Written by Shelby-Liza Ndumbi
Nice to have you back, Cupcakes!
This is Sunday Cream where I’ll be giving my likes and dislikes/hate of movies I’ve recently finished... after three days or two weeks.
If you haven’t read my last entries, it will be posted under ‘Sunday Cream’. Last time I spoke about Chris Pine and Lindsay Lohan’s 2006 Just My Luck.
Talking about what happens when someone is unlucky while the other is very much fortunate and Fate does whatever the hell it wants.
Now, I’m back for another set of Sundays to give you Dec 19’s chosen topic... Batman Ninja 2018. Lol There is both a dubbed and subbed version for those who prefer the other language.
I’ve been waiting to talk about this one for a while, but make no mistake, it’s not all hate. If that’s the energy you felt as you read this. Honest. Yet, I do have opinions. It took me three days to complete because of what it did to me in the process. Wow. Just wow.
I thought I’d switch from live action to animated films given that’s my preferred entertainment.
There will be spoilerrrrrssss
Oof. That’s how I’m starting my thoughts lol.
Okay, seriously. I didn’t want to say too many negative things about this movie given how much I love the Batman world, but I can’t sit here and lie.
Batman Ninja is about how he; his allies and enemies are transported from modern Gotham to feudal Japan due to Bats’ confrontation with Gorilla Grodd’s Quake Engine aka time travel device that he was auctioning off at Gotham Asylum to the underworld misfits like the Joker & Harley Quinn, Bane, Deathstroke, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Penguin. Now in Japan, he must quickly adapt to his new or ancient surroundings to defeat Gorilla Grodd by fusing his fighting style with those of the past while engaging in battle with Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Red Robin (Tim Drake), Red Hood (Jason Todd), Robin (Damian Wayne), Catwoman and Alfred.
I can honestly say the team of directors and writers tried something different, they placed Batman in another environment unlike his own like the movie Batman: Gotham by Gaslight where he hunts down Jack the Ripper given the fact that the antagonist isn’t from the Gotham universe. Great film by the way.
But like I mentioned earlier, I have opinions about this film. The movie was, dare I say, good and bad. Here’s why.
My first complaint and complement are how intrigued by the movie I was at the beginning when I saw the poster. I cringed a bit, but then I smiled. Bruce Wayne is going to be a ninja! Damn, game changer I thought. Until I started the film...
When I first entered the motion picture, I was already excited by the intro of the DC brand with a katana sword. Katanas are one of my favorite weapons in the Asian world. Then, we cut to Arkham Asylum where our battle is underway, and the first thing this film did was make me dizzy. Purple is one of my fondest colors and the sky at the beginning was purple, but it made me so disoriented that I felt like collapsing.
The fact that this is how you start a movie isn’t good. Lol Anyway, the dizziness subsided a little bit, so I continued to watch regardless. I didn’t expect to get woozy during a Batman film, it felt nonsensical.
3D animation isn’t the preferred medium people are used to seeing because not too many anime’s can stylize their entertainment and become groundbreaking popular like: RWBY. Others who aren’t as well-known are: Levius (series), Cagaster of an Insect Cage (series), Revisions (series) and more. I’m trying to watch as many as possible, they are just as good as 2D ones.
This is my more positive comment...
Batman Ninja is an example of a 3D anime being overflowingly noticeable and it’s well deserved given the different setting and storyline that accompanies Bruce Wayne’s new adventure. The animation was great along with the effects.
However, the dizziness was just a setup for more mind-numbing woo woo later.
Batman Ninja gave me a lot more pain than I thought. In total, I got two headaches and a woozy brain. No joke. This movie did something no other has done, brain damage for a week. Lol
The other two mind suffering moments was later in the film that I had to stop the movie, twice, once it got intense.
*Coughs. I’m not saying that would happen to you guys...
The second BIG negative this movie did was the character designs and personalities. Oh Lord! Help me.
I completely understand that when you sketch a character to fit a specific time period like feudal Japan, there will be some tweaks made to the group of characters. But what the actual hell happened to Damian Wayne (Robin) and Jason Todd (Red Hood)’s designs and personalities in the meeting room??
Why?
When we first encounter Batman’s other allies aside from Catwoman and Alfred, who are already seen throughout the start, we meet the first four Robins - Nightwing (Dick Grayson), Red Robin (Tim Drake), Red Hood and Robin.
I was absolutely flabbergasted when Damian showed up on screen looking like he got a haircut from a three-year-old using an electric razor in the dark for the first time. I can’t...
It wasn’t only his hair, but his personality was switched. Whoever that was on screen was NOT Damian Wayne. Nope, sir, madam. No. I didn’t know who the hell I was looking at cuz that wasn’t Damian.
The youngest Wayne sibling in the Batman family is cold, has a dark sense of humor, unfiltered, skilled in combat, brooding, yet attentive, caring, remarkably funny, and badass. He was raised by a legion of assassins since birth and doesn’t know how to be around other people, but letting the audience see his growth from the movies Son of Batman to Justice League Dark: Apokolips War shows how much more of a loving character he can be. That he can keep expanding and still be himself. It’s because I know who he is that his Batman Ninja version isn’t valid. This is not just from me though lol.
Oh, I didn’t forget that he was given a monkey sidekick who’s just as strange as him... …
I did like its name, Monkichi. Sort of.
As for Jason, well, he had this odd covering on his head. It was to cross-reference his mask in the film Batman: Under the Red Hood where he is first introduced from my knowledge. But it was beyond shocking seeing him talking and fighting with that thing on.
He looked like a breathing human lamp.
And what’s even more out of character is that Jason fought with fans instead of with his guns and hand-to-hand combat. And yes, I remember they’re in ancient Japan, but since many of their items were transported, like the Batmobile, why didn’t his guns? Hmm. Oh well. I do have less notes on Jason compared to Damian. That was an utter mess.
But, and it’s a big butt, I did like Catwoman (Selina Kyle), Harley Quinn *of course, Poison Ivy, Nightwing, Red Robin, a bit of the Joker, Alfred and Batman’s designs. Those were amazing. No complaints, just props.
My third note would have to be something other fans have brought up and that’s the Mechas, robot monsters in ancient Japan. Honestly, I don’t have a huge problem with that, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be discussed.
Mechas (or robots) are giant metal suits humans use to fight bigger enemies which are abnormal creatures. Aquarion, Blue Gender, Aquarion Evol, the Gundam series, 86-Eighty-six, Schwarzes Marken, Suisei no Gargantia, Darling in the Franxx are a few of the anime’s I can name off the top of my head where people battle using Mechas.
This movie had those too during a scene towards the end where Batman and all his allies, including the ones he made in feudal Japan, march on Grodd for the final confrontation and go back home after retrieving parts of the Engine Quake (time travel device) from the underworld misfits earlier in the film.
Like I said, I didn’t really complain. I liked the designs of the machines, but I did question why they were there during that time period. Yes, I’m the one who said their objects got transported along with them, but I said that about Jason’s guns, not Mechas.
They incorporated future technology into the 15th or so century. People did find that weird. I found it misplaced, not bad.
And while we’re talking about ‘not bad’ things before I change my mind, I’m not even going to prolong the so-called Batman prophecy the feudal ninja individuals hit Bruce in the face with.
I was like “What?”
Moving on.
My ending thoughts on the film, including the dizziness and headaches, is... I don’t hate the movie, but I think it could have done so much better. Stop the “because it’s our film, we can add whatever we want” bullcrap. There needs to be some sense. Please...
Another side thought about Joker: Anyone who has seen this entertainment, I think Joker looks like every crack ass antagonist who attempts that Naruto run and gets up like some foreign alien with no arms. Breaking their backs... lol
Well, with all honesty, I’m giving this animated film a 7/10 rating.
Generous given the pain it gave me. Ha..
You can comment below if you’d like!