No it’s not the eventuation of a Taylor Swift parody song, although how cool would that be? It’s the latest in the DC Animated films shared universe, a direct sequel to 2015’s Batman Vs Robin, Bad Blood follows the story of Gotham, our favourite caped crusader has mysteriously disappeared. In Bruce Wayne’s absence, bad ass assistant Alfred is covering at Batman, although Rightwing and Robin do most of the patrols around the city. While trying to figure out just where oh where has the Batman gone, a newcomer on the scene Batwoman, who offers to help investigate the whereabouts of the caped crusader.

If that wasn’t enough Lucius Fox’s son Luke Fox takes up the mantle of Batwing – no he doesn’t transform into a giant singing jet plane, the silver Batsuit hero is barely explored in this film, with most of the attention turning to Kate Kane aka Batwoman, who is the first out and proud lesbian character in the DC Animated film universe. Villain wise The Heretic is the main player here resulting in some big action scenes, however the mist mashing of story lines makes it feel like a bit of a hodge podge combining stories from Morrison’s Batman and Robin and Batman Incorporated. The story moments that shine are definitely any scene with Bat Woman in it and the inventible question – where is Bat Girl to complete the Bat family?

The animation is a great blend of traditional DC animation with some anime elements, while not as eye goggling as last year’s Justice League Gods and Monsters, it is still well choreographed and with new characters sporting some colour, it is a nice change to the overly dull previous films. Like Batman : Assault on Arkham being a secret Suicide Squad movie, this does the same for Bat Woman and Bat Wing, with the hopeful introduction of Bat Girl in the next few films, we should have a full cohesive Bat family that can survive beyond the over-done traditional Batman comic films.

Returning as Batman and Robin are Jason O’Mara and Stuart Allan who continue the high calibre of voice acting as these characters. Sean Maher voices Rightwing and Yvonne Strahovski as Kathy Kane/Batwoman. All involved deliver solid performances and help establish these classic characters.

Batman : Bad Blood continues the fine tradition of DC Animation films, this is the 27th in the series and is helmed by director Jay Olivia. If you pick this up on Blu Ray there are some special features like an eleven minute preview of the upcoming Justice League vs Teen Titans. Batman Bad Blood is out now on blu ray, dvd and digital download. For the digital links and all things DC Comics, make sure you head over to our website novastream.com.au and tune into our podcast DC Domination every Monday Night. Now good like trying to get the Bat Blood song out of your head!

Review by Alaisdair Leith