Batman: Soul of the Dragon

Watching this, ask yourself...if it was a different character than Bruce Wayne/Batman, would you even notice? I don't think so. It's like they just decided to make one of the protagonists Batman as an afterthought. The animation is up to par, the voice acting is good, the choreography of the fights scenes is excellent. The cast is, quite frankly, awesome! Especially Michael Jai White. He channels Black Dynamite, all over again. James Hong is, as always, a treasure. Mark Dacascos proves he is wonderful as a voice artist, and still sounds youthful. Kelly Hu ads a 70's self-sufficient women's lib vibe that is perhaps the most bad ass character in the ensemble. The only misstep is David Giuntoli (Grimm) as Batman/Bruce Wayne. Oh, he's good, but not a good fit for Batman. Or maybe it's that the Batman character is not a good fit for this story? Either way, something feels off about it. Don't get me wrong, it's a good animated movie, and a fun diversion in these trying times. But is it really a Batman movie? I don't really think so.

Batman: Soul of the Dragon is direct by Sam Liu and written by Jeremy Adams. Batman, Bronze Tiger, Lady Shiva, and Richard Dragon join forces when they come to realize that they share a common acquaintance. The Martial Arts Master that trained them has been missing for a number of years and under mysterious circumstances. When a cursed relic resurfaces, the mystery of their dead master re-opens and Batman and his former classmates must face-off in the ultimate test of their Martial Arts skills to gain control of this dangerous relic. This movie set in the 70s and I love Asian Martial Arts. This movie is more focused on Bruce Wayne than Batman. This feels like a mix of James Bond and Bruce lee's movie. There are a lot of action-packed scenes but a lack of character development and feelings, which is one of the main negative points. Also, the story is very predictable and flat. When comes to Asian movies or dramas they heavily focused on feelings and this movie lacks feelings, live adaptation of Mulan also had the same problem. I do not strongly recommend this movie. If you are a fan of batman and animation it's ok.

As a Batman movie this is a two star experience at best. If you strip off the costume it isn't half bad. They shouldn't misuse the Bat brand this way - especially when the movie could stand by its own right.

This was a mediocre Batman movie. Apart from the fact that Batman is barely in it (there's much more screen time with Bruce and the rest of the team), I didn't really care about the characters and story.

The one positive is that it shows some background on Bruce's martial arts training and elaborates on why he can beat up a lot of bad guys, but other than that it was pretty generic and forgettable.

It seemed like they just wanted to team him up with Bruce Lee and Jim Kelly, so they set it in the 70s. There's a move Richard does in the movie that makes it obvious they modeled him after Bruce Lee (with a bit of James Bond thrown in).

Ultimately I didn't care about the good guys or the villain, or even Batman himself, which is a shame because there have been much more interesting Batman animated movies.

Give this one a pass unless you're a hardcore Batman animated fan and want to watch them all.

Overall, it's a decent movie. It's not DC's best animated movie and definitely isn't their worst, but it's solid for what it is. The plot is simple and straightforward: the heroes try to save the world from an evil cult, nothing more and nothing less. I appreciate the fact that they made it an homage to 70s action movies; mixing in elements from the martial arts, spy, and blaxploitation films of that era; especially given that the main characters in the film came from that same era. But keep in mind, like Assault on Arkham, it's a Batman movie in name only and focuses more on the other lesser known characters, as this movie is basically a "Richard Dragon, Kung Fu Fighter" movie featuring Batman. So if you're looking for yet another Batman movie out of the dozens we already have, you might be disappointed. But if you're looking for a movie that expands on a different corner of the DCU, this might be up your alley.