Film Review: 'Batman Soul of the Dragon'
Cheesy to the point of hysterical, ‘Batman: Soul of the Dragon’ (2021) is the latest DC Animated film to grace the small screen. Director and producer Sam Liu recruits a star-studded cast to bring to life Batman’s ’70s style karate adventure. Scriptwriter Jeremy Adams balances the dialogue with thought-provoking wisdom and tacky one-liners — an ideal mix. Clocking in at an hour and 22 minutes, this retro film may not be for everyone, but old-school superhero fans and cartoon friends will rejoice with this charming flick.
Starting in the 1970s Gotham, Bruce Wayne/Batman (David Giuntoli) is visited by the brilliantly named Richard Dragon (Mark Dacascos) who carries a grim warning: an evil snake cult knows the location of ‘the gate’. ‘What is the gate?’ you ask, and the film jumps back in time to Bruce’s introduction to Nanda Parbat, the secret Himalayan karate monastery run by the wise O-Sensei (James Hong). Here, Bruce is introduced to elite martial arts students Richard Dragon, Lady Shiva (Kelly Hu), Ben Turner (Michael Jai White), Jade (Jamie Chung) and Rip Jagger (Chris Cox). Together, the students sharpen their skills to protect the mysterious gate. The film jumps between past and present as Bruce and Richard reconnect with their old classmates to stop the snake cult from world domination — classic. But first, they must find the sadistic leader Jeffrey ‘Korbra’ Burr (Josh Keaton) and his demonic henchman Schlangenfaust (Robin Atkin Downes).
“Evil remains, you cannot change that no matter how much you train. Accept what you cannot change, it is not your burden to bear. Life is meant to be lived with others. It is too hard to do it alone.” O-Sensei.
They wrangled a stellar cast for this movie; in his first outing as the caped crusader, Giuntoli delivers an excellent Batman voice. The accomplished James Hong graces the screen as the stereotyped ‘old wise man’ and of course, knocks it out of the park. Even small characters like evil henchwoman Lady Eve are voiced by the legendary Grey Griffin. DC animated movies rarely shirk on voice work and ‘Soul of the Dragon’ is no different.
The animation isn’t particularly alluring and it doesn't get better. The simplistic style does, however, add a certain satirical nature to this rated R movie, incredibly gory murders are desensitized by the monochrome red blobs that jump from the bodies. The animation isn’t bad, the fight choreography is quick, brutal and easy to follow. That said, I’m pretty sure the evil cult followers have monochrome robes so they could copy-paste the crowd easier. It’s not a criticism, it’s hilarious and I agree with their priorities. It dances the line between ridiculous and sophisticated. For every tacky line, “Alright, let’s get it on” Batman says before jumping into battle, there are flashes of brilliance that leap from the screen.
Under the funky ’70s soundtrack and low-budget character design, ‘Batman: Soul of the Dragon’ has all the makings of an A+ film. Creative cinematography, quick pacing, efficient and effective character introductions, stellar voice acting and an interesting take on The Batman make this film objectively brilliant. I think if it was released shot-for-shot live-action it would surpass most of the recent DCEU movies from the last five years. Don’t get too caught up in my appreciation for cinematic craftsmanship, they still made the main character who looks identical to Bruce Lee and named him Richard Dragon. Although I would argue that’s comedy gold.
It’s a charming adventure with lots of laughs to offer. See it now on Vudu and Amazon Prime.
