Mini review: Batman vs Robin

Well, you can remember my opinion of Son of Batman, IT F*CKING SUCKS so not surprisingly given DC’s track record, it got a sequel Batman vs Robin. Sort of the Based on Scott Snyder’s the Court of Owls stories, also sort of based on some other stories that have come out from Batman’s line on the New52, whilst also telling an original story, you can tell this story is going to be a bit of a mess. Having said that it’s a marked improvement over Son of Batman. Spoilers to follow

The story begins with Robin having run away, again, to find a guy who takes the guise of the doll-maker. The motivation of the doll-maker in this is… odd to say the least, somewhat of a cross between Humpty Dumpty and Professor Pyg. Yes, they even use the term ‘dollotron.’ This is the wrong villain for this, the imagery of Batman fighting the children is discomforting to say the least. Batman does eventually use knock at gas so the fight doesn’t last long, but only because Damian’s gone after the Dollmaker, he really should’ve used that straight off the bat (if you’ll forgive the pun)

So the Dollmaker’s killed by a Talon in front of Damian. Batman arrives and seeing a batarang Robin had used in the ground, assumes Robin killed him despite the fairly obvious problem that THERE’S NO BLOOD ON IT! Yeah, a lot of the movie is dedicated to exploring the complex relationship between Bruce and Damian, something they didn’t really do in Son of Batman, kudos

So the killer is a Talon, a member of the court of owls, Bruce first heard of them when his father told the poem to him at night… Bet he slept well. Like in the comics Bruce attempted to search for the court but came up empty-handed.

So Robin tries to sneak out and… you realise that could’ve killed him, right? An electrified grid atop a tall wall? Why not use anti-climb paint? And then we have the moral stuff, you remember that “you need to do what’s right because it’s right and that’s the only reason you need” stuff from the last film? To my annoyance it’s still here. Injustice: God’s Among Us got it right, Under the Red Hood got it right, hell Batman: Forever got it right (a bit hypocritical given that it’s line with the Burton movies but...) he doesn’t kill because he’s walking a knife’s edge over becoming his enemies.

It’s not some grandiose moral code to make him in his mind better than his enemies; it’s self-restraint to avoid becoming them. Few writers of late seem to understand this. But anyway, the Talon presents himself to Damian, giving him an offer to join him to eradicate crime in Gotham… It’s a subplot that becomes the sticking point between Damian and Bruce for the majority of the film. Damian’s frustrations are valid, but Bruce’s are equally valid and it plays upon their personalities well.

Then we have Dick Grayson, once again his role here is rather superfluous to the overall story, although at least this time he has some stints with action. We see him fight and it looks fantastic. Really though, he gets a few interactions with each of the characters, but he doesn’t say or do anything that couldn’t have been done without him, which is a great pity really.

Speaking of the action. The animation style they’ve chosen excels from an action perspective we really do feel the action. With the Talon’s involved, the fighting is a lot more brutal, Bruce gets his ass handed to him on several occasions, the Talon’s are shown to be a genuine threat (the first time, the second time, less so but still a threat)

Of course since they didn’t want to make Nightwing’s character deliberately involved in the story, they scrapped the circus origin for the Talons and just made them proteges found on the street or something. The liquid is no longer connected with Mr Freeze, so we don’t get his terrible origin in this story. 

I also applaud this movie for doing something I have seen a few times in comics but ultimately not so much in animation, dating the villain. We see it with Jezebel Jet in Batman RIP in the comics, and you could put arguments for Talia fulfilling this role in the Dark Knight Rises (Although I’d say not really) here it’s not given nearly enough development, and the fact is Bruce claims to have suspected her early on rather hampers it. Worse still there’s no out of masks confrontation between the two. She’s killed by Talon as the climax nears. Speaking of which, they’re also in a relationship, which actually has some history and standing behind it, making us more invested in it.

Nice tie-backs into the comic, the maze of the owls is featured (although the way his allies find him so conveniently bothers me) and we get to see the Damian Batman featured in some of Grant Morrison’s works, it was a nice touch. As too was the battle in the batcave, although Batman and Nightwing manage to fend off what I presume are hundreds of attacking Talons, when before Batman struggled with just 3, they are just about outmatched enough that it was believable. It lead to some great moments and was really intense.

Regarding the ending. I don’t think the message they wanted to convey was conveyed at all. I do get it, Damian needs to find himself and not just be the conflicting messages of his father and his grandfather. But… He’s a 10 year old kid! I don’t care if he beat Deathstroke in combat, I don’t care that he swam 50 miles beforehand! I don’t care that he climbed a mountain when he was 4 with a broken wrist, HE’S STILL 10 YEARS OLD! And you don’t let a 10 year-old go globetrotting on his own. Where is Talia anyway?

Overall a vast improvement over Son of Batman, but still not a herald to the DC movie line

Rating 40/100

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Images used in this review are from Batman vs. Robin and belong to their respective owners. All images in this review are subject to fair use.