While at WonderCon in Anaheim on Sunday we had the honor of being in attendance of the world premiere of DC’s latest animated feature Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
We can’t say that DC Entertainment has been pumping out the best stuff lately, and we still haven’t fully forgiven Nickelodeon for making the Turtles look like aliens in those two Michael Bay movies, so we’d be lying if we said we had high hopes going into this latest Batman/TMNT crossover. A monumental event such as Batman meeting the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles isn’t something to be taken lightly, and luckily all of the parties involved in its creation obviously felt the same. Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is awesome in every way possible.
This animated feature has everything that fans of Batman and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles alike could want. First of all, come on, the Turtles and Batman are on screen together. At the same time. It’s awesome. On top of that, the dialogue is hilarious. Everyone in this universe is a smart ass, not just Mikey. Even Alfred’s got some solid one-liners. It’s also significantly more violent and bloody than you’d expect from a Nickelodeon production.
The story moving it all along revolves around Shredder sneaking Ra’s Al Ghul some of that sweet sweet TGRI ooze, obviously intended to be used for villainous purposes. Quickly, Batman and the TMNT end up crossing paths while trying to independently stop their respective bad guys. After a series of misunderstandings and beautiful world-blending fight scenes, they realize that they’ll have to team up if they want to stop Shredder, the Foot Clan, Ra’s Al Ghul, and the entirety of The League of Assassins. It’s definitely not a solo job, in fact, Batgirl and Robin also come along for the ride. Literally every popular character from the Batman universe makes an appearance, yet it never feels like too much.
The stellar voice cast is led by Troy Baker (The Last of Us) voicing for the first time ever both Batman and Joker, the current voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, and Woody Woodpecker, Eric Bauza as Leonardo, Darren Criss (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story) as Raphael, Baron Vaughn (Mystery Science Theater 3000) as Donatello, and 100% killing it as Michelangelo is Kyle Mooney (Saturday Night Live). Other notable voice acting pros include Tom Kenny as Penguin, John DiMaggio as Mr. Freeze, Tara Strong as Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, and Carlos Alazraqui as Bane.
Overall, unlike when the TMNT ended up in that one Power Rangers episode, this crossover event is one that shouldn’t be missed. It’s the team-up that we didn’t know we wanted to see, but now we can’t wait for Batman and the Turtles to be reunited again. Maybe next time Batman could come to New York? We’d watch that.
Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits digital on May 14th and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on June 4th.
