Official Synopsis
Hidden atop a secret mountain stronghold lies the League of Shadows and its fearless leader, Ra’s al Ghul. Together with his equally dangerous daughter Talia, he oversees a trained army of assassins with plans for global domination. But an uprising from within the league now threatens to shift the balance of power and sends Talia and her young son, Damian, fleeing to Gotham City. With assassins on their trail, Talia seeks the protection of Batman, who, unbeknownst to him, is the boy’s father. With his son in tow, Batman wages war against the villain Deathstroke and the League of Shadows, all while teaching his headstrong boy that one can’t fight crime by becoming a criminal. With help from Gotham’s finest, including Commissioner Gordon and Nightwing, Batman will soon discover that his son and most trusted ally are one and the same!
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The movie doesn’t pull its punches and you get that right from the beginning.
The story begins with Ra’s al Ghul’s League of Shadows being infiltrated by forgotten League son, Deathstroke. Our antagonist takes out al Ghul (no seriously, he dies this time) and tries to take out his daughter, Talia, and Talia’s son Damian — but is unsuccessful. The entire opening sequence really sets the tone, as it’s just brutal sequence after brutal sequence with the destruction of Ra’s al Ghul’s league, complex and family. You also firmly understand Deathstroke’s intentions/anger and place in the overall story. He is pretty darn defined as our lone antagonist, which says a lot when you think of Ra’s al Ghul’s place in the Batman universe.
From that point, the story shifts. Not wanting to see the only lineage to the al Ghul family die, Talia turns to Damian’s father for help, which is Batman. Batman is given the responsibility to keep him safe, but struggles with keeping him in line due to Damian’s unwavering need for revenge against Deathstroke. Independent, pubescent and full of rage, Damian doesn’t let anyone get in his way to take down Deathstroke — even Batman or Nightwing.
The climax of the film really is the best part and delivers what the setup promises. You have an enormous fight between Damian and Deathstroke with a little bit of Batman sprinkled into the mix. It’s vicious, unforgiving and worth the time to get there.
I didn’t know what to think of this movie before watching it, as the entire concept of Batman having a son seemed to me ‘odd’ at best. But the film really does get going when Damian made it to Batman’s life. You get to see Damian’s rage fully coming to fruition. It’s justified rage and the growth of it heading towards the climax of the movie seems to make sense in the context of the story.
Writer Joe R. Lansdale does a superb job with properly getting the acts evenly balanced and fit perfectly together. All the characters are developed the way they should be, especially when it comes to the relationship between Batman and Damian. You get a good sense of individuality between the two characters, but also some sense of a budding relationship. That relationship never really merges into one, which is okay because the way the two characters are built it shouldn’t be a partnership, rather only an understanding. I like that part of the script, as it was handled within the world that was built.
Overall, the entire film worked and it was fun to watch. I hope there is a sequel somewhere in the future because I want to see both characters back in action together somewhere in the DC/Batman universe. Of course, with the same amount of viciousness found in Son of Batman.
In short, if you’re a fan of The Dark Knight Returns, Under the Red Hood or any of the Justice League animated films then you’ll find this one right up your alley.
On the Blu-ray side of the film, you get some really gorgeous visuals. The animation is smooth and seamless. The colors are perfectly clean, crisp and clear. There is absolutely no graininess or artifacts, which is pretty much the norm for any carefully transferred animation these days (see Disney for example). It’s nice to see that DC and Warner Home Video did a great/careful job with this one, and pretty much every DC released production. Anyway, you won’t be disappointed with the visuals one bit.
The audio comes to you in 5.1 Dolby Digital and the aspect ratio is delivered in 1.78:1.
As for the special features, here’s what you should expect:
· Featurette – “The Fang and the Demon Head: The League of Assassins”
· Featurette – “Strange Blood Tie: Damian Wayne”
· A Sneak Peek at the next DCU Animated Movie – Batman: Assault of Arkham
· From the DC Comics Vault – 4 Bonus Cartoons
This is a solid set of features and extras for what is already a great Blu-ray release. The two min featurettes give you some strong perspective of director Ethan Spaulding and writers James Robinson/Joe R. Lansdale’s intentions with Son of Batman. Plus you get some nice info about the story. A bit more details always helps things.
In addition to the featurettes, you also get a nice sneak peek of Batman: Assault of Arkham and four additional bonus cartoons (you’ll find those out on your own).
All in all, a really strong set of features for a great film.