Story
Bruce Wayne (voiced by David Giuntoli) has retired his famous Batman cape and mask and is focusing on his family business and charity work. But then he gets a visit from an old acquaintance, Richard Dragon (voiced by Mark Dacascos), who also completed martial arts training under their Master O-Sensei (voiced by James Hong).
Richard needs Bruce’s help. Jeffrey Burr (voiced by Josh Keaton), leader of the mystical Kobra Cult, has taken possession of a mystical gate, which is the only barrier between the earthly world and the evil demon god, Naga. The gate can only be opened with a special sword, the Soul Breaker, which O-Sensei gave to Shiva (voiced by Kelly Hu), another student, for safekeeping. Bruce agrees to put his Batman cape back on.
Just as they get to Shiva to warn her, Burr’s cultists attack and steal Soul Breaker. Knowing that they’re stronger together than apart, Richard, Bruce and Shiva recruit the last remaining member of their training squad, Ben Turner (voiced by Michael Jai White). Ben helps them to locate Burr at a secret island, but the four heroes must hurry as Burr prepares to open the gate, become Naga’s avatar and take over the world.
Themes
Comic animation; superheroes
Violence
Batman: Soul of the Dragon has a lot of strong and graphic animated violence. For example:
- Characters have numerous martial arts fights, using punches and kicks. They also use weapons, including guns, knives, grenades and swords.
- The movie’s fighting scenes are detailed and graphic. For example, blood pours from mouths, noses and fatal wounds.
- Characters are stabbed to death. A character gets torn to pieces and devoured by monsters. Bones, spines and necks are broken, while arms and heads are chopped off. One character is scorched to death.
- Characters scream with fear and grunt in pain.
- Both good characters and villains are killed.
- A character is locked up in a room with cobras and presumably dies.
Sexual references
Batman: Soul of the Dragon has some sexual references. For example, one character seems to be a prostitute.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Batman: Soul of the Dragon shows some use of substances. For example, characters drink alcohol.
Nudity and sexual activity
Batman: Soul of the Dragon has some nudity. For example, some male heroes are shown topless.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Batman: Soul of the Dragon.
Coarse language
Batman: Soul of the Dragon has some coarse language.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Batman: Soul of the Dragon is the latest animated superhero movie from the DC Universe Animated Original Movies line. You don’t need a deep knowledge of the characters or their backgrounds to watch this movie. In fact, Batman shares the focus with his fellow heroes, Shiva, Ben Turner and Richard Dragon. The animation style is old school, working as an homage to 1970s martial arts movies and superhero comics, and there’s quite a lot of sarcastic humour.
Batman: Soul of the Dragon is likely to entertain a mature audience of older teenagers and adults. Because of its strong graphic violence and mature themes, it’s unsuitable for children under 15 years, and we recommend parental guidance for young people aged up to 17 years.
These are the main messages from Batman: Soul of the Dragon:
- You are stronger together than apart.
- You can change and decide your destiny.
Values in Batman: Soul of the Dragon that you could reinforce with your children include teamwork, persistence, selflessness and courage.
Batman: Soul of the Dragon could also give you the chance to talk with your children about the real-life consequences of things like ruthlessly pursuing power at the risk of hurting others and, ultimately, yourself.