Believe it or not, this particular direct to video animated feature is based on an actual comic book event. The crossover between these two properties in print first hit stands in December of 2015 (are there still "stands" where comics hit anymore?) and ran 6 issues. It was successful enough to spawn 2 more mini-series and a 4th series is being published to coincide with the release of the animated film.
The film follows the standard hero team up formula. Batman and pals (Batgirl and Robin) don't know the Turtles are heroes too, initially fight them and then team up to take down the big bad. In this case it's big bads, plural. Shredder shows up in cahoots with Ra's Al Ghul and the two enlist pretty much every big villain in Batman's Rogues' Gallery. Throw in some mutagenic ooze and it's fight night in Gotham.
The two teams of heroes have character parallels that drive the film. Batman and Leonardo are serious leaders, Batgirl and Donatello are tech nerds, Robin (the Damien Wayne version here) and Raphael are hot headed warriors and Alfred and Michelangelo are the Odd Couple comic relief.
Despite the obvious weirdness of talking turtles in the Batcave, it all hangs together pretty well. Very nice animation (more on that shortly) and at least one cool voicing innovation in this one. Troy Baker has played Batman in the direct to video Lego DC Heroes movies (there's half a dozen or so, seriously) and the Joker in several video games. Here, for the first time anywhere, the same actor portrays Batman AND the Joker. You'd never know to listen, unless you know, you know?
To the animation there are a few points. First, this is NOT your 80s TMNT. While it's pretty much bloodless but for a few bleeding lips, it is VIOLENT. Seriously violent. There's at least one on screen beheading, a lot of deaths and the fights are more kinetic than anything you'd see on Saturday morning. Dudes punching dudes and it looks painful. Definitely earns its PG13, more than most DC Direct to Video stuff. If you're not familiar with the source comics, the violence is really true to form for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles original incarnation in print. The early TMNT books were violent noir stories aimed at mature audiences. Batman, of course, works just fine in "mature" and violent stories, so it never feels forced or gratuitous. It's heroes trying to stop a bunch of homicidal maniacs who actually commit homicide.
There are a bunch of nice callbacks for fans of both Batman and TMNT. Personally, I love that one of Penguin's henchmen looks suspiciously like the robot that housed Krang in the classic 80s cartoon. Also on my list is Batman's coffee cup. Awesome.
The best bit, for me at least was a design choice. The look of Batman here is probably my favourite animated look, ever. First, he's traditionally coloured in grey and blue. Second, he sports the oval yellow and black bat-symbol. Those fashion points have generally fallen out of favour in animation, usually supplanted by blacks and greys and an unadorned black bat splashed across the chest. I prefer this version. A LOT.
Ironically, for all the love I have for the choice of the classic Batman look, I am exactly the opposite on the choices for Batgirl and Robin. I've never really liked the modernized "Batgirl of Burnside" look and I despise the hoody cape that the Damien Wayne Robin sports. Blech.
Still, the style choice for Batman makes me happy enough to overcome the blech for his sidekicks' outfits. More than the colour palette, I love the design for another, big reason. Whether they did it directly on purpose or by coincidence, the design for Batman has strong parallels to the version made famous by comic book artist Jim Aparo. In print, Aparo's version is easily my favourite. Check it out:
How seriously awesome is that look? Hands down the best, at least for me. It certainly looks like the design team on Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at least skimmed a few issues of Aparo's epic run on The Brave and the Bold. Considering Aparo is the best known Batman team up artist, it would make a kind of sense.
Finally, stick around for the credits, right to the end. There's a post credit scene at the very end but the credits themselves are actually the reason to watch. Interspersed through the entire credit scroll are a couple of dozen comic book covers. They're classic DC and TMNT covers, reimagined to combine the two properties. There are actually several Aparo covers in the bunch, including the one I posted above. The Aparo drawn Batman and the Outsiders cover that swaps the Turtles for the Outsiders is a personal favourite. I would proudly hang a framed copy of that in my living room. If you're at all a comic book fan, the reworked covers alone are worth the price of admission.
Fun stuff, released digitally yesterday, May 14 and on DVD/Blu-Ray June 4.
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