Batman Ninja 4K Review: Anime Batman Movie’s UHD Release Has 1 Major Flaw
It took seven years, but 2018’s Batman Ninja is finally available on 4K. The gorgeous anime Batman movie looks great in Ultra High Definition, but sadly, the film’s new release has one major issue with it that will bother some fans. While that’s a bummer, the blemish doesn’t completely ruin the good work that has been done.
“Beginning in Gotham City, Gorilla Grodd’s time-displacement machine malfunctions, sending a crazed cast of tyrannical villains back in time to terrorize medieval Japan. The most depraved is Lord Joker, who seeks total domination of the feudal states and the final elimination of the legendary Batman. With his arsenal of tech diminishing, can The Caped Crusader gain the advantage to keep Lord Joker and the others from rewriting history?” says the official description.
While I like the sequel more than the original, there’s a lot to enjoy about Batman Ninja. The film’s greatest strength has always been its visual style, especially since Afro Samurai creator Takashi Okazaki was the character designer for the movie and put such a fun spin on a lot of iconic characters. As a result, it looks gorgeous, and the colors pop even more in the 4K release, which includes Dolby Vision support.
While Batman Ninja is a very fun watch, there is one major issue with the new Batman Ninja 4K release. Unfortunately, there is only one subtitle track included. While that normally wouldn’t be an issue, the Japanese version of the film has a very different script (nearly 90% of the film has different dialogue), so watching with the Japanese dialogue and then reading the English subtitles is a poor experience. The original Blu-ray release had separate subtitle tracks, and this was a huge and unfortunate oversight for what should’ve been the definitive release.
All of the existing extras from the Blu-ray release have made their way over for the new 4K release. That means over 30 minutes of nicely produced featurettes, one going over the adaptation of reinventing Batman in an Eastern style, and the other showing how it was made. There’s also a 49-minute recording of a panel from New York Comic Con, which is moderated by Gary Miereanu (a true king) and is very entertaining.
Batman Ninja 4K Review: Final Verdict
Batman Ninja 4K features an excellent transfer of the anime movie and is great for those who want to rewatch the English dub in the highest possible quality. However, fans of the Japanese dub will be disappointed by the lack of a dedicated subtitle track for the very different film. As a result, this comes recommended with a very important caveat.
Disclosure: Distributor provided product for our Batman Ninja 4K review.
Source: Comingsoon.net