Batman (voiced by Jason O’ Mara) has gone missing; nobody is sure where he is or what happened to him but his absence is being felt by all. In Batman — Bad Blood, Nightwing dons Batman’s suit to fight crime as Gotham City falls prey to the bad guys.

Enters Batman’s son Damian (Stuart Allan) who was sent away to a monastery in the Himalayas in the Batman vs Robin; it is with the help of the ‘Bat Family’ that everything gets back to normal, but after a lot of effort.

What makes this DC animated flick better than many is the introduction of members of the Bat Family — Batwoman, Bat-Wing and the Batgirl (in closing moments only). In the opening sequences, Batman and Batwoman (Yvonne Strahovski) fight side by side against Heretic and his team, whereas after the former’s disappearance, Dick Grayson’s Batman (Sean Maher), Batwoman and Robin take the streets for clues, Batman style!

The Dark Knight is, however, not very active in this adventure as he has been brainwashed by Mad Hatter; it is the young members of the family who take matters in their own hands. Be it the fight sequence where Robin fights the bad guys while searching for his father; or where Batwing (Gaius Charles) makes his entry with gadgets and all, every time action takes place, the audience is bound to get entertained.

There is also a back story to Batwoman and Batwing who believe that it is their duty to follow the Bat, although Batman disapproves of adding more members to the team.

And then there is Damian’s mother Talia al Ghul (Morena Baccarin), who is shown to be the mastermind behind the mind control plan; Batman and his team have little time to save the world leaders from getting brainwashed and when one of their own falls prey to the plan, things become interesting, very interesting. Watch it to stay ahead your friends when it comes to DC animated flicks; who knows the next one begins from where this one concluded!

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 2nd, 2016