Batman gets dropped in feudal Japan with no gadgets, and the movie decides that means it's time to stop pretending to be a Batman movie. The 3D animation doesn't just support the action, it IS the action, pivoting between hand-drawn brutality and CGI verticality so aggressively that the plot becomes decorative. You're either watching the most committed anime-action film ever made, or you're watching a film that lost the plot ten minutes in; there is no middle ground, and that commitment to the bit is the entire point.

During a clash with Gorilla Grodd at Arkham Asylum, Grodd's time displacement machine activates and throws Batman into feudal Japan. He learns that many of his worst enemies were sent there two years earlier and now rule the divided land as feudal lords, with the Joker the most powerful among the warring factions. With nearly all of his high-tech weaponry gone except his gadget belt, Batman must lean on his intellect and on allies including Catwoman and the extended Bat-family. His goal is to restore order to the land and reach the device inside what is now Arkham Castle so he can return to present-day Gotham City. Action, mecha and sci-fi meet as the Dark Knight faces familiar foes in an unfamiliar era.