Saturday 11 August 2018

Movie Review: Batman Unlimited - Mechs vs Mutants

Batman Unlimited: Mechs vs Mutants [2016]


Mechs-vs-Mutants-2D-600x790.jpegSometimes, entire franchises are born out of a desire to sell toys. Sometimes actual good material are created out of the constraints of "promote a toyline". As the third installment in the "Batman Unlimited" line of DC's Direct-to-DVD movies, Mechs vs. Mutants isn't quite as insipid as its predecessors, but there's also scant little material to really engage any viewer above the age of five, and that's something coming from someone who's seen his share of juvenile superhero cartoons. It's a simple plot that is dragged out over an hour's worth of screentime, without honestly much in lieu of a proper story beyond "villains terrorize Gotham City, superheroes fight them". I don't mind a toy commercial if the characters and story are at least interesting, but beyond the bare minimum of Mr. Freeze trying to escape solitude and Damian Wayne acting like a rookie as he's thrust into a huge mess, everyone is just pretty static as they banter with half-baked lines. 

Basically, the Penguin and Mr. Freeze kidnap a bunch of villains (Chemo, Bane, Killer Croc and Clayface) out of prison and then experiment on them to create kaijus. Batman and Green Arrow happen to have giant robot mecha suits stashed somewhere, and then we re-enact Pacific Rim. Only in a far, far less impressive scale. The action scenes, ostensibly the highlight of this feature, isn't even particularly interesting or novel. 

The production values of this movie is decent enough that it's a passable viewing. And while we don't quite get as much shoehorned-in-our-face product like the robot animals from one of the previous Unlimited movies, it's still a pretty bland showing. Definitely not recommended. 

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