and Under the Red Hood are so close! Might as well give them the tie for the #2 spot).

Ethan Spaulding directs Son of Batman. Judging by the quality of the movie, you would not think that this is directorial debut, but I believe it is. The first five minutes of the movie are immediately exciting. Far from Gotham City, R’as Al Ghul’s League of Assassins is under attack in their impenetrable mountain stronghold that turns out to be not that impenetrable. This fight scene is awesome! The first five minutes of the movie are worth the price of the DVD alone.

batman nightwing damian

Tim Drake is nowhere to be found in Son of Batman. His parts from the comic have been transferred to Dick Grayson, aka Robin I aka Nightwing.

But if I have any quibble with Son of Batman, it’s in this scene. It’s a minor quibble, but it’s so ridiculous it kind of makes my head hurt: the League of Assassins’ Gatling gun full of arrows. I don’t remember if the arrow Gatling gun was in the original comic book story. It’s something that I can see Grant Morrison writing; it’s that crazy, or it could be solely from the mind of the screenwriter. In this movie, the League are pretty much all ninjas. The invaders have guns, but the assassins in the League wield no guns, just swords, bows and arrows. You’d think a group called the League of Assassins would be up on the latest in assassination technology, they seemed to have stopped looking for new equipment somewhere around Feudal Japan. Except for the arrow Gatling gun. At some point, R’as must have been mighty impressed with the might of the Gatling gun and commissioned his own, but his was to fire only arrows. This special gun must have cost the League a lot of money; it’s no small task to say, “No, I don’t want this gun to fire bullets. I want it to fire arrows.” And R’as got his way. Arrows it did fire. Enough to knock helicopters out of the sky. I guess if you’re an immortal with wealth going back centuries, you’re allowed a certain amount of levity with how you choose to spend your money. I probably would have gone with grenade launcher that shot Fribbles, but that’s just me.

But I digress…

In case you’re not familiar with the premise of the movie, Batman has a son. Okay, I guess that’s there in the title. This isn’t some future story line; it takes place in the present. Years ago, R’as Al Ghul’s daughter Talia drugged Batman, had her way with him and secretly had his baby, whose existence she kept hidden for years. The fallout of the first five minutes of the movie lead to Batman’s now teenage son being dropped at the foot of the Batcave.

One of the coolest villains in the DC Universe, Deathstroke, is the main villain in Son of Batman. Deathstroke is an assassin who is blind in one eye. The DC Animated Universe gets its version of how Deathstroke was blinded in that eye in this movie…and…It. Is. Awesome.

Seriously, I want to gush about this movie more, but I don’t want to ruin it. Go rent or buy Son of Batman. It rocks.

Make sure to watch the movie all the way through the credits. There’s not a special end credit scene, but there is something very cool. Nightwing and Damian’s fight on the streets of Gotham is told in stills as the credits roll. In the movie, we see them encounter each other, and we see how it ends, so it’s cool to see the (very awesome) middle part here. If only they put that scene in the movie!

The bonus features have some Robin-centered Batman cartoons. I watched all of them and enjoyed all of them, especially the seeing the original Teen Titans on Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Son of Batman is a very strong follow-up to Justice League: War, and really has me excited for the future of DC animated movies under James Tucker.

This review contains Amazon product links. Shopping at Amazon through these links helps to support this site. 

James Tucker Talks Justice League: War

After sitting down with Andrea Romano at NYCC, I had the chance to sit and talk with James Tucker about Justice League: War. As you may know, James is the new Bruce Timm at DC’s animation group. In other words, he’s the new head honcho.

justice league war box art

When asked if it was a smooth transition taking over for Bruce, James said it was. He elaborated, “He was outside smoking and said, “Hey, do you want to take over the DVDs?” and I went, “Sure.” It was that simple.  It wasn’t like a coronation or anything. I didn’t go into the throne room and he knighted me. It’s very casual at Warner Brothers. ” By the time the official announcement was made, James already had experience in the job. According to James, “When it was announced, I had already been doing the job for two years. We were working on War a year ago. I had been doing the job long before they announced it. He was working on Green Lantern. It was very smooth and not a big deal.”

Regarding the future of the DC animated movies, James said that from this point forward, we’ll be seeing a Justice League movie, followed by a Batman movie, followed by a Justice League movie, followed by a Batman movie. Having movies whose stories focus on specific characters set in the framework of the Justice League. James used Wonder Woman as an example. “With the way we’re setting it up, it’s easier for us to do a Wonder Woman featured Justice League movie, meaning the story has something to do with her, but it’s a Justice League movie.” If you’re wondering why, according to Mr. Tucker, it’s because, “Home Video thinks they can sell it better. Rather than doing standalones.  Because the Green Lantern movie didn’t do so hot. The Wonder Woman movie didn’t do so hot, despite what you see online about statistics. Pretty much Superman doesn’t even sell well. Sometimes it’s easier to focus on the character you want to focus on and in War, if you read the graphic novel, Cyborg gets a lot of the spotlight. Each movie will have one character who gets a lot of spotlight and the other characters will get…story development that will carry over to the next movie.”

In case you’re wondering what the next animated movie will be after Justice League: War, it will be a Son of Batman, based on the Grant Morrison Batman story that introduced Damian Wayne into the DC Universe.  The Son of Batman movie will be in continuity with Justice League: War. “It’s totally different from what Bruce and those guys had done before. I like world building, so it’s a nice opportunity to have continuity among the movies, and yet Son of Batman will feel totally different than Justice League. It’s kind of like comics in a way, in that they’re connected, but not connected. Justice League comics are totally different than Batman comics, yet Batman is in both. ” said James.

For fans wondering why Aquaman is not in Justice League: War, the reason that he was replaced by Shazam (I know, I know, Captain Marvel) in this movie is that DC is planning a Justice League movie centered around Aquaman! Aqua-fans rejoice!

shazam justice league war

Shazam is replacing Aquaman in Justice League: War.

James walked me through some of the process of making these movies. When asked if he used the same animation studios for the Justice League and Batman movies, he revealed that DC has three different animation studios that “we float episodes to. Not one studio can do all the animation.”

When asked how Justice League: War would be different from past Justice League animated projects, such as Justice League: Unlimited, James said, “I worked on Justice League with Bruce and Justice League: Unlimited and I didn’t want to go back and do exactly that.” He elaborated, “When I read the New 52 Justice League, I could see see they were trying to break down the Justice League and make it something where you could not instantly know what to expect. We took that aspect and ran with it and pushed people’s personalities into different areas.” Comparing it to the Bruce Timm Justice League cartoon, James said, “If the fans are expecting a carbon copy of the TV series, they’re not going to get that. It’s going to be a little edgier and definitely more violent. It’s not Superfriends. Even the old Justice League cartoon show was kind of Super Friends, if it’s Friends the TV series with Jennifer Anniston. It was about relationships. This is more like a big movie, and their personalities are more edgy. They’re all new to it. They’re all trying to figure out how to be their own individual heroes. Some of them have codes about not killing. Others don’t. There’s all these areas of conflict we have that we didn’t normally address in the earlier versions of the Justice League.”

wonder woman jl war

Expect Wonder Woman to use the sharp edge of her sword in Justice League: War.

Describing the state of superhero cartoons on TV, James was very blunt. “It’s a different climate for superhero action shows,” he said. The abrupt cancellation of Young Justice was cited. “I don’t think (Young Justice) was a great fit for Cartoon Network. They got caught in a situation where things are changing in the climate on television for animated things. They’re finding action in general is not doing as well on kids networks. A show like that would have been great for Netflix. That might be the next place for a show like that,” James said. Please note that this interview was conducted before Marvel announced their deal with Netflix. James seems very bullish on the Netflix model. He said, “As far as binge viewing, I think a show like Young Justice, Justice League too, will do well and I think that’s the future. I welcome it.” James went on to explain why he liked it so much. “You won’t have the same restrictions. You can do a limited miniseries. You can tell a really controlled story. You don’t have to worry about selling toys. The industry is all wondering what Netflix is going to do next.” With Marvel’s recent deal with Netflix, it will be interesting to see where DC and Warner Bros pursue their streaming model. Maybe Amazon Prime? Or Hulu Plus? We do know that James Tucker is in the driver’s seat at DC Animation and he likes the streaming model, whether it’s Netflix or elsewhere.

netflix-logo

Will Netflix be the future home of DC superheroes?

James would like to incorporate lesser used characters into the animated movies. James said, “My goal for all the Justice League and Batman movies is to include at least one character who hasn’t appeared either on television or in the films.” When asked if there were any plans for Batgirl, say maybe Batgirl: Year One, James said that he would definitely like to do a Batgirl-centered story, but it probably wouldn’t be Year One. “The truth is, that’s not going to sell. I hate to say it. For whatever reason, they have a hard time selling that kind of stuff. Granted, that could (work) on Netflix. The thing about Netflix is that it’s open to niche markets. You could do something for a smaller group and not have to worry about selling units.

Justice League: War comes out on February 4, 2014.