The story resumes with Fox being surrounded by samurai warriors in the middle of a clearing.

Samurai #1: [In Japanese] Who are you, interloper?

Samurai #2: [In Japanese] He fell from the sky like a demon!

Samurai #3: [In Japanese] Look at his clothing! And his bag! He is not of this world!

Samurai #2: [In Japanese] He has come to destroy us!

Fox: I must be in the past. [Stands up] I! Come! In! Peace! Peeeeeeace! [Thinking] You’re speaking Japanese… and that armor… is this Japan? Ja…pan? [Notices his laptop] I still have my laptop with me! Good thing I grabbed it when I left the house. Thank you, force of habit…

He pulls it out and opens an app, much to the alarm of the samurai.

Fox: Time to put that free translator to use. [Starts typing in English, causing the computer to play it back in Japanese] I come from the future, with a device that will let me talk to you in your native tongue. There is a great threat where I live, a menace that will destroy all of existence. I need your help to return to my time and stop it.

The samurai look at each other for a moment… then the scene cuts to Fox sitting in a dungeon.

Fox: [Annoyed] This is great. Just great. Not only is Bocephus going to rule the world and inflect his vengeance and crappy Star Wars fanfiction on everybody, but now I’m going to starve to death in this ancient Japanese dungeon. I’m living in Ninja Turtles III right now… and I hate Ninja Turtles III! [Sighs] At least they let me keep my laptop, maybe I can pass the time with a movie…

He opens up his VUDU app and looks through his downloaded movies, finally settling on one.

Fox: Here’s one that’s both fun and contextually appropriate…

And that movie in question is 2018’s Batman: Ninja, a CGI anime produced by Kamikaze Douga (who animated the intro scenes to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and the Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth video game), Yamato Works (the CGI in the 2018 Yu Yu Hakusho OVA), Barnum Studio (the Devil May Cry anime), and Warner Animation as part of the DC Animated Universe series of movies. You know, like Flashpoint Paradox was.

There isn’t a whole lot of backstory to go on here, DC wanted to do a Batman anime movie (he fits really well, if you think about it), possibly as an answer to Marvel’s brief series of anime shows produced by Madhouse Animation (I actually like those, I’m not sure if that’s a popular opinion or not). To this end, they struck up a deal with the aforementioned studios, as well as Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki to serve as character designer and Kill la Kill scribe Kazuki Nakashima to write the script, with Leo Chu (producer for show’s like Nickelodeon’s Supah Ninjas and Netflix’s Prince of Peoria) and Eric Garcia (who also did Supah Ninjas, as well as shows like Recess and Team-O Supremo) reworking it for the English Dub. The story isn’t really based on any comics, although there have been a number of Japanese Batman comics and stories out there, and there has even been a Batman anime before in the form of 2008’s Batman: Gotham Knight compilation film.

The film was released in the US on April 24, 2018, with it hitting Japanese audiences on June 15 of the same year. Yeah, ironically enough the Americans got the Batman anime first, that’s pretty weird. Kind of like the movie itself, which was hyped as a simple “Batman goes back in time and learns the way of the Ninja,” but ended up being… you’ll see.

This Is Going To Be Like That Scroll In Ninja Turtles III, Isn’t It?

The plot goes that Gorilla Grood tries to power up his fancy Quake Engine machine in Arkham Asylum, leading Batman and his allies to try to stop him as they do. However, the machine goes off, sending them and a good number of Gotham’s Rogue’s Gallery, including the Joker, back in time to Feudal Japan (been there, done that). Worse yet, the villains have wasted no time in taking over the country, declaring themselves Lords of the various provinces and building massive temples to themselves. So, naturally it falls to Batman and his friends to join forces with a brave ninja clan to fulfill an ancient prophecy, stop the villains and make their way back to modern times… and that’s not getting into the robots and monkey gods. And how Damian Wayne is much more cheerful in this, and how he ends up playing a flute to summon the monkey gods. Yes, it’s that kind of anime.

“Crap! Wrong Convention!”

If there is a definite theme to this movie, it’s a desire to return to an older order of existence, and that one has to adapt to their surroundings in order to survive. When he first gets to Japan, Batman tries to use his grappling hook… only to find that there are no buildings tall enough for him to hook to. This fish out of water feeling carries into his first fight with the Joker, where he attempts to do things his usual way, by launching a straightforward assault on Joker’s palace using his Batmobile. But Joker’s come prepared, and unleashes his transforming temple robot against Bats’s shapeshifting vehicle. After going through the Batmobile, BatJet, BatCycle and even an armored Bat-Mech-Suit (which he uses to fight Bane as a Sumo), Batman is forced to retreat, and after Grodd betrays him he realizes that the only way to survive in the world of Feudal Japan is to play by its rules, with the tools and techniques of the time…

Joker Saw Japanese Spider-Man’s Leopardon And Said “Hold My Beer…”

Which apparently include giant robots and shapeshifting monkey gods. I told you it was that kind of anime. Yeah, this movie gets pretty crazy in the climax, as what starts out as a traditional (albeit superhero-based) samurai battle quickly turns into a battle of transforming mecha. Who then all combine into a single robot when Joker hijacks Grodd’s plan to brainwash Gotham’s criminals in order to rewrite history. And then Robin’s pet monkey friend summons an army of other monkeys and they all combine into some kind of golden monkey idol. Which then combines with a swarm of bats to form a giant, black and grey 40’s Batman which gets into a fistfight with the Joker’s Megazord. After that, Batman and Joker have a traditional Japanese swordfight atop the burning wreckage… until Batman unleashes his ninja magic and transforms into a swarm of bats. I am making precisely none of this up.

Having Mark Hamill Here Would Have Been Super Appropriate…

And Grodd help me, I love every single minute of it! The action is pretty great, and we also get some cool one-on-one fights between Batman’s sidekicks and the criminals of Gotham. Catwoman and Harley face off (because they’re both women, I guess), Nightwing goes head to head with Penguin, Red Robin squares off against Two-Face, Red Hood and Deathstroke get into a gunfight, and Robin fights Poison Ivy because there’s nobody left at that point. There is also the showdowns between the villains’ mecha temples, a high-octane skirmish on Joker’s boat between the clown and Batman’s group that ends in Grodd turning on the Dark Knight and revealing his alliance with Two-Face… and then Catwoman teaming up with him as well, and an epic horseback battle against Grodd’s army that soon leads to a glider flight assault on Grodd’s castle. The action is fast, crazy and frankly the best part of the movie.

Batman and Joker’s swordfight at the end is pretty cool too, with the Clown Prince finally able to match Batman in a physical contest as he lets his fully psychotic fury pour loose. Of course, the Dark Knight soon gains the upper hand by unleashing his bat ninja power, and even manages to snap Joker’s sword clean in half with a single strike. At that point, not even a lucky blade throw from Joker is enough to take Bats down, and the clown soon finds himself dangling from the roof of his burning castle after yet another failed attempt to get Batman to break his one rule. Don’t worry though, he doesn’t. Joker hasn’t learned the secret to getting a Bat to kill yet (Which apparently is keeping their mother’s head in a freezer and plotting to give her face to your mother).

Considering How Much He Hates Punk Rock, I Can Only Imagine Bruce’s Reaction To Robin’s New ‘Do.

Due to the change in setting, we get to see some cool Feudal Japan versions of Batman and his Rogues Gallery. Some of them work (Samurai Deathstroke, plus the ninja-fied Catwoman and Nightwing), some of them are off-putting (the frilly collar on Batman’s Samurai getup, Robin’s weird Kid Muscle-style hair) and some are pretty darn goofy (Sumo Bane). Also, there’s this part where Bruce is going undercover as a Christian missionary, and his disguise makes no sense – I get that the beard is fake, but does he shave his head in one spot? In the next scene, he’s back to normal, how does it grow back? And why is there a Bat Symbol on his head? But for the most part, seeing these classic characters in this style is a neat twist.

Super Batman Galaxy Is The Crossover We Deserve, But Not The One We Need.

The villains in this movie play a kind of Main Antagonist Hot Potato, with the lead position continually shifting between Joker and Grodd until it finally settles on the latter. There are also plenty of double-crosses as well, as Grodd abandons his hot-spring deal with Batman (apparently apes like jacuzzies too) to help get back home in favor of staying behind and changing history to his liking, Catwoman switches sides like she’s the Big Show (par for the course for her), and Two-Face betrays Grodd at one point (again, par for the course). And that’s not getting into how Grodd uses his power to brainwash everyone into doing his bidding… which Joker then hijacks. After having hypnotized himself to be temporarily sane. It’s a roller coaster to be sure.

Sadly, aside from Joker, Harley and Grodd, the rest of the villains don’t really get much focus here, only serving as henchmen for the aforementioned three. Same goes for the heroes save for Batman, Alfred and Catwoman, although Red Hood does get the extra scene mentioned below. To be fair though, this isn’t really aiming to be a character study, and that’s okay.

Where Most Of The Budget Probably Went.

The animation throughout the movie is mostly done in cel-shaded GCI, not unlike a lot of the Netflix exclusive anime. There are a few fully-hand-drawn shots here and there, like when Sumo Bane introduces himself, and the animation briefly shifts during two scenes: the first is a still-image sequence of Batman and his friends discussing their preparations for the battle against Grodd, and the second is a brief scene of a temporarily sane Joker and Harley being attacked by Red Hood, drawn like a beautiful Japanese calligraphy painting. It’s amazing to look at, if a little weird considering how the movie goes back to its normal art style immediately afterward. Overall, the movie is well-animated, even if it’s abundantly clear in the English dub that the voices don’t match the mouth movements at all.

And speaking of those voices, the English Dub is packed with big names like Roger Craig Smith (who voiced the Dark Knight in Batman: Arkham Origins, as well asEzio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed, Chris Redfield from Resident Evil, Sonic The Hedgehog from Sonic Free Riders onward, and Captain America in various Marvel cartoons) as Batman, Tony Hale as The Joker (yes, Forky is trying to kill everyone here), Adam Croasdell (Ignis from Final Fantasy XV – and yes, he cooks here too) as both Alfred and Nightwing, Yuri Lowenthal (Ben 10, Spider-Man in the PS4 game) as both Red Hood and Robin, Will Friedle (Terry McGinnis/Batman Beyond anybody?) as Red Robin, Fred Tatasciore (Megatron in the Transformers Cybertron games, Rocksteady in TMNT ’12 and The Hulk in too many things to mention) pulling double duty as both Grodd and Deathstroke, and Batman mainstays Grey Griffin and Tara Strong reprising their usual roles as Catwoman and Harley Quinn. Everybody does pretty well here, especially the people doing more than one voice as it’s hard to tell in most cases. Tony Hale’s Joker in particular takes some getting used to, and sure he’s no Mark Hamill, but he does a good job giving the Joker his usual psychotic menace.

Finally, the music is pretty solid too, with plenty of East-Asian themed orchestral tracks that mesh well with Batman’s usual musical esthetic, courtesy of Yugo Kanno of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure fame. A standout is “GAI-TAI,” the techno rap beat that plays during the Joker Megazord scene, as well as show up again in the credits.

Now, I Know This Gets Said A Lot, But Japanese Marketing Is Freaking Weird…

Okay, time for some trivia before we wrap up:

One of the Japanese trailers prior to the movie’s release there features a crossover with Pop Team Epic, another show that Kamikaze Douga is known for. This consists of two of the show’s characters reenacting one of their sketches while dressed as Batman and Joker, which then cuts to scenes from the movie.

While we’re on the subject of Japan, the movie’s Japanese cast shares a lot of talent with Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Wataru Takagi (Okuyasu Nijimura from Diamond Is Unbreakable) is the Joker, Rie Kugimiya (Anne from Stardust Crusaders) is Harley Quinn, Hōchū Ōtsuka (Hol Horse in the All-Star Battle video game) is Alfred, Takehito Koyasu (Dio Brando himself) is Grodd, Daisuke Ono (Jotaro Kujo) is Nightwing, Yūki Kaji (Koichi Hirose from Diamond Is Unbreakable) is Robin, Kengo Kawanishi (a pair of side characters in Stardust Crusaders) is Red Robin, Junichi Suwabe (Leone Abbacchio in Golden Wind) is Deathstroke, Atsuko Tanaka (Lisa Lisa in Battle Tendencies) is Poison Ivy, Toshiyuki Morikawa (Yoshikage Kira in Diamond Is Unbreakable) is Two-Face, Chō (Wilson Phillips from Stardust Crusaders) is Penguin, Kenta Miyake (Muhammad Avdol in Stardust Crusaders) is Bane in both dubs and Yōji Ueda (Robert EO Speedwagon) is appropriately the head of a heroic organization that assists the protagonists. Considering that both the composer and one of the animation studios also worked on the show, this might not be a coincidence…

Heading back to the Western side of things, it’s a little bit funny that in Arrested Development, the Joker of this movie is the brother of a different Batman, that being The Lego Batman Movie’s Will Arnett.

Also, the fact that Harley and Ivy are voiced by the same actress here, considering their relationship.

As goofy as Robin’s hairstyle is, it’s actually based on an authentic hairstyle for the young heirs of Japanese nobles… which Damian could be considered, given he is the son of Bruce Wayne and the grandson of Ra’s al Ghul.

Same goes for Red Hood’s basket helmet, as it’s the headgear worn by the Komusō, a type of journeyman monk, as well as certain fallen shogun warriors. Jason’s past of dying and coming back to life puts him in the latter category.

In a twist of irony, the majority of Batman’s supporting cast made their way into the movie… except for Cassandra Cain / the second Batgirl, who actually has Japanese ancestry. Not to mention Babs and Kate also no-showing…

On the other hand, this is one of the few Batman movies to feature all four of the main Robins.

The tune Robin’s pet monkey plays on his flute to summon Grodd’s monkey army actually contains the 60s Batman theme. Because why the heck not.

Grodd’s placement in the movie seems pretty random, given how he’s usually a Flash villain, but this could be likely due to the similar character Professor Gorilla appearing in the original Batman manga.

Admittedly, Batman: Ninja goes off the rails from its already quirky opening premise very quickly, but I’ll be remiss if it wasn’t an insanely fun time. While it’s not exactly a serious character study, it still provides many exciting moments and tons of cool mecha action and swordfighting. The animation, music and voice acting are all pretty solid, and the story is briskly paced. If you were expecting a historical drama about Batman in ancient Japan, you might be disappointed in the movie’s more outlandish approach, but it still remains a blast to watch on a rainy day… or if you’re stuck in an ancient Japanese gulag with no way back home…

Suddenly, Fox notices a blipping light in the corner of his screen.

Fox: [Confused] Huh… what’s this…

He clicks on it, leading to a familiar window popping up, one with a soundwave line covered in static.

Eva: [Straining] Fox…

Fox: [Excited] Eva! Oh, you don’t know how great it is to hear your voice…

Eva: [Stuttering] Fox… listen… communication… weak… Signal… low… Across dimensions…

Fox: Eva? Eva, can you hear me? I think Bocephus’s Super-Collider sent me back through time. [Thinks for a moment, then starts typing] Hey, if you can reach me through the Nexus… maybe I can hack into that link…

As he types, a portal suddenly opens in front of him.

Fox: [Smiles] And open a doorway back home! Don’t worry Eva, I’m on the way! [Takes a deep breath] Here goes nothing…

He jumps into the portal. A nearby guard, who was sleeping on the job before, bolts awake as the portal closes.

Guard #1: [In Japanese] What the…?

Another guard approaches.

Guard #1: [In Japanese] He’s escaped!

Guard #2: [In Japanese] Huh? Who?

Guard #1: [In Japanese] The one who fell from the sky this morning. He’s gone!

Guard #2: [In Japanese] How did this happen?

Guard #1: [In Japanese] He opened a doorway with his magic powers and vanished into thin air!

Guard #2: [In Japanese] Let me tell you something, this day’s getting weirder and weirder…

Guard #1: [In Japanese] Should we tell the Emperor?

Guard #2: [In Japanese] Pffff, screw that. I’m not wasting a day of paperwork on this bullcrap. We’re just going to pretend that guy was never here….

To Be Continued.