'Batman: Soul of the Dragon' Delightfully Brings Together Some of DC's Best Martial Artists in a 70's Martial Arts Caper

Batman: Soul of the Dragon is the second post-DCAMU film from the DCUAOM.  This isn’t set in the same universe as Superman: Man of Tomorrow as I originally thought.  I guess the DCUAOM won’t be doing a shared universe replacement for DCAMU anytime soon.

Regardless, Batman: Soul of the Dragon proves to be a pretty enjoyable standalone installment.  In this continuity, one of the stops that Bruce Wayne had while undergoing his international pre-Batman training was Nanda Parbat (a secret monastery in the Himalayas; DC’s version of Marvel’s Shangri-La), where he underwent martial arts training under O-sensei with other DC martial artist characters like Richard Dragon, Lady Shiva, Ben Turner a.k.a. Bronze Tiger, Jade Nguyen a.k.a. Cheshire, and Rip Jagger a.k.a. Judomaster.  When a snake cult called Kobra sets out to open a mystical gate to another dimension, threatening O-sensei’s legacy and the world, Batman reunites with his classmates to stop the looming evil.

This movie is rather cheesy.  But this isn’t to its detriment as it is intentional and delightful with the process.  It is because it’s meant to be evoke 70’s exploitation and Hong Kong martial arts films.  Thus, the setting, the plot, the music, the tropes, the themes, the direction, the characterizations (most notably, Richard Dragon is reimagined to look like Bruce Lee), and the fight scenes are all geared toward that end.   And the result is a groovy romp that charmingly channels the vibes and style of the grindhouse cinematic era that it’s paying homage to.

If I have one nitpick with this movie, it’s that Batman, although he has his moments, doesn’t really shine much.  Not only is he established as the weakest martial artist among them, since he joined O-sensei’s class much later than the others, but it also seems like he’s also the least important character in the plot.  I understand – and even appreciate – that it’s designed to be an ensemble movie among Batman, Richard Dragon, Lady Shiva, and Bronze Tiger.  Nonetheless, it’s still technically a Batman film, and one would expect Batman to be a tad bit on the center stage.  Heck, this movie even comes off more of a Richard Dragon film than a Batman film.

In the end, I had a blast with Batman: Soul of the Dragon.  It’s just pure fun.  The idea of a superhero teamup between DC’s best martial artists is already a treat by itself.  But doing so through a funky retro caper exponentially makes it such a rush.