Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Guess what, it’s the return of Animation Bang. Man it feels like forever since I’ve done one of these. We all know Marvel has been tearing up the scene with their cinematic universe and having crossovers with their characters, but what about DC? What ambitious crossovers have they been doing lately?
*A comic book of Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles miniseries drops on Nitsuj’s lap. As soon as he sees it he falls to the floor and begins to suffer from a seizure. The AI girls run in to check on him*
(Chibi Isis): Woah! What’s going on with Nii-chan!
*Yin-Yang runs up to Nitsuj and hits him with a lightening charged fist to his chest which causes his body to spasm and stop moving. Isis spots the comic book*
(Isis): Oh no! Quick guys fill tub up with water and ice. He had a fangasm!
*Shizuku and Seras pick up Nitsuj and take him into the bathroom where Mira and Yume have filled up the bathtub with water and ice. Shizuku and Seras drop Nitsuj into the water where he becomes submerged in the water. He stays underwater for about 8 seconds before regaining consciousness and returning to the surface where he gasps desperately for air*
(Shizuku): Deep breaths boss! Deep breaths. You just had a powerful fangasm. You need to relax.
(Nitsuj): No. I need to review. Yep, Batman and TMNT actually had a crossover together. If you were a kid growing up in the 90s this was a dream come true. The series was a 6-part miniseries written by James Tynion IV (Batman Eternal) and drawn by Freddie Williams II (Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle) from 2015-2016. The series followed Batman and the IDW incarnation of the turtles as they cross dimensions to take on the Shredder, the Rogue Gallery and of course Krang. It was a big hit as everyone loved it so much that it made a spinoff series called Batman/TMNT Adventures. This one uses the DC Animated Batman (the one I grew up watching back in the 90s) and the Nickelodeon version of the Turtles. It’s similar to the first miniseries but different in a few parts. Anyway, the one we’re focusing on today is the original miniseries. In 2016 there was a rumor going around that Warner Bros. was planning adapting the series into an animated movie, and in February 2019 it was announced that a movie based off the 1st volume of the miniseries was in the works and it was called Batman vs TMNT and was released this early June. The internet exploded with excitement as we were finally going to see one of our childhood dreams come true. The Dark Knight teaming up with the heroes in a half shell in action-packed kickass movie. Let’s see if this movie lived up to hype. This is Batman vs TMNT.
The movie starts in the purple skies of Gotham (damn it, the weather guy said we were gonna have red skies all week. Now I gotta change my outfit and everything) where the Foot ninjas make their way to Power Industries who are working on a new generator that won’t damage the air. Barbara is there for a school report when the Foot ninjas attack the place but before she can go all Batgirl on them, she gets saved by 4 familiar silhouettes who take out the Foot ninjas and steal the generator (they move incredibly fast for a bunch of turtles). Barbara tells Batman about all of this and he vows to find the culprits behind this and make them regret ever stepping foot in his city (scene here: https://youtu.be/WO5uW30mbvk). After a little bit of detective work, both Batman and the turtles believe that the Foot’s next target will be Wayne Enterprises and sure enough they’re both right (great minds think alike). As the turtles stake out Wayne Enterprises, we see the Penguin is also there trying to break in and still the generator so he can sell it to the Foot. We get the first of what I like to call fanboy moments in the movie (basically what we dreamt about seeing as a kid) where the turtles actually take on the Penguin and his goons. They defeat the goons but the Penguin escapes with Michelangelo fanboying over his umbrella (to be fair, that umbrella is awesome. (Mira): Really? That stupid thing. (Nitsuj): It is not stupid. It’s a sword, gun, and helicopter all rolled into one. It’s spectacular). Meanwhile, inside Wayne Enterprises, Batman takes on the Foot ninjas (Fanboy moment: 2) where he manages to beat them all (scene here: https://youtu.be/RKwo3_4jDE8). As he tries to interrogate one for answers, the Shredder shows up, kills the ninja and then proceeds to fight Batman (Fanboy moment: 3). They have a good back and forth bout but it ends with the Shredder actually beating Batman (and possibly rupturing his ribcage) but being too exhausted to finish him off so he just retreats (scene here: https://youtu.be/LlmvdYOktpI, I and have to give major praise to the writers for making this fight so evenly matched. Neither Batman or the Shredder are completely dominant in this fight. It keeps going back and forth until the end where Shredder won by the skin of his teeth and only because he used a move that Batman was unfamiliar with. This fight could have gone either way).
The turtles leave Penguin’s goons on the street for the police to pick them up where they come across the Batmobile (Fanboy moment: 4) and Batman himself (Fanboy moment: 5). Both sides believe the other side is working with the enemy, so they fight where despite Batman possibly having a few broken ribs actually manages to beat the turtles in a very cool fight scene (Fanboy moment: 6). Donatello makes the wise choice to call the fight and the turtles retreat (scene here: https://youtu.be/HePIAZGV3-o). We then cut to the Shredder and Stockman (who is a fly and a midget. He also seems to have this Jeff Goldblum vibe going on. I love it! Fanboy moment: 7) and see that the Shredder is working with Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Assassins (makes sense. Both are ninjas). Shredder wants to know the secrets of the Lazarus pit and in return, he’ll build a device for Ra’s that will throw Gotham into chaos using the ooze along with Joker’s venom (scene here: https://youtu.be/xLxfVj2zWaY). Back with the turtles, Donatello did some research on Batman and managed to figure out where the Batcave is located (scene here: https://youtu.be/b_6Lqb0mAf0). He leads his brothers to the Batcave (fanboy moment: 8) where they come across Robin (Chibi Isis: Which one? (Nitsuj): Damian) who attacks them before Batman and Batgirl arrive and they agree to join forces to stop the Foot and Ra’s (scene here: https://youtu.be/-EW0LdtBnZA). Speaking of our ninja duo, Ra’s and Shredder break into Arkham Asylum where Shredder meets Batman’s Rogue Gallery (Fanboy moment: 9) who he calls freaks (said the man who named himself after a kitchen appliance). They go to the Joker to get the formula for his venom and he gives it to them in exchange for the ooze (Fanboy moment: 10) which he uses to turn all of villains into mutants (Fanboy moment: 11. Scene here: https://youtu.be/RROYZRQDxN0 and https://youtu.be/HXZdXeDKb4U).
Back in the Batcave we see Batman spar with Leonardo, Donatello and Batgirl create an anti-ooze to turn everyone who has been infected by the ooze within 12 hours back to normal, Michelangelo and Alfred get a funny moment, and Raph and Robin seem so similar to each other (Fanboy moment: 12. I feel like I’m gonna overdose on fanboy here. Scene here: https://youtu.be/E_cptBsBwwY). They get a distress call from Arkham and go to investigate where we get to see the Rogue gallery’s mutated forms (Fanboy moment: 13. Actually, for the sake of argument I’m just gonna count the whole Arkham fight scene as one big fanboy moment because there are a lot of good scenes here). Freeze is a polar bear (oh shit, he’s endangered, we can’t hurt him), Scarecrow is a crow (that’s actually fitting I’m not gonna lie), Two-Face is a cute/ugly cat (what’s new pussycats?), Bane is a tiger (Tony’s got competition now), Poison Ivy is a plant (she looks like what would happen if Audrey II was designed by Tim Burton. Scary, dark, and imaginative Tim Burton), Harley Quinn is a bitch (you had a chance to turn her into a pony. You would have gotten so many laughs), and Joker is a snake (I’m surprised he’s not a hyena). Donatello and Batgirl take on Bane where he actually shatters his knee on Donatello’s shell and gets knocked out with a dumbbell. Batman and Leonardo take on Scarecrow where Leonardo gets hit with the fear gas and Batman has to bring him back to his senses so he can defeat Scarecrow. The best moments of this whole fight comes from Raph, Michelangelo, and Robin where they fight Mr. Freeze and run away from him only to arrive in the same room as Poison Ivy who is rooted into the ground and can’t reach them so they just go around her (feed me turtles! Feed me). They arrive in the main hall where Joker, Harley, and Two-Face are at. Leonardo and Raph fall into a Joker trap which leaves only Batman, Michelangelo, and Robin to fight them off along with Freeze. Everyone gets taken out and Joker injects Batman with a fusion of the ooze and his venom which not only turns Batman into an actual bat (because anything else would make no sense) but also drives him insane and he begins attacking everyone. Thankfully, they inject him with the anti-ooze which returns him to normal and they take out Joker and Harley only to realize this was just one big distraction (but an entertaining one nonetheless. Scenes here: https://youtu.be/Ej1u2fRjwVM, https://youtu.be/25iYU184NP0, https://youtu.be/3f0Ejb3K8Ao, https://youtu.be/qMqsLQm7l_Q, and https://youtu.be/5CpcJINceU4).
It turns out Ra’s hired Penguin to steal the last generator (his pay is that he gets to live) and with this final piece, Ra’s and Shredder can complete their device which will rain the ooze and venom mixture all over Gotham and turning the city into a survival of the fittest. Batgirl theorizes that they’ll be at Ace Chemicals (which is looking more and more hellish every time we see it) to produce the Joker venom and then launch the device up in the air. Batman decides to turn into a dick out of nowhere and tells the turtles to go home as he says they’re too rash, undisciplined, and impulsive (they’re seriously doing this right now after everything that just happened?). In this intense moment it’s actually Raph who speaks to Batman saying that he gets the whole loner brooder motif Batman has going on but also knows that doing that only gets him into more trouble and he has to rely on his brothers to bail him out (Fanboy moment: 14). Raph ends by saying that it’s better to learn from your mistakes and work together (man, I never thought the one giving a speech about teamwork would be Raph. That just proves how dire the situation is). This convinces Batman to let them stay and they ride out in the Batmobile and Turtlebmobile (Fanboy moment: 15) to Ace Chemicals to give us possibly the greatest scene in this entire movie. Using their cars and motorcycles the group takes on the League of Assassins and the Foot clan (Fanboy Moment: 16) where the Turtlemobile (technically it’s the Party Wagon from the 1987 series) fires manholes (Fanboy Moment: 17. (Isis): You’re giving them another moment for that? (Nitsuj): Some things are just so cool they deserve another moment), Michelangelo rides shotgun in the Batmobile, they take down mutants (including a T-Rex), Raph and Batgirl ride their bikes, Robin and Donatello show everyone why bo staffs are awesome, and Michelangelo gets to do what everyone has always wanted to do in the Batmobile, press every button (scene here: https://youtu.be/EkFPaovQ5yI. You know, I could sit here and give you a list of reasons to watch/buy this movie. But I think this scene alone is worth the price of admission). They make it inside where Batman takes on Shredder again (Fanboy moment: 18) while Leonardo and Donatello take on Ra’s (Fanboy moment: 19). During the fight with Ra’s, Ra’s actually breaks one of Donatello’s arms and he falls on the device as it’s taking off into the sky with Michelangelo and he’s the only one who can stop it (we’re all gonna die) where he actually manages to do destroy the device and the two brothers land safely on the city blimps (they were actually useful for once). Leonardo continues to struggle against Ra’s but once he remembers the words of Batman, he’s able to calm his nerves and push Ra’s back. Even though Leo hits Ra’s with his best move, Ra’s is able to counter and disarm him but Leo counters as well with a low blow (that’s what they teach you in the Bronx) and then takes down Ra’s with pressure point attacks. Batman also finishes up his fight with Shredder where he beats the crap out of him and even says cowabunga (Ehhhhhhhh~, yes. Fanboy moment: 20). The machine comes crashing down and explodes where the explosion flings Shredder into a vat of chemicals and the place begins blowing up (scene here: https://youtu.be/1d1QflT6fBA and https://youtu.be/k2am2sE2Ems). They all manage to escape safely and have a pizza party to celebrate their victory (Fanboy moment: 21. Scene here: https://youtu.be/VgEJed3-4zE). We get a stinger after the credits (where the credits are versions of the old comics except, they’re all Batman and TMNT crossing over with each other) where we see the Shredder survived the explosion and the vat of chemicals. He now looks like the Joker and is now laughing manically (Fanboy moment: 22. Scene here: https://youtu.be/Xik4DBH64ag).
Final Thoughts
Oh sweet merciful God that was awesome! Why wasn’t this movie released in theaters? They would have killed at the box office. This movie pays homage to past iterations of both shows respectfully while also being its own thing and respecting the source material. You can just tell everyone who worked on this movie were passionate about the project and having fun while doing it. The story is good and follows the comics accordingly. While there are a few changes such as Gotham and New York existing in the same universe rather than coming from different dimensions like in the comics, they manage to keep it ambiguous but simple so that it’s easy to follow, not too complicated for the younger viewers, and gets you interested in checking out the miniseries. Some of the scenes in the movie are actual word for word and scene for scene directly pulled from the miniseries and the VAs do a good job delivering the lines. Speaking of VAs, they’re all good and match up with their characters perfectly. I was especially impressed with Troy Baker who did both Batman and Joker. He actually did sound like Kevin Conroy a few times and his Joker voice was very close to Mark Hamill. It’s good to know that the voices of Batman and Joker are in good hands.
The interactions are great off the characters, the action/fight scenes enjoyable and play out just like how I always imagined as a kid, the music was good, and the animation was good as well. Again, I like how they paid homage to past iterations of the character. Batman has the old school Adam West outfit with the voice you would associate from the animated series, and the intellect and attitude from the comics and newer movies. The turtles also have similar designs that pay homage to the cartoon from the 80s, 03, and current cartoons. While the 03 version of the Shredder is still my favorite and in my opinion the best, this version of the Shredder is still deadly and cool. Although, I will admit, this movie does give us the best version of the Foot clan ninjas. They’re organized, efficient, and deadly just like their leader. Like I said before the movie is just full of great moments and interactions that make it worth the price of admission. I was enjoying the movie from beginning to end and wished that it would never end.
Final Score
This might be a little bias, but I give Batman vs TMNT a 10/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. This has become my favorite movie from the DC animated library. While not the best it is my favorite. If you grew up watching Batman: TAS of TMNT from the 80s or 03 like I did, then this movie is worth owning and checking out. I think this movie was a one-shot deal, but I hope they do a second one in the future and I hope this movie shows Nickelodeon that a PG-13 version of a TMNT movie is profitable and possible. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.
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