Batman Soul Of The Dragon is an animated superhero film directed by Simon Liu. The plot looks back to Bruce Wayne’s (David Giuntoli), days in training, when he was learning all of his martial arts prowess that would serve him well as the Dark Knight. We see that the mystic institution that Wayne was training at holds a terrible secret, a portal to hell (and or an evil other dimension), that a cult wants to opening.
This didn’t really feel like a Batman film, it felt like an animated martial arts movie and that is a good or bad statement depending on which of those you would rather watch. Personally, I went into it hoping for some top tier Batman content and was disappointed, this was not what I was expecting, and Batman was not really the main focus, rather it was Richard Dragon (Mark Dacascos), a figure from Wayne’s past.
However that is not to say it was bad either. I enjoyed the martial arts elements and the supernatural mysticism, I thought both were done well and really added to the project as a whole. The fight scenes were particularly impressive, and I am glad they did not censor the violence in anyway, it added a nice visceral edge to it.
I also thought the ending, which I won’t spoil here, was quite gutsy as it ended on a cliff hanger rather than neatly wrapping everything up.
Overall, I think there is a lot of good here, I think that it should have been its own standalone animated film that didn’t include Batman, it was strong enough to stand on its own. By having the Batman name front and centre it takes away from what the film is, as you go in with certain expectations that aren’t met, which is a shame as it is good otherwise.
Pros.
The ending
The fight scenes
Nice gory violence
The mysticism
Cons.
Batman should not be involved
4/5
Reviewed by Luke
Another Millennial Reviewer 