Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles review: Both fun and dark

Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles delivered a fun but dark ride for the viewers.

At last we have Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This is the animated adaption of the Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles six-issue series. Almost four years ago, DC Comics and IDW Publishing gave us an outrageous cross-over comic. The comic knocked us back and the direct-to-video movie does the same, if not more.

Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles follows the over-all premise of the comic-book, with some changes and allocation for time. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are in Gotham City, looking for Shredder and the Foot Clan who has stolen some mutagen. Meanwhile, Batman is investigating these break-ins from ninjas into many lab facilities across the city. Eventually this leads to the two forces colliding. Meanwhile, Ra’s al-Ghul is working with The Shredder for some nefarious scheme for Gotham City.

Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles offers this unique twist as far as most direct-to-video movies go. The setting has something of an ’80s to ’90s vibe, but not excessive nor over-the-top. One feels you could go from the old ’80s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon or Batman: The Animated Series to this. These Ninja Turtles borrow a little from everywhere. You have the Foot Clan with the purple outfits of the old cartoon, but they are deadly ninjas. The Shredder is actually threatening and force you must reckon with. You have Baxter Stockman the fly, but less whiny.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bring along plenty of humor, especially with Michelangelo. Batman meanwhile continues to always play it straight and cold. It is these two countering forces that drives most of the humor throughout the piece. Alfred especially adds to this and other scenes that just drive The Shredder’s anger. Nowhere does the humor even feel forced or just padding to drive up that 84 minute time length. A part of the charm of the film is these laughs to film continues to offer.

You can have action movies sometimes where you have so much action it becomes dull. You basically have action scenes blocked with exposition scenes. Technically, Batman VS Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles kind of has this structure. Luckily, the film does not suffer from visual noise. What makes this movie great is how fun and exciting the action is. Who wins in this fight? The Batman or The Shredder? It looks like Batman, but no, maybe it will be The Shredder. You have suspense, crazy fight choreography and such that makes big budget, live-action blockbusters look like Super Friends. The action is kinetic as it keeps the characters and the viewers moving. The characters utilize their surroundings within their environments. You almost never know who’s going to fight who next and how it will go.

Strangely, there is some dark stuff. Now the film has a PG-13 Rating simply for fantasy violence. No, do not censor the film from your children. However, there are plenty of off-screen deaths. The Mutagen Arkham Inmates are a grabber, especially hearing Tara Strong’s Harley Quinn come out of that… thing. You have a vivid fear toxin scene and a decent amount of manslaughter from the villains. By no means is this a black mark on the film, just a bit of a surprise. One moment you are getting a laugh out of Michelangelo, cut and we see The Shredder impaling a man. If anything, this helps balance the movie out from being perhaps too silly. Plus, it is nice to see that it does take the villains seriously.

The Blu-ray/DVD release of Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles has some basic special features. These include behind the scenes with the concept and storyboarding the action sequences. You have the director, artists and voice actors discussing the topics. On top of this is a behind-the-scenes look at Batman: Hush. Overall, the special features are rather minimal.

Turns out all the lights just like Batman, order yourself a pizza and put this movie on. You will have so much fun, jumping, holding your breath and shouting as you have a blast with this stellar cross-over!