Batman: Soul of the Dragon (2021)

In the 1970s, a missing teacher of martial arts is the subject of a quest by his devoted and brilliant but distant students, who include Batman.

Director:

Sam Liu

Writer:

Jeremy Adams (script)

Stars:

David Giuntoli, Mark Dacascos, Kelly Hu

Cast

Cast overview:
David Giuntoli	...	Bruce Wayne / Batman (voice)
Mark Dacascos	...	Richard Dragon (voice)
Kelly Hu	...	Lady Shiva (voice)
Michael Jai White	...	Ben Turner (voice)
James Hong	...	O-Sensei (voice)
Eric Bauza	...	Axe Gang Leader (voice)
Jamie Chung	...	Jade (voice)
Chris Cox	...	Rip Jagger (voice)
Robin Atkin Downes	...	Schlangenfaust / Underground Fighter (voice)
Grey Griffin	...	Lady Eve / Prostitute (voice)
Josh Keaton	...	Jeffrey Burr (voice)
Erica Luttrell	...	Silver St. Cloud / Child (voice)
Patrick Seitz	...	King Snake / Nightclub Bouncer (voice)

Storyline

Batman, Bronze Tiger, Lady Shiva, and Richard Dragon join forces when they come to realize that they share a common acquaintance. The Martial Arts Master that trained them has been missing for a number of years and under mysterious circumstances. When a cursed relic resurfaces, the mystery of their dead master re-opens and Batman and his former classmates must face-off in the ultimate test of their Martial Arts kills to gain control of this dangerous relic.

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Plot Keywords:

dc comics | kung fu | based on comic | based on comic book | 1970s | 

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Genres:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some violence

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the comics, the Soultaker sword has the ability to takes souls and is wielded by the Japanese heroine Katana.

In the film, it is called the Soul Breaker, has the ability to open a gate to another dimension and is given to Shiva.

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Quotes

O-Sensei: You will not break the rock tonight. Or tomorrow. Or the next day. Or perhaps ever.
Bruce Wayne: You said to break the rock.
O-Sensei: I said to TRY to break the rock. I know what happened to you, to your family. The whole world knows. Now, you want to stop that from happening to anyone else. But evil is as eternal as this rock. Even if you break the rock, there will be pebbles; break the pebbles, there will be sand, and evil remains. You cannot change that, no matter how much you train. Accept what you cannot change. ...

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Connections

References Black Samurai (1976)

User Reviews

For a movie with Soul in the title, it's unfortunately lacking one

This was a mediocre Batman movie. Apart from the fact that Batman is barely in it (there's much more screen time with Bruce and the rest of the team), I didn't really care about the characters and story.

The one positive is that it shows some background on Bruce's martial arts training and elaborates on why he can beat up a lot of bad guys, but other than that it was pretty generic and forgettable.

It seemed like they just wanted to team him up with Bruce Lee and Jim Kelly, so they set it in the 70s. There's a move Richard does in the movie that makes it obvious they modeled him after Bruce Lee (with a bit of James Bond thrown in).

Ultimately I didn't care about the good guys or the villain, or even Batman himself, which is a shame because there have been much more interesting Batman animated movies.

Give this one a pass unless you're a hardcore Batman animated fan and want to watch them all.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 January 2021 (USA)

Also Known As:

Batman: Soul of the Dragon

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros. Animation, DC Comics

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1