Batman vs Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

[TheMK]

Earlier this week the animated movie adaptation of the Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic was released in digital stores and I cannot exaggerate how good it is.

The comics themselves were already great but this movie takes it to a whole other level. I'm a fan of a lot of DC's other animated direct-to-video movies, especially the darker ones that have actually earned an R rating, but this one is extra special.

First off, because it's a collaboration between a few different studios, the animation is superb. It's good enough for me in the other DC movies but it's very exceptional here. There's a fight scene between Batman and Shredder in the first ten minutes of the movie and it's so well done it looks like it could have come from an anime or a martial arts film.

Secondly, this movie is a whole hour and a half as opposed to the seventy minutes these animated DTV releases usually get, and not a second is wasted. Even the end credits, as brief as they are, have a nice treat in store that makes them worth watching.

Finally, the movie is just so great on so many levels, it takes everything that makes Batman and the TMNT wonderful individually and makes them work together in a way that feels absolutely seamless. Both properties have been known to be both campy and dark depending on the incarnation, and the balance between humor and seriousness is just pitch perfect. Every character feels absolutely spot on and the interactions are endlessly entertaining. This movie has earned it's PG-13; there's swearing, blood, and grisly onscreen deaths. Even if you've read the comics, I still recommend seeing this; it borrows a lot of moments from them but also makes additions and changes that make for very fun surprises that only improve upon it. I liked it so much I'm probably going to watch it again very soon.

I cannot recommend this movie enough; I think it comes out on DVD in a little over two weeks and I'm absolutely picking that up.