Bullet Points: Batman: Soul of the Dragon

Batman: Soul of the Dragon caught our eye over at Bulletproof Action Headquarters. At the time of this review, it is only available to buy on digital at a cost of $19.99. The Blu-ray will be released on January 26th. Fortunately, I was able to get myself an advanced copy of the 4K Blu-ray to check out. I believe after you read my review, you should be able to figure out if Soul of the Dragon is the right movie for you.

• The Plot: A gate and a sword are stolen by the Kobra Cult. It is up to Bruce Wayne aka Batman (David Giuntoli) and his friends Richard Dragon (Mark Dacascos), Lady Shiva (Kelly Hu) and Ben Turner (Michael Jai White) to save the day. Think Enter the Dragon meets Batman Begins with a hint of Scooby-Doo. Soul of the Dragon is set in the 1970s, and although Batman is credited as the lead, he is more of a supporting character. You could say the soul of Soul of the Dragon is Richard Dragon. He looks like Bruce Lee’s doppelgänger. He dresses like Bruce Lee, and he kicks ass like he just stepped off the set of Fist of Fury. I like the Dragon character a lot. I thought it was cool hearing Mark Dacascos’ voice. He doesn’t do a lot of voice work, so this is something new for action fans like me. I do believe if you’re looking for a more Batman centered story, you might be looking in the wrong place.

• The Batman: Soul of the Dragon is an original story. It is not based on a comic or graphic novel. It has the freedom to do whatever it wants. With this freedom, we see Bruce Wayne / Batman almost thrown completely to the side. It doesn’t matter if he is there or not. David Giuntoli does a serviceable job voicing the Dark Knight. I like how his voice changes between Bruce and Batman. You do have a hint of Batman’s origin story mentioned, but it is never the centerpiece of the film. Soul of the Dragon works with Batman more like a sidekick, but I also believe it would’ve worked had Batman been left completely out of the story. In my opinion, Richard, Ben and Lady Shiva could’ve held their own against the Kobra Cult without help from the Caped Crusader. For the hardcore Batman fans reading my review, this might be a huge negative. A deal breaker. However, I’m here for the action. I want to see Mark Dacascos, Kelly Hu and Michael Jai White in animated form. I’m an action guy, and Soul of the Dragon delivers a lot of action and then some more action.
• The Action: One of the biggest selling points of Soul of the Dragon is the action. Richard Dragon beats up goons while eating an apple. Ben Turner goes all Bronze Tiger on some fools. Lady Shiva sword fights on a motorcycle. Bruce Wayne drives a car. The entire film is pretty much the good guys fighting the Kobra Clan in different locations. Bruce and Richard fight a Ninja Axe Gang at Bruce’s nightclub. Lady Shiva goes all Bloodsport on a cheating fighter. Ben Turner stomps, kicks and punches any and everyone. Bruce Wayne climbs up a mountain. We also have high speed chases, extreme skydiving, shootouts, lots of snakes, a dead hooker and an attempted child sacrifice. No wonder Soul of the Dragon is rated R. The cartoon violence is bloody and heads do literally roll. 

• The ‘70s Vibe and the Bad Guys:  Perhaps, Soul of the Dragon works best with an older audience, or with someone who appreciates retro ‘70s. The freedom of the ‘70s setting allows for Bruce Wayne to not quite be the Batman he is going to become. His friends enjoy making fun of him for wearing a silly costume. Bruce is more of a nightclub owner, than the protector of Gotham City. If Bruce was in full gear Batman, he probably never would’ve joined his friends’ adventure… The vibe also has a funky beat. It makes you want to get up and dance. Also, everyone dresses the part, especially the bad guys… The bad guys go all out. There’s King Snake who fights blindfolded. We have a bunch of ninjas. Imagine if the final word in your school spelling bee was Schlangenfaust? You would lose. Schlangenfaust is a flamboyant baddie with demon hands or something close to that. The head baddie is Kobra. This fella is demented. Not only does he enjoy eating mice while feeding hookers to snakes, he also dresses up like he’s late to a costume party at Studio 54. I think having the ‘70s setting allows for the baddies to be as over the top as they want to be.
• Overall Verdict: Soul of the Dragon is definitely my type of jam. I don’t watch a lot of animation, but when I do, I want to watch animation like this. I would recommend you buy if you’re an action fanatic. However, be careful if you’re a huge Batman fan, you might want to rent first or possibly avoid. 

Now, for some Bonus Bullet Points featuring Ben Turner (Michael Jai White) quotes to close out my review…

• “Where’s White Rice?”
• “Man, this is bullshit.”
• “Getting your ass beat, does work up an appetite.”
• “You ain’t learned nothing, turkey.” 
• “Die, sucka!”
• “What the funky hell?”