Two popular superhero franchises come together with 2019’s animated adventure Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In Gotham City, a mysterious party starts to steal experimental technology.

As expected, Batman (voiced by Troy Baker) gets on the case and attempts to find the culprits. However, he finds competition, as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles also stalk the streets of Gotham in search of the thieves.

Inevitably, this leads to conflicts between the Caped Crusader and the Turtles. However, both eventually come together in their joint pursuit of justice.

Nearly by definition, crossovers like this tend to feel gimmicky. Some can come across as more natural than others, but most seem contrived to a certain degree.

That definitely becomes the case with Turtles, partly because Batman and the TMNT come from literal different universes. The Turtles reside in “real world” New York, whereas Batman lives in the imaginary Gotham City.

This leads to a fun poke. Of course, DC Comics based Gotham on New York, so Turtles gives us a laugh via comparisons between the two.

And that’s about it in terms of commentary related to the characters’ differing universes. We never get any form of explanation for how Gotham and NYC co-exist.

For the most part, that’s fine, though I’d like a bit more exposition in other areas. For instance, the Turtles clearly know a fair amount about Gotham, but they’ve never heard of Batman? How can that be possible?

Other stretches of credulity exist as well, and these make Turtles feel a bit sloppier than I’d like. Still, it manages to muster enough fun to overcome most of its drawbacks.

Really, the thinness of the story and the lack of exposition tend to be the only issue I find here. Turtles exists more as a concept than a real story, an issue that makes it less successful than I’d like, but the basic nature of the premise allows for a lot of entertainment.

Expect Turtles to more fully embrace the lighthearted world of TMNT than the grim take on Batman we usually find. While the movie doesn’t swallow the campy 60s Batman, it definitely goes for more of a comedic vibe, one that better matches the nature of the TMNT enterprises.

As much as I prefer “dark Batman”, I think this choice makes sense. I feel the movie can push Batman toward comedy more easily than it can make the TMNT somber, so the choice to “go light” works.

All of this leads toward a pretty brisk, likable adventure. Too much of it feels like contrived “fan fiction”, and a more focused tale with fewer supervillains might satisfy on a more consistent basis.

But we still get Batman and company paired with the TMNT, so how much can I complain? The movie manages to bring us a lively, nutty romp that largely entertains.

Footnote: stick around through the end credits’ finale for a tag scene.

Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appears in an aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. As expected, the image appeared positive.

Across the board, sharpness looked strong. Virtually no soft spots materialized, so the flick felt accurate and precise.

Issues with jagged edges or moiré effects failed to materialize, and the image lacked edge haloes. In addition, no signs of source defects appeared.

Turtles boasted solid colors. The film used a palette that favored primary colors to suit the story’s tone, and these exhibited fine vivacity and life. The 4K UHD’s HDR added some zing to the hues.

Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows showed good clarity. I found little about which to complain in this positive transfer.

I thought the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Turtles opened up the comic book material well. The forward channels brought out the majority of the material. Music presented strong stereo imaging, while effects cropped up in logical spots and blended well.

The surrounds also contributed good information. For the most part, these reinforced the forward channels, but they also contributed a fair amount of unique material.

These instances mainly occurred during s bigger action scenes. The back speakers brought out a nice sense of space and environment.

Audio quality always satisfied. Speech was warm and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music sounded lively and full, while effects displayed good definition. Those elements seemed accurate and dynamic. All of this led to a positive presentation that deserved a “B+”.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Audio remained identical, as both offered the same DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix.

As for visuals, the 4K UHD seemed a little better defined, and the HDR gave colors a bit of a boost. While the 4K UHD looked great, the Blu-ray offered such strong picture quality that the 4K UHD only became a minor step up in quality.

No extras appear on the 4K UHD itself, but the included Blu-ray copy provides a few materials. Two featurettes appear, and When Comic Book Worlds Collide goes for 12 minutes, 31 seconds.

It includes comments from writer Marly Halpern-Graser, storyboard artist Chris Copeland, lead background paint Bill Dunn, director Jake Castorena, producer Ben Jones, storyboard artist JJ Conway, pop culture content producer John Pirruccello, and actors Eric Bauza, Rachel Bloom, Ben Giroux, Andrew Kishino, Troy Baker, Cas Anvar, and Darren Criss.

“Collide” looks at the film’s approach to the crossover as well as story/character choices. Some of this tends to be self-laudatory, but “Collide” still offers some good insights.

Fight Night in Gotham runs 18 minutes, six seconds and features Castorena, Halpern-Graser, Jones, Copeland, Conway, Pirruccello, and Dunn.

In this show, we learn about the action choreography, the vehicles and the fighting styles used in the film. It becomes a reasonably informative reel.

We also find a Sneak Peek at Batman: Hush. This nine-minute, 18-second clip features director Justin Copeland, voice director Wes Gleason, producers Jim Krieg and James Tucker, screenwriter Ernie Altbacker, and actors Jerry O’Connell, Geoffrey Arend, Peyton List, Jennifer Morrison, Maury Sterling, and Jason O’Mara.

“Peek” covers the source comic and its adaptation as well as story/character areas and cast. Most of this learns toward promotion, but the “Peek” becomes a bit more substantial than most.

The disc opens with ads for Detective Pikachu and Shazam. Trailers provides promos for Reign of the Supermen and Justive League Vs. the Fatal Five.

Though more a concept than a strong narrative, Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles still manages to entertain. It uses its characters to a solid enough advantage to turn it into a fun ride. The 4K UHD boasts strong picture and audio along with a few bonus features. This winds up as a pretty good crossover effort.

To rate this film, visit the original review of BATMAN VS. TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES