Batman: Soul of the Dragon

This was a mediocre Batman movie. Apart from the fact that Batman is barely in it (there's much more screen time with Bruce and the rest of the team), I didn't really care about the characters and story.

The one positive is that it shows some background on Bruce's martial arts training and elaborates on why he can beat up a lot of bad guys, but other than that it was pretty generic and forgettable.

It seemed like they just wanted to team him up with Bruce Lee and Jim Kelly, so they set it in the 70s. There's a move Richard does in the movie that makes it obvious they modeled him after Bruce Lee (with a bit of James Bond thrown in).

Ultimately I didn't care about the good guys or the villain, or even Batman himself, which is a shame because there have been much more interesting Batman animated movies.

Give this one a pass unless you're a hardcore Batman animated fan and want to watch them all.

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.

Just read the other positive reviews, they sum it up well. This was really a surprise homage to all the 70's kung fu and spy flicks. Not something you see in live cinema anymore thats for sure.

Sure it wasn't perfect. But for anyone thats watched enough films from the 70's early eighties.. will dig this enough that its a good once watch. Some DC animated films I've rewatched a few times. But the stories were much more complex than this and they were better films. I've seen them all.. so in comparison from the worst DC animated films to the best this one sits at a solid 6.5 But I'll give it an edge to push back a little against negative reviews. Tho i can understand why a younger generation wouldn't like this one or understand the context as much unless they were a kung fu film fan. Also, No idea why this was rated R.. I've seen so many PG-13 films with tons more blood and violence than this had.. And I think if they did add more to the violent aspect of sword fights and killing by beating to death, it would have shown this was a film meant for the older DC animated film viewers. So far none of the R rated DC animated films have really taken advantage of that yet.. The Killing joke being the best example and the worst example of animation.. This film had the classic 90's animation but spruced up for the quality of animation standards today, same style tho.

Overall, it's a decent movie. It's not DC's best animated movie and definitely isn't their worst, but it's solid for what it is. The plot is simple and straightforward: the heroes try to save the world from an evil cult, nothing more and nothing less. I appreciate the fact that they made it an homage to 70s action movies; mixing in elements from the martial arts, spy, and blaxploitation films of that era; especially given that the main characters in the film came from that same era. But keep in mind, like Assault on Arkham, it's a Batman movie in name only and focuses more on the other lesser known characters, as this movie is basically a "Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter" movie featuring Batman. So if you're looking for yet another Batman movie out of the dozens we already have, you might be disappointed. But if you're looking for a movie that expands on a different corner of the DCU, this might be up your alley.

Watching this, ask yourself...if it was a different character than Bruce Wayne/Batman, would you even notice? I don't think so. It's like they just decided to make one of the protagonists Batman as an afterthought. The animation is up to par, the voice acting is good, the choreography of the fights scenes is excellent. The cast is, quite frankly, awesome! Especially Michael Jai White. He channels Black Dynamite, all over again. James Hong is, as always, a treasure. Mark Dacascos proves he is wonderful as a voice artist, and still sounds youthful. Kelly Hu ads a 70's self-sufficient women's lib vibe that is perhaps the most bad ass character in the ensemble. The only misstep is David Giuntoli (Grimm) as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Oh, he's good, but not a good fit for Batman. Or maybe it's that the Batman character is not a good fit for this story? Either way, something feels off about it. Don't get me wrong, it's a good animated movie, and a fun diversion in these trying times. But is it really a Batman movie? I don't really think so.