Batman: Soul of the Dragon

Whatever reviews you read I hope you'll give this movie a try. Sure, it may not be a perfect movie, and it may be a mostly Bruce Wayne movie, or even a Bruce Wayne and Friends movie, but to say this is a bad movie would be a lie. So many different nods to different genres and history brought together with good animation that is reminiscent of 70s plus add 70s kung fu music to the mix and you have a really unique story with a unique ending that promises some amazing things.

From the cheeky Bond-esque pre-credits sequence, through the Enter the Dragon pastiche theme music, to one character's very impressive Afro, this animated movie is a mishmash of (and love letter to) 1970s action/exploitation. Richard Dragon (voiced by Mark Dacascos) is now Asian - and a dead-ringer for Bruce Lee, Ben Turner/Bronze Tiger (Michael Jai White) looks like a cross between Jim Kelly and Shaft, whilst James Hong's O-Sensei looks and sounds like he should be offering enigmatic advice to David Carradine. It's also nice to see Sir Edmund Dorrance/King Snake (Patrick Seitz) making his first (as far as I know) animated appearance. For the rest of the featured cast we have Kelly Hu as Lady Shiva, Jamie Chung as Jade Nguyen (aka Cheshire), Grey DeLisle as Lady Eve, and Josh Keaton as Jeffrey Burr/Kobra, all of whom do a fine job. David Giuntoli however doesn't quite nail Bruce Wayne/Batman, sadly, compounded by the fact that whilst there's a good reason for Bruce Wayne being in this story, there's no reason whatsoever for Batman to be there (with every completely shoehorned Batsuit-up being eye-rollingly pointless). But the fight choreography is (unsurprisingly) very good, as is the score throughout.

This is a standalone movie, although the ending sets up for a sequel/resolution (to the extent that I'm surprised this wasn't marketed as a 'part one'). Interesting for a one-time watch, but not one I'd buy. 6/10.

As a Batman movie this is a two star experience at best. If you strip off the costume it isn't half bad. They shouldn't misuse the Bat brand this way - especially when the movie could stand by its own right.

Batman: Soul of the Dragon is direct by Sam Liu and written by Jeremy Adams. Batman, Bronze Tiger, Lady Shiva, and Richard Dragon join forces when they come to realize that they share a common acquaintance. The Martial Arts Master that trained them has been missing for a number of years and under mysterious circumstances. When a cursed relic resurfaces, the mystery of their dead master re-opens and Batman and his former classmates must face-off in the ultimate test of their Martial Arts skills to gain control of this dangerous relic. This movie set in the 70s and I love Asian Martial Arts. This movie is more focused on Bruce Wayne than Batman. This feels like a mix of James Bond and Bruce lee's movie. There are a lot of action-packed scenes but a lack of character development and feelings, which is one of the main negative points. Also, the story is very predictable and flat. When comes to Asian movies or dramas they heavily focused on feelings and this movie lacks feelings, live adaptation of Mulan also had the same problem. I do not strongly recommend this movie. If you are a fan of batman and animation it's ok.

Everything about this movie screams 70's! From the retro-style Warner Brothers animation logo I knew I was in for a treat. This movie is obviously very inspired by Enter the Dragon, 70's era James Bond, and Dennis O'Neil Batman comics.

Bruce Timm's animation style looks amazing as always.

The Kung fu sequences throughout are great, and the movie makes good use of flashbacks.

Also for a movie with Batman in the title, Batman is barely in this movie. This is very much a Bruce Wayne story which is also unique.

Glad the 2021 movie season started on a high note!