Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review

About 10 years ago or so, straight-to-DVD content was one of the big buzzwords around Hollywood, and we started getting blessed with tons of straight-to-DVD films.  It was a boon to us comic book nerds, because they started cranking out a ton of straight-to-DVD animated films based on classic superheroes.  I was to run out and buy a lot of them...specifically the DC ones put out by Warner Brothers.  I started tapering off about five or six years ago, as I felt they were getting kinda repetitive.  But, occasionally one will come along where I just have to snatch it up.  And that's the case right now with....

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Directed by Jake Castorena

Starring the voices of Troy Baker, Darren Criss, Kyle Mooney, Baron Vaughn, Eric Bauza, Rachel Bloom, Andrew Kishino, and Cas Anvar.

Backstory

Batman and the TMNT have become quite the team-up over the past few years.  It all started in 2015, when IDW and DC Comics partnered to do a mini-series crossover comic.  It was so well-received, it spawned two sequels and a spinoff taking its cues from their respective animated series.  It even led to the Turtles being playable characters in Injustice 2.  So it didn't take long before Warner Brothers Animation went, "Hey!  This is so popular, why don't we do it as one of our straight-to-DVD animated films?"  And here we are.

Plot

There's a new player in Gotham City...a mysterious ninja clan with a fighting style unfamiliar to Batman.  And they seem to have brought four reptilian men with them.  It turns out the Ninja Turtles have tracked the Foot Clan to Gotham City, as the Shredder has gained a powerful new ally in one of Batman's rogues.  It's not long before the Caped Crusader and the Heroes in a Half-Shell cross paths, and they decide to join forces to stop this unholy alliance of Shredder and...Ra's Al Guhl.  But, Batman's grim and serious manner doesn't mesh well the Turtles' youthful and impulsive tactics.  Will Batman and the TMNT be able to put aside their differences?  What is the Shedder and Ra's Al Guhl plotting for the city?

What I Liked

The voice acting, as always, is top notch.  Troy Baker becomes the first to voice both Batman AND the Joker in an animated project, and the voices he uses are such a close match to Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill that you'll wonder why they just didn't get them.  There's a great humour to it, and they come up with some great pairings between the Turtles and the various members of the Batman family.  One of the highlights of the original  comic -- Shredder using the ooze on Arkham Asylum, and our heroes having to fight off mutated versions of Batman's rogues -- is a standout fight sequence here.  And it's just chock-full of Easter eggs, as the animators re-create many famous shots from the Ninja Turtle franchise.

What I Didn't Like

At the end of the day, it's a pretty formulaic superhero team-up plot.

Final Verdict

A very fun superhero offering, and absolutely delightful if you're a fan of Batman and/or TMNT.  I picked it up on Blu-Ray, but another reason why I stopped buying these is they pop up on Netflix soon enough.  I suggest you check it out.

3 Nibs