this is just a steaming heap of missed potential. a batman anime elseworlds-like tale would've been friggin cool as hell. dark and atmospheric japan, like you'd see in ninja scroll or shigurui. stylish contrasts and striking visuals. it could've sizzled with kinetic violence the way that only anime does. but batman ninja only teases you with those things before freely jumping the shark... and again, and again. before long any narrative good will it had generated in the opening 20 minutes is absolutely and totally squandered. the movie sets things up really nicely with a time travel plot, landing batman in feudal japan- but one that's been changed. it's scary to think that the joker somehow arrived two years before him and has taken over. this is where the promising elements abruptly end and logic flies right the fuck out of the window. see, batman ninja isn't content to tell an engaging story within the medium, it has to be a pastiche of anime. all anime. even ones that don't fit the tone established in the beginning. no, joker has somehow turned his castle into a fucking giant-ass mecha. by the end of the movie, the other castles- (owned by two-face, poison ivy, penguin, and deathstroke) all combine to form one giant mecha. fuck. this wasn't fun or entertaining at that point, it was just ridiculously silly. and not even in a good way. it was just stupid. i was into the premise, into the idea, and was eager to see it explore the idea of batman adapting to his surroundings in ancient japan. but… no. the movie descends into what seems like self-parody, and it's not amusing in the slightest. there was genuine potential here to utilize the style and medium to tell a really gripping and interesting story, and it just seems like they couldnt be bothered; like theyd rather do dumb silly shit instead. imagine the dark knight turning into batman & robin halfway through. that's how this felt; a completely cool concept that just destroys itself. i stopped caring. there was no emotion, no narrative thrust. just one absurdly ridiculous thing happening after another- why? because anime. there were moments here that could've genuinely fucking been something. like batman realizing he's become pathetically reliant on gadgets, which led him to a total failure. did they do anything worthwhile with that? no. or how about joker becoming lord over a whole state? how did this happen? what does he do to his subjects? none of this is sufficiently explored or even addressed. there was soooo much potential for something really fascinating and compelling, and they took the easy way out. it ended up being ridiculous, absurd, and ultimately farcical. i think thats why i kinda hate this so much. its like they gave up and just wrote gags. really lazy, obvious, boring gags. “hey guys, since were doing an anime batman, how about giant robots? thats anime stuff right? or how about a cute monkey sidekick? oh hey, what if bane… was a sumo wrestler now. because japan and anime and stuff!” that's what batman ninja is. a farce. by the time the requisite climax atop a burning building rolls around, i'm dying for the movie to be over. the fight sequence at the end might be good? i wouldn't know though because i was so desperate for it to just end already that i was well past the point of giving a shit about anything that happened on the screen. it was a mess. i had low expectations when it was announced because why the hell? it sounded dumb to me. but watching the trailer, i ended up allowing myself to succumb to a small measure of hype. i started looking forward to this. shame then that it was exactly like i originally thought it was gonna be. stupid. i mean... i think they were maybe going for a tongue-in-cheek vibe? but, why would they fucking do that when a played-straight version had so much potential to be amazing? also i watched it in english which might've been a mistake? the voice actor for joker was atrocious. ugh. one star for the stunning visuals, and one star for the all-too-brief and fleeting glimpses of great potential. but every other aspect is embarrassingly bad.