Batman Ninja...
I'm not usually a fan of ninjas, but, of course, I had to make an exception for Batman Ninja...
Batman Ninja, unsurprisingly, requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief from the very beginning and becomes even more unbelievable as the feature progresses from time-travelling lunacy to utter monkey madness, complete with giant robots. The feature is actually very beautifully animated and the style of animation is noticeably different from the more typical Batman fare. There's been an attempt to promote this feature as being produced in Japan. And, clearly there are some Batman fans in the land of the rising sun. But, is it anime? I'm going to say -- not really. It's somewhat classic Batman with the flavor of anime -- not unlike Batman: Gotham Knight. Overall, I enjoyed the feature and I would give Batman Ninja a 3 out of 5.
Batman Ninja takes a journey across the ages as Gorilla Grodd's time displacement machine transports many of Batman's worst enemies to feudal Japan--along with the Dark Knight and a few of his allies. The villains take over the forms of the feudal lords that rule the divided land, with the Joker taking the lead among the warring factions. As his traditional high-tech weaponry is exhausted almost immediately, Batman must rely on his intellect and his allies--including Catwoman and the extended Bat-family--to restore order to the land, and return to present-day Gotham City.
Batman Ninja, unsurprisingly, requires quite a bit of suspension of disbelief from the very beginning and becomes even more unbelievable as the feature progresses from time-travelling lunacy to utter monkey madness, complete with giant robots. The feature is actually very beautifully animated and the style of animation is noticeably different from the more typical Batman fare. There's been an attempt to promote this feature as being produced in Japan. And, clearly there are some Batman fans in the land of the rising sun. But, is it anime? I'm going to say -- not really. It's somewhat classic Batman with the flavor of anime -- not unlike Batman: Gotham Knight. Overall, I enjoyed the feature and I would give Batman Ninja a 3 out of 5.
