Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires 4K Review: Dark Knight Takes on Conquistadors in Stunning Detail

File this under: Batman, but not the one you know. Aztec Batman: Clash of Empires turns the cowl into a piece of history, and the 4K disc mostly does it justice — with one very head-scratching choice.

The hook

Instead of Bruce Wayne, the story follows Yohualli Coatl, a young Aztec boy who flees to Tenochtitlan after Spanish conquistadors murder his father. He trains in the temple of the bat god Tzinacan, builds his own gear, and sets out for revenge. Along the way, he runs into reimagined versions of DC mainstays woven into the era — Jaguar Woman shows up, and the conquistador Hernan Cortes plays a particularly inspired take on Two-Face.

How this Batman plays

The cultural remix is the movie’s best trick. Seeing Aztec myth and real historical figures translated into Gotham archetypes is just cool. We get era-specific spins on Azrael, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, and Joker, and most of those land.

Where it wobbles is the hero himself. Yohualli doesn’t really get to flex the detective muscle that defines Batman, and there isn’t much inner conflict either. The ending teases a sequel, but it cuts off in a way that feels more setup than payoff. If we get part two, hopefully that’s where the character work kicks in.

The 4K disc: gorgeous picture, baffling language choices

Visually, this thing sings. The HDR10 transfer makes the nighttime sequences glow in that inky, stylized way animation does when it’s treated right. On the presentation side, though, the release makes a couple of choices that will make you raise an eyebrow — especially because the movie’s original language is Spanish.

• The Spanish-language track is not the default option, and the included version is capped at a lower, DVD-level quality.
• There is only one set of subtitles, and they’re based on the Spanish script, which means they don’t truly match the English dub.
• Bottom line: the picture rocks, the language handling does not.

Extras

Bonus features are thin. You get two short featurettes totalling about 10 minutes. One checks in with English voice actor Jay Hernandez about stepping into the role. The other has writer Ernie Altbacker talking about working with director Juan Meza-Leon and how DC picked which Batman characters to adapt into this world.

Verdict

Fresh concept, some striking sequences, and a 4K presentation that looks great — this is a worthy pickup for DC fans, even if the character beats aren’t all there yet. The Spanish dub and subtitle handling is a miss, but if you want to see the film at its best, this disc is still the way to go.