Batman: Bad Blood (2016)
INTRODUCTION
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.
User Review
( vote)DIRECTOR: Jay Oliva
WRITERS: J.M. DeMatteis, Grant Morrison
CAST:
Jason O’Mara (Batman / Bruce Wayne), Yvonne Strahovski (Batwoman / Katherine Kane), Stuart Allan (Robin / Damian Wayne), Sean Maher (Nightwing / Dick Grayson), Morena Baccarin (Talia al Ghul) and Gaius Charles (Batwing / Luke Fox)
REVIEW
Batman: Bad Blood is the first of these films to be a Batman film, without having Batman really in it, that’s what made this film great. Don’t misunderstand, Batman is an amazing character, but there’s been so many animated films based on him lately that getting a Batman film with new faces or old faces being pushed to the forefront, was a breath of fresh air.
The quick introduction to Batwoman (Yvonne Strahovski) and the just as much quick disappearance of Batman (Jason O’Mara) within the first five minutes of the film, truly sets the tone of what the story was going to be about, a film about the Bat-Family.
Once Batman disappears, Dick Grayson as Nightwing becomes a big player in pushing the story forward, with the help of Batwoman, as she’s the last person to have seen Batman alive. Soon Damian Wayne (Stuart Allan) returns from the monastery which we last saw him at the end of Batman vs Robin. Damian after hearing the news of his father’s disappearance, makes it also his mission to find him. The other fresh face to be added to the mix is of Luke Fox, who becomes another important player in the story as he ends up becoming the character of Batwing.
There’s a good amount of twist and turns that’ll keep viewers on their toes, that’s if they aren’t familiar with all the different Batman stories in the more current comics, as it takes a lot from that when it comes to the main baddies.
With the new introduction of characters, the one that was the most enjoyable was that of Batwoman, also known as Katherine Kane. The last time we’ve seen her in animated movie was in Batman: Mystery of the Batwoman, back in 2003, so it was very nice to see her return once again.
She was by far the one who received the most attention when it came to developing her character, her back story and there was no hiding of her sexual orientation. In fact it was mentions more than once and shown, which was a very pleasant surprise that it wasn’t glossed over as a quick mention.
The other surprising addition to this film, that wasn’t as apparent in the previous films, was the humor. There were a handful of moments where I found myself laughing out loud at something that was said either by Nightwing or Batwoman, mixed with reactions and actions from other characters. Those moments were just a reminder how the previous films were bit of a downer with only having Batman and Robin as the leading players in the film, as they’re much more serious characters, this was also quickly felt when Batman returned from his absence within this film.
The film also had a good amount action, there’s one scene with Nuns that was by far one of the best action sequences in one of these DC Universe Animated Original Movie series films in sometime.
By the end of the film, in the very last shot, it leaves you wanting more of the Bat-Family, more so than before, that’s guaranteed and hopefully the follow-up Batman centric film does exactly that!
Batman: Bad Blood is out on Blu-Ray and DVD February 2nd.
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