Batman: Soul of the Dragon (2021)

Directed by: Sam Liu | 79 minutes | animation, action | Original voice cast: David Giuntoli, Mark Dacascos, Kelly Hu, Michael Jai White, James Hong, Eric Bauza, Jamie Chung, Chris Cox, Robin Atkin Downes, Gray Griffin, Josh Keaton, Erica Luttrell, Patrick Seitz

While Marvel Comics bombards the cinemas with all kinds of live action films in which well-known and lesser-known cartoon characters make their appearance, competitor DC Comics tries to attract attention in a different way. This comics publisher mainly deals in the production of animation films. These straight-to-video films are being released at a fast pace and highlight the misadventures of heroes like Superman and Batman. The latter superhero in particular is a popular subject for animated films. Also in ‘Batman: Soul Of The Dragon’. Strangely enough, the title hero only plays a limited role in his own film…

The story of ‘Batman: Soul of the Dragon’ is set in the 1970s. Batman, Bronze Tiger, Lady Shiva and Richard Dragon are all students of martial arts master O-Sensei. When this martial arts teacher disappears under mysterious circumstances, his students decide to look for him. During their search, the quartet discover that something strange is going on involving a cursed relic.

This is a special video. Not only the setting – swinging seventies – is remarkable. So is the cast. For example, a Bruce Lee clone and a groovy African-American who seem to have walked straight from the set of a kung fu cracker or blaxploitation movie. These caricatures fight brotherly next to the bat man, accompanied by a matching seventies soundtrack.

Instead of Batman, it is mainly his alter ego Bruce Wayne that demands attention. This results in a remarkable chapter in Batman’s life. This isn’t so much a superhero movie, but rather a bloody kung fu movie in which the bat man plays second fiddle. ‘Batman: Soul of the Dragon’ looks nice, but is nowhere really worth mentioning. The setting is nice, but the animation is cranky and doesn’t convince across the board. What remains is a nice snack full of caricatural characters and an unadulterated pulp atmosphere.