If you were a fan of Son of the Demon and many other elseworlds, then you would have been very polarized when Grant Morrison began to spin threads regarding Damian Wayne. It took time but eventually, the majority came to accept the Batman #666 anti-hero, which came to the fore at the uproar of his death last year in Batman Inc.
Son of Batman offers more than glimpses at the Morrison lore while still hinging new elements that divisive DC comic scribe, James Robinson, concocted. It's one of the most direct, violent and blood-curdling films to date with a lot of adult concepts touched on, especially sex and a bit of drugs, but at times, the film seems to cast characters in a light that seem out of depth and well, uncharacteristic. Is this negligible? Maybe to some. But while DC ekes out another fun-ride with jarring action sequences, they're still in a rut because they havent' left the plateau they set so many years ago animation-wise. They seem stagnant and maybe until they move to other characters oustide of Batman, Superman and the core JLA, this may allow Marvel some time to catch up.
The story's vocal cast is good on paper but just doesn't seem to resonate on film. It focuses on Deathstroke's uprising to bring the League of Assassins to its feet, after his rejection of course, and in the process, he runs afoul of Damian, who alters Slade's origins a bit, which leads to Talia's asking of Bruce to tend to their son while she tries to investigate. While Bruce tries to impress on the kid, Talia and Deathstroke's pasts collide due to problems the League created regarding Dr. Langstrom. Man-Bats, Killer Croc, nifty little cameos and many other comic-related elements appear to glue the story together but a lackuster Slade, a very sub-par League and the decision to switch Damian's animosity from Tim Drake to Nightwing inscribes a few plot holes, that take away from the gravity of the movie. Sometimes, the gritty vibe got lost as it felt a bit too cartoony with deus ex machinas thrown in for the sake of throwing them in - all things that DC Animation seemed to have a fix for in times past.
It's high octane with a lot of witty banter and very impetuous when it needs to be but DC struggled to strike the balance with substance and style to make the brat called Damian Wayne click as someone that Bruce really needs to put alongside him. It's a story rushed but clearly, with a lot of source to compress, these kinks were expected.
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