The art style pays homage to traditional painters like Hokusai and kayosai. Japanese print art and caligraphy are used to get effect to make this one of the best looking Batman animated films released in the last decade. Batmans costumes alone are superb from his great blue glowing tech suit in the beginning to the ninja clothing at the end. Joker too gets a lavish makeover that'll make toy companies stress for ages trying to replicate.
Unfortunately the plot goes from the implausible time travel plot (but ok I'll go with it) to out right bat crap insane in the last 20 minutes or so. It seems to want to do a bit for every kind of fan of japanese anime. One minute it's a stunning ninja scroll style martial arts romp, next it's a transformers/gundam style robot slugfest.
I honestly started laughing loudly when the army of monkeys (yes you read that right) all join together to make one big giant armoured monkey (yet again you are reading this correctly) to fight a huge mecha robot made up of the top 5 batman villains houses (seriously... it's their homes!).
I was laughing really hard but nothing would prepare me for what happened next! As the giant armoured monkey began to lose to the giant house monster a swarm of bats surrounded the mecha money and turned it into a colossal batman called "bat god".
It was at this point I yelled "oh jesus god no!" And damn near wet my trousers laughing so hard. I don't think that was supposed to be the desired effect.
I suspect it will work well for a bunch of drunk guys looking for a movie to lampoon and laugh at like Tommy Wiseau's The Room or Samurai Cop. The dialogue feels hokey in places but this could be due to having to translate directly from japanese but sometimes it's too on the nose. Again it looks fantastic but a change in art style right in the middle really jars. After a huge battle between joker and batman on a boat, red hood is strolling along a country footpath and comes across a man and his wife farming. He then accuses the man of being the joker and begins to beat him. Batman appears from nowhere and stops him saying that the farmer used to be the joker but he isn't anymore and they should leave the old farmer/former joker alone. There is no explanation as to what the time frame is from the last scene to this scene is and almost feels like it doesn't belong or they tacked it on realising there was a gaping plothole as to why joker randomly goes missing for a while and then shows up at the end just to fight batman. There is fun to be had with this film and again it looks so great but it throws almost every kind of japanese anime into the mix and really pushes the envelope of a realistic setting. This wouldn't too much of a problem but there feels like two conflicting styles of storytelling happening, one based around batman being stripped of all his tech to find out what he is without it, ala Iron Man 3 and rhe other has giant monkey monsters, submarines, huge mounted gatling guns, spiritually aware bats, hive minded monkeys and fighting houses. Altogether it leaves for a "what the hell was that feeling" and finally ends with Batman returning to Gotham, alfred using a horse drawn batmobile garnished in feudal japanese decor being driven through the streets of gotham with bruce being clearly visible just sitting there! So now anyone that sees the horse drawn batmobile going through the streets can clearly see bruce wayne and now know who Batman is WTF?!
Some things you can put to artistic interpretation but that is just absolutely and fundamentally not Batman.
Just buy a poster and imagine what the film it could have been.
Add a Review
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hourmazdfarhadi18 March 2023Honestly don't understand the negative reviews that the film recieved for not abiding by the traditional Batman script structure. It's a very unique almost comedic take on Batman from a completely different cultural point of view. I appreciate the fusion of styles and didn't really expect much from it other than pure entertainment. I can understand the disappointment in expecting a detective feel and getting this but if you take it more lightly and enjoy the stylistic choices and cultural fusion it's a nice watch with some really nicely hand-drawn scenes thrown in there too. There isn't a need for a sequel but it was a nice one-time project.
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harryboy12329 April 2018One of the oddest films I have ever seen hands down. I have no idea what was going on for majority of the film. The voice acting was pretty bad, and the animation was odd - the style changed so often I can't say if it was good or bad. Despite all of this I will not forget it - a recommendation if you're gonna watch with friends and not take it seriously, but it's not good.
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I really don't have much to say about this release, and I think my review title says all you need to know; Like most artwork that comes from Japan, this was just beautiful to the eyes. Somewhere in the middle of the movie I noticed a small lapse in the artwork, as if someone was rushed or got lazy around the 40 minute mark. It lasted for just a bit and then it went right back to the clean colorful style it began with.
The story was so bad that it was laughable. Maybe someone enjoys the base plot ideas of anime television shows? The gathering of 5 to build one massive robot, or animals physically binding together to form a giant Batman? My jaw dropped ... I was left speechless, wondering whose stupid idea it was to make this part of a Batman tale. You might argue that it was instilling some sort of Japanese flair, but what I watched was a zero-effort attempt to finish the plot.
The writers don't seem to know who Batman is! This take on Batman didn't know what to do without technology - which evidentally it's a big transformation for Batman to fight without his bat-mobile, bat-wing, and bat-cycle. Seriously. The Japanese version of Batman was helpless without all his toys. He was also really stupid about basic problems; I watched him aim his grapple-gun into the air, unsure of what to do around one story buildings.
Enjoy the artwork, it's genuinely beautiful - but expect huge a waste of time. -
Batman Ninja has quite weak plotting and terrible direction. It relies so much on action and it never becomes anything deeper than its initial concept on paper. But it's fun in well executed action scenes, the characters are solid, the score is cool and it's worth seeing for its animation alone which is absolutely impressive in its artistry, cool designs and anime style. It's literally a concept art brought to life which was intriguing to witness.
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It's a really fun movie, superb animation and character design. People need to give credit to the design team for they help to tell the story very much beyond what's immediately available in the storyline. I loved the anime style 2d-like 3D artwork, the art and details are amazing! I'm not a DC fan, I don't get offended by the merge of Batman and his tech into feudal era Japan, it was a good blend of high tech batmobiles and olden days utilities, it goes to show how adaptable the characters are into absorbing resources for their own aims. Did I mention the CG was great? Easily the best 2D rendition of 3D I have seen so far.
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wreuven24 April 2018Cliche after Cliche.
None of the characters have any personality including the Batman. Every line from a villain is of the "HAHA now I'll get you All" variety and every line from the Batman is delivered with the same dour monotone as if the Batman's "Darkness" exists only in his deep voice.
The artwork is good. Hard to understand why anyone would invest in million dollar artwork and then combine it with a ten dollar script. -
doomedmac2 March 2021Come on people! It's Batman Ninja! It has monkeys, DC characters, samurais, and giant fighting robots. It's everything I wanted, minus the bad script.
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Artwork, great. Voice acting, ok... But story??? I don't know WHO is giving 9's & 10's for this, but if you like this Batman story hey, more power to you.
I was done with this after the first 20 minutes. I watched it all just cause I couldn't believe the writing.
Good grief...
The 4 of the 10 is for the artwork. It is nice. -
tmntlife30 April 2018The reviews this movie is getting is saying more of the state of DC fans and only wanting super serious stories and cant even enjoy something that is obviously supposed to be over the top and ridiculous on purpose. I for one loved the hilarious nature of this movie. Good grief people... we have sooooo many serious Batman movies....but heaven forbid we do something different. If you enjoy Anime in any way and like Batman in his many forms. This is absolutely worth a watch. Dont go buy some of these ultra pissed off, fan boy ,knee jerk reaction reviews, Anyone who says the story is silly and stupid...is kind of missing the point. Fun Dumb Batman movie..
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generalmat24 April 2018Wow, DC is just getting worse and worse. What a missed opportunity. Honestly the worst movie I have ever watched. What was the little monkeys form a giant monkey part?? How Batman could dissapear from Joker in their last fight?
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snudger3 January 2019I feel that this film is a thank you note for people in the west that have enjoyed Japanese cartoons through the years, it places Batman and all the rest into a journey through Japanese art and animation styles and genres. It was a very enjoyable experience for me.
The story itself is simple enough but it is still quintessentially Batman through and through. All the characters still have their proper personality and there was that same Batman humor in there.
That seems like a bit of a 6/10 so far, but the real, REAL joy was picking out those moments some only 5-10 seconds long where homage was paid to entire series of anime i have watched in the past. There was flavors of Bleach, Princess Mononuke, Naruto, Akira, Gundam, Dragonball, Afro Samurai and many more packed in there.
This film is not for everyone i can understand that but it does have its place and is certainly not a bad film. I am at the end of my anime journey but this was a nice find and like i said i felt it was a thank you for watching years of anime by placing Batman into that world. But if i was a little kid and this was the first thing of this type i ever watched it would probably be the most awesome thing that ever happened to me. -
Sawyer-481516234224 April 2018I really enjoyed the creative look created by fusing Batman imagery with Japanese artwork and anime. The movie has some visually stunning moments. However, the plot is pretty dumb, Batman's verbal interactions with joker sound like they were written by a 7 year old and the plot doesn't make much sense.
Honestly, every 10 star and 1 star review should be ignored. This movie is decent for what it is, not great, but mildly entertaining and fans of the animated Batman series might find something to enjoy here. -
noreb24 April 2018I refuse to believe the 10/10 reviews are real...
I dont know who is green lighting these projects lately at dc animation but they should be fired. This movie would be entertaining to a young child who knows very little about batman and is super into weird animes.
It drops the ball on what could be an interesting concept of a fuedal era batman and ends up with an over the top mess of cliches it struggles to stick with throughout. Story line sucks and feels lazy, animation is "meh" and inconsistent without purpose. -
cjrml-7727212 May 2018Voice acting was terrible, storyline was horrible, the script, jokes and puns were awful. Batman goes back in time with all his enemies due to a gorilla grod time machine that somehow brings them from Arkham asylum in Gotham city to 17th century imperial Japan. Then all the villains build big transformer castles to do battle for "control" of Japan. All through the movie Batman doubts himself because he doesn't have any technologically advanced weapons or vehicles. In the end while all the mega castle Transformers are doing battle, bats (no not Batman but actual bats) build a big robot transformer for Batman and his clan to use. Joker of course is the last villain standing with the usual outcome. I want my $7 rental fee back.
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autumn-1249424 April 2018Batman Ninja is an incredibly stylish and original anime that just so happens to feature Batman and co. While the animation occasionally falters and the English dub can best be described as 'serviceable', it succeeds at delivering an excellent and decidedly different animated Batman feature. I truly hope that DC will continue to deliver more animated features like Batman Ninja.
8/10- Many of the lowest reviews on IMDB seem to take issue with the Japanese influences and the departure from the usual 'grounded' Batman universe(s). If you dislike Japanese media and/or can't handle a film that will greatly differ from popular Batman movies & source material, then this is not for you.
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eliteslayer8814 July 2018Not a fan of The Joker's english voice. The sub version is probably better.
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burakg25 April 2018I love Batman. I love anime. I love cheesy anime conversations. But I hate an emptied character and script despite a huge potential.
Batman is NEVER about his gadgets. Look at the Arkham Knight game, Red Hood thinks Batman is all about his gadgets and nothing without them, but Batman proves him wrong with his gigantic intellect and training. Granted, he relies on his gadgets on his day-to-day operations. However he never despairs when he loses any of them. On the contrary, he willingly sacrifice his gadgets and tools like they are nothing, because he is the weapon.
If anyone says "its's an interpretation of Batman" an interpretation is about nuances, settings, surroundings; not the main subject. If you take what makes Batman out of Batman, it's not an interpretation, it's Dark Knight Rises...
Decent artwork though... -
ranentrudgett25 April 2018Don't go into this movie expecting a serious movie or anything like that, this film is simply for the lols, so if you're the type of person who can't shut off their brain to watch a movie then don't watch this, you won't like it.
The art and re-imagining of the aesthetics of batman characters is nice to look at and it's just a crazy animation, but don't expect batman to act like a ninja throughout the film like i did, instead the "ninja batman" is just the build up of this movie.
Watch it if you enjoy anime, just don't expect a really great movie with an in-depth story or whatever.
Edit: I would also like to mention that i'm not a DC or batman fanboy, so that may be the reason why i'm giving a positive review. -
Listen to the other reviewers. It was bad, very very bad. Anime was crazy and most of the time it was like a telltale series cut scene anime that was nonsensical. The story was all over the place messy and not easy to follow because it kept changing one second to the next drastically. I struggled to keep watching it I constantly checked how much time was left I had to struggle through. Worst Batman anime to date even worse than the killing joke, which was terrible. Dull predictable story. I wanted to like this but in the end I just couldn't.
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The art is vivid, gorgeous, and new. Concept ideas like this don't always work but some how it did this time. Not so sure about the story telling though, the plot does make sense to anime fans, but not very much to comic fans. It's very influenced by Japan, to an extent that many Anime Easter eggs are shown.
This movie will appeal to the Japanese audience more than the American counterpart. -
Platypuschow30 April 2018Though I wasn't impressed with Gotham By Gaslight (2018) I respected what they were trying to do and it was an interesting attempt at an alternative Batman tale.
With Batman Ninja I expected more of the same, little did I realise I was about to watch the worst animated superhero movie I've ever seen.
Japanese made and set in fuedal Japan we see Batman, some allies and a host of villians ripped through time and into one of the biggest embarassments I've seen in years.
With alternating animation styles (None of which I like), a laughable story which contradicts itself multiple times and more than a little influence from Power Rangers this is beyond words.
I'd say it was a Batman comedy like the Adam West throwbacks or Lego Batman if it didn't take itself so seriously. I mean I am truly lost for words just how bad this is, it starts off poor and gradually just gets more and more ridiculous until I found my jaw actually dropping at the level of stupidity.
Batman Ninja is even worse than the title suggests, I want to rant about this atrocity but if I begin this will be a insanely long review.
I'm not sure who this is aimed at but I'd be surprised if even the most hardcore of DC fans will enjoy this.
The Good:
It's original I'll give it that
The Bad:
Not fond of the animation style
Weak voice acting
Story really is quite bad
Whole thing is ridiculous and can't be taken even remotely seriously
Things I Learnt From This Movie:
During feudal Japan the primary language was English -
nathandolbir29 June 2023What are people expecting out of this movie... seriously? For it to be educational, inspiring, and be directed by Christopher Nolan? What you get out of this movie is 1.5 hours of fun, and a brilliant transformation of the Batman universe into a medieval Japanese setting, with a beautiful art style. Nothing about the plot will win an award, I get that. But it's still enjoyable, especially when there's a twist (or at least, a memorable point in the movie) that happens every few minutes. From the changes in art style, to the introduction of a character, to a new style of combat, the movie keeps you at the edge of your seat the whole way through. I hope that this review can inspire you to turn your critical brain off and enjoy this movie. I only just now watched this movie because all these reviews made me think it wasn't worth watching. I couldn't have been more wrong.
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livethedreamxxx28 November 2021If you take this at face value knowing it's going to be ridiculous, it's a lot of fun. You get to see all of your favorite Batman characters in a trippy, 3D anime style of animation. Sit back, strap in, and enjoy the ride.
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Mrcottymo29 April 2018Yes, the worst animated Batman movie I've ever seen! The artwork was pretty awesome, which is why I'm giving it 2 stars, but everything else was not good at all. The characters were so over the top. Bad enough that it was barely watchable. I broke the movie into 5 parts. I could only muster about 20 minutes at a time of it. It took me all day to finish it. Batman was a cliche machine and Joker was terribly annoying. Everything that came out of the Joker's mouth was an annoying scream. And ROBOTS?!?! What is up with that? If I wanted to watch Voltron, I would've watched a Voltron movie!