DC Universe - Batman Versus Robin

[Two-Face]

You guys forgot about Ben mckenzie who voiced Batman in Year One animated film. I thought he was not good at all. Roger Craig Smith was good as Batman but his Bruce Wayne voice was same as Batman.

 

[Slade W]

You guys forgot about Ben mckenzie who voiced Batman in Year One animated film. I thought he was not good at all. Roger Craig Smith was good as Batman but his Bruce Wayne voice was same as Batman.

I agree. Ben didn't suit Batman or Bruce Wayne at all.

 

[Primal Slayer]

Overall it was a good movie. Nice to see Nightwing have more to do even though he seemed to get his butt handed to him by everyone he fought. The fight scenes though...were REALLY intense. Clearly times have changed since Wonder Womans dtv.

Though I really find the animation to be lacking, especially when it comes to character design, they are just really boring and not creative. Talon looked like a beefed up Dick Grayson outside of his uniform. I felt like YJ had higher quality animation and designs.

But all these Batman movies always keep me yearning for them to use the actual Bat family and have a movie centered around them. All these films and Batgirl hasn't been in one, Oracle, Robins who aren't Damien, Catwoman. I want these characters used.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

1.) Kevin Conroy
2.) Roger Craig Smith
3.) Bruce Greenwood (he just needs to show his anger a bit more)
4.) Ben Mackenzie (also needs a bit more anger)
5.) Rino Romano
6.) Anthony Ruivivar (meh)
7.) Diedrich Bader (ugh)
8.) Jason O'Mara (makes Batman sound like John McCain)

I'd love for Brian Bloom to try his hand at it.

 

[Tatsumarushinob]

I enjoyed Batman vs Robin quite a lot. More than I expected to be fair. In my opinion, as DC's follow up to Throne of Atlantis, and as a sequel to Son of Batman, it's superior. I'm not sold on Batman's voice though.

 

[Destructus86]

I'd rather have Sam L Jackson voice Batman.

"Enough is enough! I have had it with these mother*****ing villains in MY mother*****ing city!! I'm BATMAN, ya dig???"

 

[Demon Hunter]

It was a good movie, better than Throne of Atlantis and Son of Batman for sure. Unlike the previous ones, they didn't butcher the source material as much.

These new 52 movies never feel as there are any stakes in them and the voice acting is definitely getting worse than before. DC's New Animation department seem to worship violence, however, no characters ever die or get injured for more than 5 minutes.

The animation style, though, is my biggest problem. It's just too Anime and the characters look to much alike. Just like in Japan Animes, characters always seem to use the same basic designs, which is kinda lame as it kills the imagination of the comic books.

I definitely hope they'll get back to Assault on Arkham, Dark Knight Returns, Under the Red Hood and Flashpoint Paradox quality of animations.

Throne of Atlantis is probably the worst adaptation of a comic book they've made and I'm afraid they'll keep on going with this New 52 trend

 

[BobJM]

Wow I enjoyed this quite a bit. My favorite of the New 52 bunch.

Pleasantly surprised

 

[Pantera]

I've been holding off on this, Son Of Batman might be the worst animated Batman film ever (animation/voice acting/story all sucked), and that team sadly made this...

Should I give in or ignore it?

It´s not great. The characters lack depth, the story is poorly developed, the voices and animation are average at best, court of owls isn´t interesting, action scenes get tedious by the end, the movie feels too long for an animation. It´s watchable, and has some interesting moments, but that´s pretty much it.

That being said, i the last years i only truly liked the TDKR animated movies. Everything else lacks charm.

 

[Destructus86]

It was a good movie, better than Throne of Atlantis and Son of Batman for sure. Unlike the previous ones, they didn't butcher the source material as much.

These new 52 movies never feel as there are any stakes in them and the voice acting is definitely getting worse than before. DC's New Animation department seem to worship violence, however, no characters ever die or get injured for more than 5 minutes.

The animation style, though, is my biggest problem. It's just too Anime and the characters look to much alike. Just like in Japan Animes, characters always seem to use the same basic designs, which is kinda lame as it kills the imagination of the comic books.

I definitely hope they'll get back to Assault on Arkham, Dark Knight Returns, Under the Red Hood and Flashpoint Paradox quality of animations.

Throne of Atlantis is probably the worst adaptation of a comic book they've made and I'm afraid they'll keep on going with this New 52 trend

Good points.
I just can't get into the New 52 stuff at all...and I don't even know why.

 

[Pfeiffer-Pfan]

It's no secret that I haven't been the biggest supporter/advocate of this DTV line since Bruce Timm stepped down over two years ago. The projects released since his departure have all been fine efforts, but were severely lacking in many areas and just seemed to be going through the motions. Outside of the few undeniable bright spots (The Flashpoint Paradox, Assault on Arkham), my interest has been slipping more and more. I keep hoping Tucker and Co. will find solid, consistent footing soon and so far this year, they seem to be doing just fine.

The most important thing I can say about this movie is that, without a shadow of a doubt, it is much, much better than Son of Batman (a movie that has only gotten worse on repeated viewings). If you can, dismiss last year's dismal opening act and approach Batman vs Robin with fresh eyes. The film is highly effective in pushing the story forward, while giving us more time to spend with some of our favourite characters. As with most of these productions, the story is rushed, thanks to both a restricted budget and truncated running time, but it gets the job done for the most part.

As the movie opens, we see Robin living up to his father's own nickname as ''world's greatest detective'', by hunting down the latest creep due to face justice (''not vengeance''). There's kids in cages, others as monsters/doll hybrids and a suitably eerie version of The Doll-Maker, who thinks he's helping the kids in his own twisted way. Basically, the usual stuff these DTV's have been trying to get away with lately. Despite much bravado from the Boy Wonder, the Doll-Maker is ultimately dealt with by a new face to the party... the mysterious and deadly Talon. Thus, Robin's curiosity is peaked and he goes on a tumultuous journey to find himself and the film throws implied sex, violence and swearing at us along the way.

The script isn't perfect, but at least J.M. DeMatteis tries to infuse the film with some humour, heart and personality, amidst all the fighting and grumpy Batman moments (Boy, did Bats give Alfred a hard time in this one). The Court of Owls weren't as creepy as they could've been, but their essence was captured pretty successfully in the adaptation process, giving it enough fresh spins to keep it interesting for us comic book readers. The one thing I was glad they wisely decided against was The Talon being Bruce's half brother... it brought the story down a notch in the comics and it would have done the same here.

The animation was simply stunning. Once again, Jay Oliva proves why he is a master in this field and turns out another great, slick looking animated feature on a ridiculous budget. You can see his fingerprints all over this one, especially with the fight choreography. The fights were wonderfully staged and highly dynamic without getting into ridiculous animé territory. There were a few moments that stretched believability when Batman staring falling from great heights and magically getting up again in seconds, but those are easily overlooked. It's the small touches, like when Batman hesitates to hug the child in the beginning of the film or when Alfred questions whether or not to put his hand on a young Bruce's shoulder, that really makes the film memorable.

The 'answer-studio' delivers again, with fluidity and punch, but one complaint I do have is the way they animate mouths and mouth flaps. It's too animé influenced for my taste. It's hard to explain, but it's a small pet peeve of mine. It's particularly noticeable in the scene where Bruce is talking to the court.

The voice cast was solid across the board, except for one weakness, and it's a significant one... Jason O' Mara. As a fellow Irishman, I should be rooting for this guy, but he simply isn't doing amazing work as The Dark Knight. He's fine, but fine shouldn't be good enough for Batman. I'm not someone who demands that Kevin Conroy voice Batman in every project WB animation produces, but if you are going to replace him, at least do it with someone that's GREAT. Andrea Romano has done this time and again with Diedrich Bader, Anthony Ruivivar and even Bruce Greenwood. So how did she manage to misjudge things this time around? I know he's slowly improving, but he still sounds lethargic and bored in his line readings. He was completely lacking in the ''Get the **** out of my cave'' bit. What should have sounded bad-ass, just sounded like a guy trying to be bad-ass. Plus, that bit at the end when he was threatening Talon sounded a little too Wolverine-like for my taste.

Oh well, maybe I'll warm up to him as time goes on, because he's here to stay.

Special shout-out to Conroy who gave a beautifully understated performance as Thomas Wayne, especially that moment in the unsettling flashback scene.

This review sounds a little more negative than I intended it to be, but I'm just pointing out niggling flaws for the most part. You may love O'Mara and love the more animé-ish direction the animation is going, in which case... great! You'll have a ball with this one. Batman vs Robin combines a fun, intriguing story with top-notch animation/direction (Thanks again, Oliva!), to give us another exciting trip to Gotham City. It's certainly a step in the right direction and if they fix a few remaining problems, produce stronger/tighter scripts and work with O'Mara more, we could have something truly special with this continuity moving forward. Certainly if the story moves in the direction I think it is (Hint: Dick's going to have a lot more to do).

It doesn't reach the dizzying heights of Wonder Woman, Under the Red Hood or The Dark Knight Returns, but Batman vs Robin deserves a place on every fan's shelf.

 

[Lencho01]

Very surprised how entertained I was by this one. The best of their New 52 universe DTVs or whatever they want to call it.

I actually liked the animation in this one compared to their other stuff. You could see when it changed up to allow for quick movements. The fights were pretty good.

Damian was less annoying this time around for me. Though, I still think he's a bit overpowered.

I don't really know anything about the Court of Owls, so I have no opinion about them in comparison to the comics.

 

[Naked Shia]

Jay Oliva and J.m Dematteis working together...

 

[Marvin]

Surprised by how much I enjoyed his one, however note quite what I was hoping for with mention of the Court of Owls. Also still not a fan of how it's seemingly impossible to include Damien without him 'being' the whole thing. I'm also not a fan of them de-powering everyone around him in ways, particularly Dick. Though batman in this seems to have the endurance of a deadpool.

Still, that one fight scene where batman removed his mask in the cave was so lovely. From his exclaimed motivation just prior to engaging to the 'choreo'. Things have come a long way since the days of TAS season one. This makes it look like the 60's show in some ways. Not that it didn't have it's own stuff to be celebrated, but the action now is definitely something else.

I surely hope the next batman dtv has nothing to do with that kid. And if they do have the guts to do Death of the Family, I hope it comes after they take some time to develop or even introduce some of the other team first.

Would put it on par with the arkham dtv.
Still think this would all be beyond epic if they had just committed to an animated series. Both Batman and the League. Instead this half tangible continuity.

 

[LastActionHero]

The new 52 is so difficult to like for me. I'm really trying, maybe one day I will enjoy one, and I hope Batman is among them, because I can't go DC without Batman.

 

[Steamteck]

The new 52 is so difficult to like for me. I'm really trying, maybe one day I will enjoy one, and I hope Batman is among them, because I can't go DC without Batman.

I know how you feel. I would really enjoy new stories about my favorite characters. I just can;t seem to find enough of them in the new versions and end up dwelling on what has been lost in all the reboots.

 

[Slade W]

Surprised by how much I enjoyed his one, however note quite what I was hoping for with mention of the Court of Owls. Also still not a fan of how it's seemingly impossible to include Damien without him 'being' the whole thing. I'm also not a fan of them de-powering everyone around him in ways, particularly Dick. Though batman in this seems to have the endurance of a deadpool.

Still, that one fight scene where batman removed his mask in the cave was so lovely. From his exclaimed motivation just prior to engaging to the 'choreo'. Things have come a long way since the days of TAS season one. This makes it look like the 60's show in some ways. Not that it didn't have it's own stuff to be celebrated, but the action now is definitely something else.

I surely hope the next batman dtv has nothing to do with that kid. And if they do have the guts to do Death of the Family, I hope it comes after they take some time to develop or even introduce some of the other team first.

Would put it on par with the arkham dtv.
Still think this would all be beyond epic if they had just committed to an animated series. Both Batman and the League. Instead this half tangible continuity.

I would absolutely love it if they made an animated film about that.

 

[Zmandell]

For an interesting twist, in Batman vs. Superman, Robin is a female. If this was how it was portrayed in the upcoming movie--would it change your thoughts (obviously it would not be true to the books, but for humor's sake...)?

 

[Decepticonus]

First off I will say I liked Son of Batman. It wasn't great of course and is definitely lowest on the totem pole of Batman animated movies. I didn't read the comic until much later, not having really grown with it. I'm not a huge fan of the comic, it was okay, served its purpose but certainly not Year One worthy. Movie was fine, I enjoy Damian, fun to see Ra's and the inclusion of Deathstroke was a nice perk and great action.
As far as O'Mara goes, yeah not great but I'm not going to ***** about it like everyone else seems to do. He is a a young Batman, remember in this New 52 Batman, he's really young I want to say like 25 or 26. Yes, Conroy is the best but I'm open to variation, he doesn't have throat cancer and Bat Bale and I'd prefer they keep this actor since he's already 4 films in now.
I admit these movies haven't been great. JL: War was just OK, I liked the Origins comic but again even that was OK but prefer the comic. Son Of Batman I already touched on. I loved the Throne of Atlantis comic, the movie was pure crap.

Batman versus Robin I thoroughly enjoyed. My only complaint is I really wanted the entire labyrinth scene from the comic in the movie. But it borrows from the Court of Owls, The Night of Owls, Born to Kill from Batman & Robin, even a nod to Batman #666.
Because I love Damian so much I found myself rooting for him the entire time. Face it, Batman is awesome but as an actual dad, not the mentor figure but as a father... Batman sucks. The ending we got really surprised me. I assumed the ending was going to be like the killing of Nobody but replaced with Talon at best, honestly I had no clue. And the ending made sense for Damian and I liked that it wasn't a cliche' happy ending but it wrapped things up in a positive way to say the least.
It was great to see The Court of Owls. I liked this Grandmaster they had, the voices, design and everything was spot on to me. I'm glad they did not go the full route using the so-called Thomas Wayne Jr. though as much as I loved that story the ending was not that great in my opinion. I thought it would have been nice to include a nod to Freeze in how he helped with their technology for the Talons.
I think it helped that this particular movie was more inspired than based on a comic like they mentioned in the commentary. Keep in mind the Court of Owls is in the first 7 issues of New 52 Batman and then you have the City of Owls which is the following 5 issues afterwards. Plus, it has a little bit of Batman & Robin Born to Kill sprinkled in. All of this I already mentioned but I think that was the problem with the others. Plus, those were based off stories no one was asking for I feel. The Court of Owls became in a huge success given it's a story that's only 3-4 years old now, unlike Year One for example. Whereas Throne of Atlantis, which the comic I like, is the same age but not a huge success and there was no clamor to make this as a movie.

 

[Sterling Archer]

Probably their best release since Flashpoint. Still not up to par with most of their pre-Flashpoint releases. But at least this one wasn't painfully irritating like the last few.

 

[antsman41]

Finally saw this; animation was ok, the look was great, but the voice casting again was horrendous, along with the one-liners... holy were those bad.

So/so addition to the animated film catalog...

Damian should sound badass, not like a typical whiny girl-boy most kids sound like.

 

[Decepticonus]

Finally saw this; animation was ok, the look was great, but the voice casting again was horrendous, along with the one-liners... holy were those bad.

So/so addition to the animated film catalog...

Damian should sound badass, not like a typical whiny girl-boy most kids sound like.

well he's a 10-11 year old boy, he's not going to sound like Macho Man Randy Savage for god's sake.

 

[Naked Shia]

Unlike son of batman, it was actually really good. It wasn't as intense or as well written as born to kill, but it was still a good matchup of this and courot of owls. The french dubbing was mostly great, especially our french voice actor for batman, but Damian's voice was again off.

There was a really creepy vibe from both the dollmaker (although he's more the dollotronmaker here) and the court of owl. Talon's origin was bascially the wrath's, and it really worked in the context of the story.

Action was great, but that's hardly unexpected with Jay Oliva.

All in all, it was a good movie, way better than son of batman or both justice league movies.

 

[Salutations]

I re-watched this and enjoyed it as much as I did the first time around. I do thin that this is the best out of the New 52 continuity, but again, that is not saying much when compared to the other output.

If I were to rank them they would go:
1. Batman vs. Robin
2. Batman: Bad Blood
3. Justice League vs. Teen Titans
4. Justice League: Throne of Atlantis
5. Son of Batman
6. Justice League: War

The story was compelling and the fights were pretty well choreographed.