Movie Title: Son of Batman
Genre: Superhero, Action, Animation
Director: Ethan Spaulding
Starring: Jason O'Mara, Stuart Allan, Thomas Gibson, Morena Baccarin, Sean Maher, David McCallum, Giancarlo Esposito
Review: Batman (Jason O'Mara) must battle Deathstroke (Thomas Gibson) and the might of the League of Assassins upon learning that he has a violent and unruly son with Ra's al Ghul's daughter Talia (Morena Baccarin).
Son of Batman is part of the DC Animated Movie Universe, and was released as the first of a trilogy succeeded by Batman vs. Robin and Batman: Bad Blood. This film offers a much different portrayal of Batman than casual fans are accustomed to, with Batman having a child with The Dark Knight Rises villain, Talia al Ghul. This child, Damian Wayne (Stuart Allen), is a relatively new character to most casual fans, as he hasn't been portrayed in any mainstream live-action films or TV shows to date. Damian has been born and raised as a ninja assassin protégé, and the ensuing dynamic between he and his father is very interesting as Batman aims to teach his son that justice is better-served ethically than with violence. This film also features, Deathstroke, who is always a personal favorite villain of mine. While this movie is fast-paced and brimming with action, I think the one downfall here is that this movie doesn't really serve much more than an introduction to Damian's character. Damian and his father's story and relationship evolves considerably in later installments of the DC Animated Movie Universe. Despite that, this is definitely an entertaining film, and one that introduces a new, interesting character to broader audiences. I highly recommend this film as a starting point to exploring Batman like we've never seen him before: a dad!
Fun Fact: Morena Baccarin (Talia al Ghul) and Sean Maher (Nightwing/Dick Grayson) appeared together in the 2002 television series, Firefly. Both actors have have been guest stars in other television shows based off of DC characters. Morena Baccarin playing Dr. Leslie Thompson in Gotham as well as voicing Black Canary in Justice League and Sean Maher playing Mark Scheffer/Shrapnel in Arrow.