Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:


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Movie
Batman has always had its fair share of “elseworlds” stories, but even more popular have been the loose adaptations of the Batman ethos and legend in other cultures. Thus, we have things like Soul of the Dragon, and now Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires. Think of this as one of those “Batman if he were in a different culture” and just go with it. A joint effort between Mexican animation studio Anima and WB Animation, Aztec Batman takes the core of Batman. It infuses it with the classic tale of Cortés’s infamous destruction of the Aztec people in his insatiable lust for gold and wealth (at least by legend’s take on history).

The tale takes place around 1520, with Hernan Cortés arriving in the New World and trying to ingratiate himself into the local populace with trinkets and promises of great glory if they would only show him the way to their capital. However, when a village leader refuses, Cortés drops the facade of being a benevolent visitor and rains down blood, leaving the village leader’s only son to fend for himself. Poor Yohualli Coatl (Horacio Garcia Rojas) escapes into the night only to be rescued by a forest spirit who claims that he has a great destiny and will be the end of Cortés and his Spaniards.

Shaking it all off as a dream, Yohualli rushes off to the capital city of Tenochtitlan to warn King Montezuma, only to be brushed off as nothing more than a prattling youth. Refusing to give in, the young does his best to become the leader of war for Montezuma, while craftily preparing for the day that he would be able to take on Cortés and his soldiers and reveal them for the liars that they are.

It really shouldn’t shock anyone that not only is Yohualli going to become an Aztec “Batman”, but Batman’s rogues gallery is going to show up as well, just in a more “changed” shape than if this were in the DCAU. We get a form of Catwoman with a young warrior using the visage of a Jaguar, Joker shows up (he’s not hard to guess if you listen to the names), and even Cortes himself takes on the mantle of one of Batman’s greatest enemies after a wound to the face (wink, nod). Their arcs are different than what we’re used to, but since this is an entire re-interpretation of the character within the confines of a historical event, it’s not really a big deal.

I’m honestly torn about Aztec Batman. On one hand, it’s a cool attempt at crossing genres and cultures with one of the oldest known superheroes, but on the other hand, what we have is kind of clunky. The idea is cooler than the execution, with some neat twists on classic characters (although the Joker coming in was way underused and felt like just a tacked-on gimmick). But the story itself is slow and rather janky, with a finale that teases us with more to come, but leaves the main storyline feeling incomplete and awkward. I did love that they made the film R-rated and leaned into the violent nature of both the Aztec people AND the Spaniards, but once more, it just feels out of place.




Rating:

Rated R for some violence/bloody images




4K Video: Video:

Once more, a 2K upscale, Clash of Empires 4K UHD release looks good for what it is. Unfortunately, I don’t have the Blu-ray to directly compare against, but from what I can tell, this is a very serviceable image. The film’s animation style is a bit limited, giving us decent detail levels but nothing too wild. Colors are vibrant, with a heavy emphasis on yellows, reds, and golds. The shadowy world of “Batman” showcases nice shadow details, but not a huge ton of banding (4K’s rarely do, even with WB DCAU titles), and overall clarity is good. Character designs are a bit flat, which lends itself towards not a huge ton of detail levels, but I can’t complain too much. It’s a good-looking image, just not one that is going to wow audiences.





Audio:

And here’s where we have one of my only TRUE gripes in the entire 4K UHD package. The movie is decent, the video good, and the 5.1 DTS-HD MA track in English is actually REALLY good. BUUUUUUT (you knew there was going to be a “but” coming, didn’t you?) the original Spanish track got neutered pretty badly. This film was originally animated and voice-acted in Spanish, with traditional Latin American dialects. Problem is, while it’s on the disc, the Spanish track is compressed down to 448 kbps audio, and the subtitles we’re given are the “for deaf and hard of hearing...e.g., SDH” and not actual translation subs. The voice actors are phenomenal, and while we only have access to lossy Dolby Digital, the 5.1 track actually is pretty good. It’s a little less bassy and “rich” as the DTS-HD MA English track, but it still gets the job done. I personally rate the English Lossless track as a 4.5/5, but due to the fact that they neutered the original language track with heavy compression and inaccurate subs, I’m docking a point simply on principle alone.








Extras:

• The Battle Cry of Aztec Batman
• The Batman Mythology and Aztec Inspiration

Final Score: ​

Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires is a refreshing take on an age-old tale, but one that is hindered by a clunky store that just can’t seem to realize the epic goals it is obviously striving for. I really do appreciate that WB partnered up with Anima to make an authentic story with authentic costumes and weapons (along with the mythology to boot), but I was hugely disappointed to find that the original Spanish language track was hindered so much with DVD era audio and SDH subtitles. Overall, a fun watch, but one that has just as many negatives as it does positives. Worth checking out, but if you do, watch it in the original Spanish.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Omar Chaparro, Ryamond Cruz, Horacio Garcia Rojas, Jorge R. Gutierrez, Alvaro Morte
Directed by: Juan Jose Meza-Leon
Written by: Ernie Altbacker, Alfredo Mendoza, and Juan Jose Meza-Leon
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Studio: Warner Bros
Rated: R
Runtime: 90 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: September 23rd, 2025

Recommendation: Interesting Watch

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