Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2019)

Movie Info

That’s right, Gordon…I work with Turtles now!

The Foot Clan has come to Gotham City with the Shredder and seems to be collecting experimental sources of power.  Batman questions where these assassins come from and who they are working for.  Meanwhile, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have ventured to Gotham in search of the Shredder who appears to have a partner in his venture.  When Batman encounters the Turtles, he is forced into an alliance to find out who Shredder is working with and why before it is too late.

Directed by Jake Castorena, Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a cartoon action-adventure comic book film.  A joint venture by Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon, the series adapts the 2015 Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series by James Tynion IV and Freddie Williams II.  The film premiered at the Anaheim WonderCon and was later released on digital and Blu-Ray.

I generally dislike crossover series.  They generally aren’t that well thought out and come-off as a money grab by the companies crossing over the popular characters.  Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles does a little better job though the title weirdly misleading.

This is like some weird Spider-Ham type stuff going on

The use of “vs.” in the title is a total misnomer.  There is a brief “two groups of heroes fight” scene, but largely the movie is a team-up movie.  The difficulty with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is that you have four wildly different characters.  This means it is a multi-person team-up essentially.  I kind of wish that the movie had been limited to Batman and Raphael or Batman and Leonardo who make a better team.  With four characters, some of the characters are a bit slighted (especially when you add in Batgirl and Robin).

Shredder and Ra’s Al Ghul are a smart pairing.  The two characters feel like they would work well together and they generally have similar workings (the Foot and the League of Assassins).  It takes a bit to set-up the story but once it does, it is a fun romp.  The creation of the mutagen allowed for more Batman villains to show-up and of course you get a Joker and Harley Quinn appearance (I think it is now required in all DC Animated films).

All joking (or Jokers) aside…the Shredder would make a great Batman villain

The story takes its design look from the Nickelodeon series where the Turtles are slightly different in appearance.  While this helps, I think the Nickelodeon Turtles are a bit too goofy for what the story needs.  I would have liked to have seem a more original style TMNT or at least the Turtles of the 2003 series.  I think they would merge better with Batman.

Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a quick but entertaining animated movie.  It is lighter than some of the other DC animated films, and it could actually serve from being darker.  I also would like to see the series reversed at some point with Batman going to the Turtles’ Manhattan and facing some of the Turtles’ odder foes.  TMNT and Batman Power forever!