Watch ‘Batman Vs. Robin’, Maybe Just Not On Father’s Day
The title of this movie should have been “Bruce Vs Damien” or “Batman and Robin: Daddy Issues” as the main focus revolved around a father and son who kept trying to find a way around each other’s walls and insecurities. Director Jay Oliva brings over his directing experience from other DC animated movies like Batman: Under the Red Hood and Superman/Batman: Apocalypse to this adaption of the Court of Owls story arc within the Batman comics.
Jason O’Mara lent his voice to Batman/Bruce Wayne and seemed to bring a slight compassion to the character’s demeanor while Stuart Allen, who voiced Damien Wayne/Robin – brought a young, angry voice to that of the new boy wonder. The versatile Troy Baker voiced Talon, the Court of Owls primary assassin and chief antagonist of Batman, a character with a childhood background that almost runs parallel to both Batman and his son.
The movie begins with Damien arriving at some undisclosed location in the Batmobile while talking to a rather angry Batman. There had been various child abductions in Gotham and all clues had led Damien to discover that the Dollmaker had taken them. This is where the movie begins to explain the conflict between Batman and Robin is more rooted in their relationship as father and son than as partners. The movie dives in with the idea that the viewer already knows that Damien is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul and has undergone training by the League of Assassins before leaving to be with Batman. The movie wisely decides to not mire itself in explaining his origins but instead focuses on the more complex emotional relationship between father and son. Unlike his relationship to Dick Grayson/Nightwing who had nurturing parents prior to being Bruce Wayne’s ward, Damien’s entire life consisted of training to be the ultimate assassin by an emotionally distant mother and grandfather.
The story progresses further with the introduction of Nightwing as a “babysitter” for Damien while Bruce turns his attention to Samantha Vanaver who is a Gotham socialite and is heir to one of the oldest families in Gotham. Bruce expresses his idea to transform Gotham into a more modern city that’s safe for everyone. While Bruce Wayne attempts to split his attention between his son, his duties as Batman and Samantha Vanaver, his son continues to grow more distant and more distrustful of his father’s intentions and continues to maintain conflict within himself as he struggles with his assassin training and Batman’s “justice not revenge” mantra. Meanwhile the Court of Owls and Talon have decided to take back control of Gotham while expanding their influence at the same time.
The much-hyped “Batman Vs Robin” title culminates in a short battle that ends when Talon interrupts the fight. Batman’s capture later on brings the Court of Owls back into the plot as they previously kidnapped Bruce Wayne in an attempt to recruit him into their plans. Talon had made himself known to Robin and opened up himself to him in an attempt to lure out the assassin side of him. Robin’s refusal to switch sides forced Talon to realize that his best interests were not with the Court of Owls but at the head of both the Court and the army of Talons. His obsession with turning Robin into his protégé and one of the Talons creates a single minded obsession as he sees Batman as a bigger threat to his nurturing of Robin.
Talon leads an assault on Wayne Manor and the Batcave which forces Batman into a desperate bid to save his ward, Alfred and himself from the attack. He dons his power armor and goes toe to toe with the Talon army and Talon himself. Robin himself manages to escape his confinement within the Court facility and communicates with Alfred and instructs him on using the sub zero cooling system to freeze all of the remaining Talons. The final battle between Talon and Batman ends not with Batman winning but Talon who then is defeated by Robin who arrived moments after. In a final bid to twist Robin to his own ends, Talon forces the blade Robin had used against him through his throat. The movie ends with Batman and Robin coming to an understanding of their relationship before Robin departs to go on a quest to find himself. Batman suggests to Robin that it might help him to attend the same monastery that Bruce had when he needed to engage in self discovery. The final scene has Damien looking up at the monastery in the mountain before walking through the snow toward it.
The movie itself had great pacing and a nice cinematic quality to it. It’s reflected the director’s ability to maintain the action while at the same time continue to develop the narrative. As with a lot of the current DC movies, Batman Vs Robin has a grittier redesign where the heroes have injuries and bleed. One particular scene has Dollmaker’s heart torn out of his body by Talon and held out as a trophy to Robin. Another has Nightwing impaled by numerous harpoons and dragged across a floor while bleeding out. The movie is differently geared toward an adult audience and long time fans will appreciate the mature content involved. It’s definitely not a movie I’d have a child view as the violence is over the top at times. The characters could have used a bit more depth in terms of the movie and the overall arc could have benefitted from a bit more involvement. The Court of Owls seemed more of a placeholder than an actual sinister organization and the resurrection process with the Talons is never explained.
All in all, the main plot suffered from a distinct lack of focus and became disjointed toward the end of the movie. You almost feel as if they intended to have more filler and planning but only had enough time to work on the relationship between Batman and Robin and not the plot involving the Court of Owls and Talon. Regardless, I would definitely recommend this movie to a friend and look forward to the next installment of DC animated movies.
