Son of Batman Review/Thoughts

Son of Batman is DCAU's 20th direct-to-video release. It is based off of Grant Morrison and Andy Kubert's 2006 storyline Batman and Son. This is the first film set in the continuity started by Justice League:War and in my opinion Son continues the trend of mediocrity started by War. DCAU has produced much better films than this, but there are some bright spots. Here is my spoiler free thoughts and my review with some minor spoilers.

What I Liked:

• Damian and Bruce's interactions
• David McCullum's spot-on Alfred
• Damian vs. Deathstroke Pts. 1+2
• Killer Croc and Nightwing Cameos 
• Deathstroke's raid on The League of Assassins 
• Damian's characterization
• Mature Humor- Lots of sex jokes
• Brutal and Bloody Battles
• Old Robin vs. New Robin

What I Disliked:

• A watered-down Deathstroke voiced by Thomas Gibson
• Morena Baccarin's voice acting of Talia
• Deathstroke's "Master Plan"
• Batman's fight with Deathstroke
• League of Assassins are easier to kill than ants
• Still not digging Jason O'Mara as Batman

Review with Minor Spoilers:           

          The highlights of this film all come from it's title character the Son of Batman, Damian. He is vengeful like his father, but Damian is willing to go a step further and kill. This aspect of Damian causes much of the antagonistic relationship between him and his father. Batman has never had to deal with a Robin like Damian before nor has he ever been a biological father. So best parts of the movie come from Batman guiding his son down the path of justice.

          Speaking of Papa Batman by the way, he likes to get down. He finally admits he likes sex. In fact there are a fair amount of funny sex jokes through the film. Dick talks about how Bruce always lectured him about using protection. Deathstroke calls Batman, Damian's "sperm donor". This humor is much more mature than most other DC animated projects and I hope that trend continues.

          The fighting between Deathstroke and Damian is bloody, brutal, and unforgiving. Which is great, except it leads to the real letdown of the film, when Batman fights Deathstroke. Their fight lasts maybe 20 seconds and Deathstroke is easily defeated. This water-down version of DC's greatest assassin gets his ass handed to him by pretty much everyone. Not to mention, he ends up running away from most of his encounters. Thomas Gibson's voice didn't help matters much either. He sounds like a cheap James Earl Jones rip-off. I was waiting the entire film for him to tell Damian he owns all the land the light touches and not to go to the elephant graveyard.

          Besides the lackluster battle between Batman and Deathstroke, what really was disappointing is Deathstroke's plan. He wanted to create an army of ninja man-bats. It was a nifty idea that was easily defeated by Batman throwing a few batarangs that produce sonar. Thank God, Damian had to fight Deathstroke a second time in the climax or it would have been Batman's easiest victory in all of his DCAU outings. 

          Overall this is a mediocre film for DCAU standards. You won't be saying that this film is better than the Dark Knight Returns or Flashpoint Paradox anytime soon. But for all it's flaws, this is not a bad film by any means. Damian is the saving grace. His personality provides plenty of action and humor. I give Son of Batman an 7 out of 10.

The film has yet to be released on Blu-ray, but has been made available for digital downloading. Get your Blu-Ray or DVD copy, May 6th.