It hardly seems sporting to make Batman a non-player. Inevitably, director Jay Oliva packs endless riddles and backstories into Batman: Bad Blood. This straight to DVD release follows Son of Batman and Batman vs. Robin. While the latter added so much to the Dark Knight’s legacy, Batman: Bad Blood feels like an appendix removed.

With dialogue a whisper and everything else booming, Oliva sneaks in more fighting, lost appointments and empty character pieces to dull the ride. He seems to have rendered this particular story on auto-pilot, while familiar tokens appear and vanish inexplicably.

The bare-bones plot adds coincidence to its long line of felonies. The motivation? As long as someone gets a good thrashing, don’t bother asking.

Meanwhile, beating the same old drum kit, composer Frederik Wiedmann runs his score over with a vacuum cleaner. He then tips the rubbish into a muddy well and extracts the glutinous, greasy mess. In fact, a Tasmania devil could sing with greater musicality. (Capsule review.)

(Released by Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group and rated "PG-13" for violence throughout and some suggestive content.)