Son of Batman (2014)

Batman learns he has a violent, unruly pre-teen son, secretly raised by the terrorist group the League of Assassins.

Director:

Ethan Spaulding

Writers:

Bob Kane (characters), Grant Morrison (comic book),

Stars:

Jason O'Mara, Stuart Allan, Thomas Gibson

Cast

Cast overview:
Jason O'Mara	...	Batman / Bruce Wayne (voice)
Stuart Allan	...	Damian Wayne (voice)
Thomas Gibson	...	Deathstroke (voice)
Morena Baccarin	...	Talia al Ghul (voice)
Dee Bradley Baker	...	Man-Bat / Joker (voice)
Xander Berkeley	...	Kirk Langstrom (voice)
Giancarlo Esposito	...	Ra's al Ghul (voice)
Sean Maher	...	Nightwing / Dick Grayson (voice)
David McCallum	...	Alfred Pennyworth (voice)
Diane Michelle	...	Francine Langstrom / Call Girl #2 (voice)
Andrea Romano	...	Suit #2 (voice)
Fred Tatasciore	...	Killer Croc / Dusan al Ghul (voice)
Bruce Thomas	...	Comissioner Gordon / Ubu (voice)
Kari Wahlgren	...	Rebecca Langstrom / Call Girl #1 (voice)

Storyline

Ra's al Ghul is dead, slain by former League of Assassin Slade Wilson, aka Deathstroke. His victory is not without a cost, the price his right eye; taken by Ra's own grandson Damien. Fearing for her sons' safety Talia al Ghul decides now is the time for the boy to meet his father. Half a world away a trail of chemical plant heists finds the Batman catching the culprit in the very act. The thief is Killer Croc, but Croc has changed mutated by some unseen hand. With the shocking appearance of the lovely but deadly Talia, Croc is quickly taken down. Back at Gotham harbor Talia gives the Detective the news of Ra's fate along with the surprise of introducing him to Damien, their son. Talia sets out to handle Slade while Damien falls under the guardianship of Batman. The young man possess great fighting prowess but his cocky self confidence creates friction back at Wayne Manor. Batman's investigation into Croc's actions leads him to the home of Dr. Kirk Langstrom, creator of the Man-bat ...

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Plot Keywords:

batman | deathstroke | league of assassins | killer croc | ninja | 

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Taglines:

Vengeance runs in the blood.

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for stylized violence including bloody images, and some suggestive material

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

6 May 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

El hijo de Batman

Company Credits

Production Co:

DC Entertainment, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Premiere

Technical Specs

Runtime:

74 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The story for which the film is based would serve as the beginning arc of writer Grant Morrison's epic run on the title. Morrison's story would run for seven years and progress across several titles, covering the Death of Batman arc, which lead directly into his Final Crisis and the rebooted Batman and Robin series. The newer title saw Dick Grayson taking up the cowl as Damien Wayne continued to serve as Robin throughout.

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Quotes

Damian Wayne: I wanna help. Like he used to.
Batman: Bad enough you've given yourself away and let them know we're onto them, but you're letting vengeance guide you.
Damian Wayne: You've never felt vengeful?
Batman: Every day. You have to keep your center, Damian. You can't fight crime by becoming a criminal. From now on, stay close. That's an order.

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Crazy Credits

During the credits there are stills from the actual fight, we did not see, between Damian and Nightwing from earlier, after Ubu's defeat.

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Connections

Features The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946)

User Reviews

Son of Batman is an unexpectedly excellent film

Even though I generally like the work from writer Grant Morrison, I have to admit I wasn't left very satisfied by the graphic novel Son of Batman, and that's why I started watching the eponym animated film with low expectations. However, to my surprise, Joe R. Lansdales's screenplay tuned the narrative, softened the characters a bit (for example, Damian isn't an insufferable brat in here) and made the family dynamic between Batman, Damian and Alfred realistic and likable, without losing the dysfunction. The plot is simplified a bit in the movie, but, let's accept it: the point of the film is seeing Batman facing the difficult paternal role for the first time. And in that aspect, Son of Batman works perfectly. Batman assumes the responsibility of having a son who was trained from the cradle to inherit the criminal empire from his grandfather Ra's al Ghul. That's a complicated situation, because the kid has a killer instinct which goes against Batman's strict code, and his impulsive decisions constantly put his mother Talia (not to mention Batman himself) in danger. Alfred participates in funny moments when he's trying to grapple with the new resident of the Wayne Mansion; and Nightwing (alias Dick Grayson, the first Robin) fulfills the function of an older brother, tolerant but disposed to give the capricious child a good lesson when it must be done. And well, in order not to reveal every small detail, I will say that the film keeps an excellent balance between the action and the mentioned family dynamic, without losing the suspense and danger sensation brought by the unpredictable Damian. As for the voice work, Jason O'Mara and Stuart Allan make a perfect work as Batman and Damian, respectively, but the rest of the cast feels rigid and artificial. It's strange the fact that a solid actor, such as Xander Berkeley (for example), sounds incredibly false, ca-re-fu-lly e-nun-cia-ting every syllable, like a rookie broadcaster. Nevertheless, O'Mara's and Allan's voice work, the solid screenplay and Ethan Spaulding's agile direction made me enjoy this film very much despite that complaint. And I found the animation of a better quality than the one from other DC Comics movies; the choreography of the action scenes is clear and fluid, and the design of the characters keeps a good equilibrium between realism and stylization. So, Son of Batman ended up being a very pleasant surprise, taking into consideration the fact that I didn't like the original comic very much; it doesn't have the epic scale from Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths or Superman/Batman: Apocalypse, but in this case, I think it was a good decision to keep everything on a more real level, because that puts the emphasis on the chemistry between the characters and the transformation of roles which implies Damian's arrival. Speaking of which, Son of Batman isn't part of "The New 52" continuity, like the previous film of the animated universe (Justice League: War) was. Apparently, Warner Animation is altering continuities, something which might confuse the casual spectators who were expecting more consistency between movie and movie. But, considering the fact that the main audience are comic readers, I suppose that that won't be a major problem. And besides, it means that there's still the chance of adapting some of the best Batman stories which don't fit into the current continuity, such as The Long Halloween and Knightfall.