Deep Dive DC: Wes Looks at Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Welcome everyone. For the month of May, I’ve decided to try something a little different. Even though I’ve gained something of a reputation as “The Disney Guy” my interests do extend beyond the house of mouse. Don’t worry, Disney is still my bread and butter and even after over one hundred articles, we still haven’t even scratched the surface of all the content that well has to offer. I just felt like trying something new. As such, welcome to Deep Dive DC, where we’ll be looking at various films and specials featuring characters from DC Comics. If this becomes popular enough, I might bring it back for special occasions. If it doesn’t, I’ll probably still bring it back anyway because it’s my blog. In any case, welcome to the first of four DC related articles for this month long special, and boy did I pick a fun one to start us off. It’s no secret that I love crossovers. Hell, I went out of my way to cover an episode of the Hercules cartoon just because it featured a crossover with Aladdin. And this particular film is quite possibly the best crossover that I’ve ever seen. Welcome to Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Loosely based on a comic book mini-series, said mini-series being one of the first things I ever discussed when I created this blog way back in 2016, Batman vs. TMNT is a blast for any fan of the Dark Knight or the Heroes in a Half Shell, of which I happen to be both. As per usual, The Shredder is up to no good and has found himself a new ally for his next sinister scheme. The Turtles have tracked Shredder all the way to Gotham City where they inevitably cross paths with Batman and agree to join forces. Good thing too, since Shredder’s new partner is none other than the evil Ra’s Al Ghul and with two of the deadliest ninja clans on the planet now banded together, our heroes are going to need all the help they can get to stop them from mutating all of Gotham into feral monsters and watching the city destroy itself. So, with no further delay, let’s talk about the awesomeness that is, Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Main Character:

I’m confident in assuming that most people reading my blog have a general knowledge of who Batman and the Ninja Turtles are. The Ninja Turtles have been around since the 80’s and Batman for significantly longer. I don’t really feel the need to elaborate on their personalities too much here since this doesn’t really do anything new or different with them. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing by any means, I’m just saying that the characters adhere to their known personality types throughout the proceedings. Leonardo leads, Donatello does machines, Raphael is cool but rude, Michelangelo is a party dude and Batman, is Batman. They don’t go through any significant arcs, and they really don’t need to. They’re just here to stop the bad guys. A more dramatic movie would see these characters pushed to new limits and have them change dramatically by the end, but this isn’t that kind of movie. This isn’t a major personal cataclysmic event for Batman or The Turtles. It may be a bit more perilous than usual, but for the most part, this is just Thursday for our heroes. However, where this movie excels is in how it explores the new character dynamics between the Turtles and the members of the Bat Family. Leo naturally looks to Batman as a fellow leader and uses the caped crusader's combat expertise to help improve his own. Raph and Robin form a bond based on the fact that they’re both massive hot heads (this is the Damian Wayne Robin we're dealing with after all.) Mikey… gets a comedy sub-plot with Alfred. Okay that’s admittedly kind of lame. By the way, if you followed my live tweet of this film, you probably got the impression that I don’t like Michelangelo. Let me set the record straight. I like Mikey fine, I just acknowledge that he’s the Ringo Starr of the Ninja Turtles. And for record, I like Ringo too. However, my favorite dynamic in this movie is the one between my favorite of the Turtles, Donatello, and Batgirl. They very quickly bond over being the scientific minded members of their teams and before you know it, they basically become BFFs and it is adorable. I mean it, these two are great together and I love their back and forth. I would pay good money for a comic book mini-series where Donnie and Batgirl have their own adventures together. In fact, why not, I now ship Batgirl and Donatello! Screw Dick Grayson! And no, I do not care that one of them is an anthropomorphic mutant reptile. This is comics books! People are dating aliens and mutants and demons left and right, so everyone just relax.

Villain:

Speaking of great dynamics, I love the one between Shredder and Ra’s Al Ghul in this movie. It’s immediately clear that they don’t especially like one another. Shredder even says that he plans to stab Ra’s in the back once all is said and done and it’s not really a stretch to assume that Ra’s was probably planning the same. However, each has something the other one wants so they work together for the time being. For his part, Shredder has been promised access to Ra’s Al Ghul’s Lazarus pits in order to make himself immortal. As Raph says, “An immortal Shredder, that would… suck.” For Ra’s Al Ghul’s part, the Ooze, a mutagen that created the Turtles in the first place and is frequently used in the various Turtles media, is vital to his plot. See, in addition to Shredder, Ra’s has also struck a deal with The Joker for the formula to his Joker Venom. Turns out, when the Mutagen and Joker Venom are combined, it creates a toxin that turns people into feral monsters, and, using an experimental weather machine, the bad guys will cause this toxin to rain down all over the city, causing Gotham’s citizens to tear each other apart. That’s pretty nasty if you ask me. I love the back and forth between Shredder and Ra’s. Every time they talk to one another, they’re constantly throwing shade on each other amidst intense stare downs, having epic battles without even throwing a punch. Nice! Get used to me saying this, but this is a massive improvement over the comics. In the comics, Ra’s doesn’t even show up until issue four of six and even then, he’s really only there to give Shredder someone to talk to. Here, Ra’s and Shredder are joined together from moment one, giving us plenty of time to explore their dynamic. Great stuff.

Memorable Scenes:

I have to talk about the whole Arkham Asylum segment. See, in exchange for the Joker Venom formula, Joker is given some unaltered Mutagen for his own purposes. And so, Joker pumps Arkham Asylum full of the stuff turning all of the deadliest villains in Gotham into horrific animal hybrids. Mind you, this also happens in the comics, but there, the mutated villains don’t really factor into the story until the last issue, and even then, they’re taken out off panel by Splinter of all people. Look, I’ve been a Turtles fan long enough to know that Splinter, despite being up there in years, is a badass warrior in his own right, but no way in hell do I buy he can take down super powered versions of Batman’s entire rogue’s gallery by himself. Here, things are way cooler. Joker has set up a Game of Death style gauntlet for our heroes throughout the asylum’s maze like halls. Raph, Mikey and Robin square off with Mr. Freeze as a Polar Bear in the kitchen. Well, Raph and Robin do, Mikey just makes lame puns. Donnie and Batgirl fight a Jaguar Bane in the gym. This gives us a great moment of Bane trying his trademark backbreaker and nearly shattering his knee on Donatello’s shell. Arguably the best fight is Batman and Leo fighting The Scarecrow, now mutated into a crow, but we’ll save that for later. In any case, the whole thing culminates with our heroes reaching the center of the Asylum where Two-Face, now a deformed two-Headed cat creature, Harley Quinn, now a hyena monster and Joker, now a horrifying cobra, are waiting. Joker gives Batman a megadose of Ra’s Al Ghul’s concoction and Batman turns into a feral Man-Bat creature. It’s an amazing sequence from start to finish and I love every second of it.

Speaking of great fight scenes, the climax of this movie is a blast, particularly the part where Leo and Donnie square off against Ra’s Al Ghul. Ra’s is a certified badass with centuries of combat training, so naturally fighting off two teenagers is literally child’s play to him. Ra’s is so cocky that throughout the whole fight, he holds one arm behind his back and still wipes the floor with the turtles. Once Ra’s takes Donnie out of the fight, in brutal fashion I might add, it’s down to Leo and Ra’s in a one on one fight. Ra’s has Leo dead to rights, but like any supervillain, Ra’s can’t help but monologue to his opponent. Leo takes advantage of this opening and KICKS RA’S AL GHUL RIGHT IN THE TESTICLES! Oh My God, that’s amazing. And, it makes sense. Even though Ra’s is a bad guy, he still has a sense of honor and fair play when it comes to combat and likely wasn’t expecting anyone, least of all one of the heroes, to fight dirty like that. I especially love the exchange between the two. Ra’s is all like, “Foolish child, I’m hundreds of years old and have trained with the greatest warriors in history.” And Leo’s all like “Oh yeah, well I’m sixteen, and I learned this from a rat.” Truly beautiful.

Story:

This movie isn’t really going for deeper meaning. It’s just trying to be fun for both Batman and Turtles fans, and in that endeavor, it succeeds with flying colors. However, since we’ve already made a few comparisons to the comic book miniseries this is based on, why don’t we use this section to make a couple more. First and foremost, I really appreciate that Batman and The Turtles just share a reality in this version. The comic had a whole thing about how the Turtles were from an alternate dimension, which would have been fine had they not also added this arbitrary ticking clock of the Mutagen becoming inert since they’re out of their native dimension, a ticking clock which ultimately never factors into the plot. Here, The Turtles are after Shredder, Shredder is in Gotham, The Turtles follow him to Gotham. Simple as that. Also, the original comic did not include Batgirl and without her, we don’t get the great pairing of her and Donatello, so props there. The only scene from the comics that I wish we’d found a way to include was this moment where Batman takes Raph to the alley where his parents were killed, humanizing Batman for a frustrated Raph who had written the caped crusader off as cold and uncaring. Still, it would have ultimately muddled the already tight narrative this movie has going on, so I can’t complain too much.

The Dark DC Factor:

HOLY SHIT! I was not expecting a movie with a Nickelodeon production logo in front of it to contain this much blood and violence. This movie is brutal and it’s not shy about it. Within the first few minutes, we see Shredder murder one of his own men with a throwing star and you see the blood leak from his dead skull. During the final battle, Ra’s breaks Donnie’s arm. That doesn’t sound like much, but the animation and voice acting make it seem incredibly brutal. You hear Donnie’s scream of pain and the bones shattering right before his arm hangs down lifelessly at his side. Wow! There’s plenty of blood, violence and nightmare fuel to go around in this movie. Hell, the movie has a post credits scene where Shredder emerges from the ruins of Ace Chemicals (where the climax takes place) now having been Jokerized. That’s absolutely terrifying! The most unsettling scene however has to be where Leo and Batman take on The Scarecrow. Leo gets exposed to Scarecrow’s gas and finds himself surrounded by the withered corpses of his own brothers. Good Lord! I thought the other animated film I was covering this month would be dark, and it is, trust me, but this is still pretty gnarly.

Final Thoughts: This movie kicks ass. It's not especially deep or anything, it's just pure fun from start to finish, and that's all it needs to be. I mean, if you put on something called "Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" expecting Batman Begins, that's on you, pal. This movie is solid fun for fans of Batman and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with plenty of great stuff here for both fanbases. Check it out for yourself and see. For our next Deep Dive DC article, we'll be taking a look at the only non-Batman movie in the lineup. See, I love Batman, but he's not actually my favorite Superhero. No, my favorite Superhero is one who doesn't get the respect he deserves, and I'm going to finally tell you philistines who have never read a comic book in their lives what's what. Join me next time as I put to bed the whole stupid "Aquaman talks to fish and is therefore lame" argument once and for all as we take a look at Aquaman!