BATMAN vs TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (2019)

Studio:      WB Animation/Nickelodeon
Director:    Jake Castorena
Writer:      Marly Halpern-Graser
Producer:  Ben Jones
Stars:     Troy Baker, Eric Bauza, Darren Criss, Kyle Mooney, Baron Vaughn, Cas Anvar, Rachel Bloom, John DiMaggio, Ben Giroux, Tom Kenny, Andrew Kishino, Tara Strong

Review Score:

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Summary:

Batman teams up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to stop Shredder and Ra’s al Ghul from mutating the citizens of Gotham.

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Synopsis:     Show/Hide Spoilers

While touring Powers Industrial, Barbara Gordon defends the laboratory’s scientists from an attack by Foot Clan ninjas. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arrive under a smokescreen to take over the fight. When the smoke clears, Barbara finds the turtles and ninjas gone along with a generator prototype.

As Batgirl, Barbara tells Batman about her unusual encounter. Batman connects the mysterious ninjas and turtles to a string of break-ins at Gotham City research and development laboratories.

Batman and the turtles separately discover Wayne Enterprises is the next target. The Penguin and his henchmen also arrive at the building hoping to steal an experimental cloud seeder with the intention of selling it to Gotham’s new mystery villain.

While the turtles defeat Penguin and his goons outside, Batman battles ninjas inside the lab. Shredder enters for a faceoff with Batman. Following a fight, Shredder defeats Batman using a mystical punch. Since Bruce Wayne preemptively hid the cloud seeder in Bludhaven, Shredder vanishes empty-handed.

Uncertain of their allegiance, Batman battles Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael on the street. The turtles vanish after Batman defeats them.

Shredder returns to the warehouse where captive henchman Baxter Stockman works on a machine designed to spread poison throughout Gotham. Displeased that he did not acquire the cloud seeder, Shredder’s partner Ra’s al Ghul confronts him. Robin eavesdrops as the two villains discuss their arrangement to trade Shredder’s mutagen ooze for Ra’s al Ghul’s Lazarus Pit secrets.

Shredder demonstrates the power of his ooze by testing it on one of Ra’s al Ghul’s henchmen. The henchman mutates into a wolf. Robin realizes Ra’s plans to mutate Gotham City’s population.

Batgirl regroups with Batman, who does background research on the turtles. After identifying the mutagen on one of Raphael’s sais, Batman asks Batgirl to help create an antidote.

The turtles discover through online research that Batman is a crime-fighting vigilante. The turtles infiltrate the Batcave through an underground waterway. Information on the Batcomputer confirms Batman and the turtles are fighting a common enemy.

Robin attacks the turtles. Batman interrupts with Batgirl. After realizing they are on the same side, the heroes confer on Shredder and Ra’s al Ghul’s plot.

Shredder and Ra’s al Ghul violently kill multiple guards as they infiltrate Arkham Asylum. Intending to create a distraction for Batman, Ra’s gives Joker a canister of Shredder’s ooze in exchange for the Joker venom formula. Joker uses the venom to transform Mr. Freeze, Bane, Scarecrow, Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Harley Quinn, and himself into mutant animal hybrids.

Michelangelo annoys Alfred by ordering pizza and skateboarding inside Wayne Manor. Leonardo spars with Batman. Robin teaches Raphael about Ra’s al Ghul’s League of Assassins. Batgirl and Donatello develop an antidote for the ooze.

Commissioner Gordon alerts the heroes to the break-in at Arkham Asylum. At the asylum, Batgirl and Donatello defeat Bane. Batman and Leonardo defeat Scarecrow. Robin, Michelangelo, and Raphael avoid fights with Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy.

Batman, Leonardo, Robin, Michelangelo, and Raphael confront Two-Face, Harley, and Joker. Joker explains that the venom he gave Ra’s will combine with Shredder’s ooze to make Gotham’s citizens insane as well as mutated.

Against Batman’s orders, the turtles initiate a fight with Joker. In the commotion, Joker injects Batman with the hybrid poison. Batman mutates into a monstrous bat. Batgirl and Donatello enter. Batman defeats Two-Face and Mr. Freeze, but goes into an uncontrollable rage.

The turtles battle Batman while Batgirl and Robin retrieve the dropped antidote from Joker and Harley. Michelangelo injects Batman, which turns him back to normal. Batgirl defeats Joker while Harley becomes buried under rubble. Realizing Ra’s distracted them, the heroes mention getting the antidote to the police to revert the inmates while they resume their pursuit of Shredder and Ra’s.

Having been previously contracted to correct Shredder’s failure, Penguin delivers the stolen cloud seeder to Ra’s. Ra’s leaves Shredder to pay Penguin, but Shredder has his Foot Clan take out Penguin’s henchmen instead.

Regrouping at the Batcave, the heroes formulate a plan to stop the villains from retrieving the Joker venom from Ace Chemicals. Batman tries sending the turtles home for being impulsive, but Raphael talks Batman into accepting everyone as a team.

In the Batmobile and Party Wagon, Batman, Batgirl, Robin, and the turtles battle their way past archers, ninjas, and mutant monsters. Meanwhile, Baxter completes Ra’s and Shredder’s machine for dispersing the mutagen.

Batgirl fights henchmen inside the chemical plant. Robin intimidates Baxter into surrendering. Leonardo defeats Ra’s following a swordfight that injures Donatello. Michelangelo and Donatello board the machine as it launches skyward. Raphael weakens Shredder so Batman can fight him in hand-to-hand combat.

Under Donatello’s direction, Michelangelo sabotages the machine. Debris crashes onto Shredder, knocking him into a vat of Joker venom. The heroes escape as the chemical plant explodes.

Back at the Batcave, the heroes say their goodbyes and celebrate with pizza. Later, Shredder is seen emerging from the chemical plant rubble transformed into a version of Joker.

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Review:

Batman battling Shredder. Leonardo sword-fighting Ra’s al Ghul. Ooze transforming Arkham Asylum’s infamous inmates into mutant monsters. The Party Wagon and Batmobile side by side in a high-speed faceoff against Foot Clan ninjas and League of Assassins archers. Batgirl, Robin, even Alfred reluctantly catering Michelangelo’s pizza dinner in the Batcave. With frantic fun front and center, “Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” detonates an awesome atom bomb of nonstop nostalgia bringing ear-to-ear smiles to fans of both franchises.

The only way this epic cartoon clash could have added another ring around its impressive mushroom cloud would have been to animate the turtles in their classic 80s/90s syndication style. That’s a nit not worth picking though, as this terrific team-up should be taken any way you can get it.

Based on the DC/IDW comic book miniseries by James Tynion IV and Freddie Williams II, “Batman vs TMNT” opens like crossovers featuring good guys from different IPs typically do. With a misunderstanding.

Proving New York City and Gotham coexist, at least in this universe, the turtles trek from the Big Apple to Batman’s birthplace following a trail of laboratory break-ins. Shredder has teamed up with Ra’s al Ghul on a quid pro quo plot to exchange Lazarus Pit secrets for a supply of mutagen ooze. We know why Shredder wants to dip in the pit. Ra’s needs the ooze as part of a bigger scheme to take over the city. Actually, that’s more summary than necessary. It’s all standard master plan villainy, merely a springboard to bring two worlds together before igniting wicks on the fireworks.

Having never met before, Batman and the turtles are initially unsure of each other’s allegiance. Mistaken identity regarding hero alignments may be cliché for this kind of thing, but it sets up a solid slugfest where we get to see Batman take on the turtles in a street fight. Whether we’re talking Raphael, Joker, Leonardo, or Baxter Stockman, when a matchup can be made between characters from both properties, the movie makes sure to amp up as much karate-kicking chaos as possible.

Once everyone sorts out who’s on who’s side, “Batman vs TMNT” digs deeper into its bag of toys, cleverly weaving countless nods to fans into its fiction. The film finds creative ways to work in Batman’s familiar sidekicks as well as rogues like Penguin without their inclusions feeling like they were shoehorned purely as a carousel of cameos. Benefits become great moments like Bane getting shellshocked, so to speak, when he tries doing to Donatello what he once did to Batman.

One-and-done crossovers have a tendency to try too hard to include every noteworthy character, catchphrase, or distinguishing characteristic. “Batman vs TMNT” is no exception. Yet its spirit stays so respectful of both franchises while ensuring everyone gets their due, it’s always enjoyable to simply indulge in the escapist adventure.

If there’s a criticism to be made purely to be a crabapple, it’s that “Batman vs TMNT” overdoses on so much extravagant energy, attention spans can become numb to the spectacle. Ra’s al Ghul creates a distraction for Batman that becomes one for the plot too. Wild sights and wilder fights make up the movie’s midsection, although they arguably constitute a bloated beat as far as the main storyline is concerned.

One other bit of weirdness: the film features two unnecessarily graphic bits that make it hard to recommend as “fun for the whole family.” If a viewer isn’t taller than your waist, be aware that one Foot Clan ninja dies from a bloody throwing star to the face while a sword beheads an innocent security guard. Even though “Batman vs TMNT” builds thrills on a great deal of violence, the majority qualifies as the cartoon fantasy type. These stray anomalies are out of place in this context and it’s odd that the filmmakers included them in the first place.

Otherwise, when the greatest gripes one can conjure are too much action and too much fan service, you’ve got to concede that a movie is doing everything it can to be overwhelmingly entertaining. Troy Baker has never sounded better, channeling one of the best Batman voices this side of Kevin Conroy. Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael become a bit interchangeable since fan-favorite Michelangelo bears the bulk of turtles-related content. Michelangelo’s schtick can thus be overbearing, but Kyle Mooney’s childlike personality keeps comic relief more amusing than annoying.

Even end credits exhibit extraordinary attention to detail by showcasing a series of classic Batman comics reimagined with the turtles on their covers. “Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” simply embraces the cool craziness of its concept and goes for broke, ending up as the slickest, most wall-to-wall satisfying animated DC feature since “Justice League Dark” (review here).

NOTE: There is a post-credits scene.

Review Score: 90

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