Le fils de Batman

I feel the first thing I should mention in my user comments for this movie is that I am not a big fan of Batman - I haven't read the comics in years, and I only have a basic knowledge of the character of Batman and the other characters in the series. So I thought I might not understand what would go on in this movie. As it turned out, my basic knowledge was enough to make me understand everything that went on in this particular story. But while I found the story coherent, to some degree I was disappointed with it. The main problem I had was the whole father/son angle. It's hardly touched on at all. You would think that both father and son finding out all of a sudden that the other existed would lead to some interesting drama and character development, but that simply doesn't happen at all. The script seems more concerned with action than anything else. Now, some of the action is fairly well done, with some surprisingly violent moments that got my attention. (There is additional adult material that makes the movie probably unsuitable for younger children.) As for the animation, it is a little stiff and jerky at times, but it's well designed and catches your eye. In the end, the movie is kind of mediocre, best suited when you are in a really undemanding mood.

Probably "Son of Batman" isn't the best nor the most memorable animated flick of Batman, but that doesn't mean that it isn't important, you know? Because it's a story definitely worth to make a film adaptation, I mean...when I first knew about the existence of this movie, I tough to myself: "Wait! Batman has a son? WTF??? I have to check this out!"

I haven't read the graphic novel this movie is based on (Batman and Son), but something tells me that almost all the hate towards this film is because it's not truly faithful to it. But, as I haven't read it, it's something irrelevant for me.

But this doesn't mean that the movie has no fails. For example, a huge part of the movie is full of bloody battles, the cold attitude that Talia has even tough her father Ra's had just died (Batman fans will agree with me about the fact that Talia is truly faithful to her father and that if something happens to him, she wouldn't just throw it away).

In spite of its fails, it is a highly underrated and worth to watch, because it portrays in a very decent way the paternal side of Batman that we have never seen before.

DC's shared direct-to-video animated universe enters its second chapter with SON OF BATMAN. Taking inspiration from Grant Morrison's Batman and Son comic story arc, SON OF BATMAN reveals the illegitimate love child of Bruce Wayne and former nemesis Talia, daughter of Ra's Al Ghul, leader of the league of assassins. When the league , is betrayed by its deadliest member, Deathstroke, Talia sends her son Damien to his father in Gotham city. But Batman has much on his hands, fighting crime and handling his company's falling profits, to take care of a 10 year old. A 10 year old who hacked into NORAD when he was 6, was trained in every art of combat, and who has no qualms about bloodshed.

These clashing values and personalities should have made an intriguing study of this father father/son relationship. Here is a man who is suddenly saddled with the responsibilities of fatherhood, of balancing is double life of swinging billionaire/crime fighter with a new life of a parent which he never had. The comics delved into Bruce's lingering insecurities of a man who had his childhood taken from him on tragic night. How is he, who's own younger days were filled with grief and hatred, able to deprogram me this vengeful, angry kid that is his son?

SON OF BATMAN (the film) fails to offer any glimpse into the head of Bruce Wayne. Character study is overshadowed by wanting to move the whole ninja/assassin hostile takeover story forward. As such, we get the character development taking a backseat to the action. We do get some nice chemistry in the few scenes between Damien and Alfred, as well as budding rivalry with Nightwing. But between Batman and his son? Disappointingly flat.

Thankfully, their voice actors do their best to bring out their characters' personalities. Jason O'Mara's Batman is a nice blend between Christian Bale, without being too raspy, and a young Michael Keaton. Those who prefer Kevin Conroy's deep Batman voice would no take some time to get used to this new portrayal. Stuart Allen as Damien is the star of this show, bringing a level of professionalism to the role despite his young age. On the other hand, our villains, Ra's Al Ghul and Deathstroke, are horrible. Deathstroke especially sounds like acting in a bad school play.

Visually, SON OF BATMAN boasts artwork very reminiscent of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Not surprising since the director Ethan Spulding directed a good number of Avatar episodes. Here, he truly revels in the new PG13 rating of this film, bringing the violence to whole new levels bordering on absurdity. Characters are literally roasted, get their eyes gouged out, impaled, and blasted to bloody bits

The character designs maintain that Japanese anime look consistent with the previous JUSTICE LEAGUE: WAR feature. Level of detail is strong with deep shadows, metallic sheen and creases. TheAnswerStudio brings their "A" game to the animation production, giving generally smooth animation and character movements while maintaining the level of art detail. The only shortcoming is in crowd scenes such as the massive ninja battle that opens this movie. Animation short cuts are very obvious here.

All in all, SON OF BATMAN works better as a set up for bigger stories. Assuming BATMAN UNDER THE RED HOOD is still canon, and with Warner Premiere turning to DC's New 52 for animated adaptations, we could be seeing a whole slew of Bat-family titles on the horizon. An animated "Batman: The Court of Owls" would be epic and "Batman: Death of the Family" would serve as a powerful conclusion. An adaptation of Grant Morrison's final Batman inc chapters would be an emotionally powerful epilogue bringing the entire Damien Wayne saga to a close.

One can only hope.

The things that some characters do are so ridiculous you can't really get into the story. The story itself is all pretty rushed and there's hardly any emotion or connection between characters and plot events. Could have been so much better.

Animation was pretty decent. Nightwing, as always, is awesome.

... could have done.

The execution, the voice acting is indeed below par in places. This is true.

But I confess the story got to me. Usually any production that starts with the words "SON OF" is doomed. Literally.

But the story hooked me so I tolerated the subpar production values and actually had a fairly good time.

More than once I even wondered if somewhere out there was a producer who would find the cash to do this live action but given the audience expectations for a live action BATMAN, especially after Dark Knight, I guess that REALLY WOULD BE A FANTASY.