Synopsis: Batman faces his ultimate challenge as the mysterious Red Hood takes Gotham City by firestorm. One part viglante, one part criminal kingpin, Red Hood begins cleaning up Gotahm with the effciency of Batman, but without following the same ethical code. Killing is an option. And when the Joke falls in the balance between the two, hard truths are revealed and old wounds are reopened.
Featuring the voices of Bruce Greenwood as Batman, John DiMaggio as The Joker, Jensen Ackles as Red Hood, Jason Isaccs as Ra’s Al Ghul, and Neil Patrick Harris as Nightwing.
Swank-mo-tron: My perspective on “Under the Red Hood” I’m sure varies greatly from Arse-bots. I’m a giant Batman nerd, almost as big as I am a Star Wars nerd, and when I read the comics this story was based on I was less than pleased. It’s no secret that Jason Todd, the Robin that Batman lost at the hands of the Joker, is the Red Hood, but my reaction was always, “Why?” It seemed pointless and counter productive to bring back Jason Todd from death, since his death was probably the single most defining event in Bruce Wayne’s life after his choice to put on the cape and cowl. The whole enterprise was lame and left a bad taste in my mouth, especially the issue where they actually bring him back to life and it’s basically the “Crisis” that regenerated his corpse in his coffin because he wasn’t supposed to die. Yawn.
When I heard they were making a movie of this storyline, I was pretty skeptical. After I did an interview with Scott Snyder about American Vampire (and who will soon be taking over the reigns of Detective Comics), we spent about 40 minutes afterwards geeking out about Batman and he recommended that I go back and re-read the Red Hood story since it was the best story Winick could have made under the constraints of having to bring Todd back. I re-read it under that lens, and I agreed with Snyder. But there was just too much continuity in the comics thrown out for me to really love it.
Then it comes to this release on Blu-ray and I’m wanting to hate it. But I can’t. Because it’s in its own little isolated animated universe, they’re able to throw out all of those continuity problems that made me hate the story in the first place and stripped it down to its purest form. This was actually a great movie.
Without all of the baggage I attached to it from the comics this was probably one of the most enjoyable and well-written Batman animated movies since the Return of the Joker, and Mask of the Phantasm before that. This is one you’re going to want to watch a lot. And I would like to point out Neil Patrick Harris’ standout performance as Dick Grayson. It was pitch perfect for the character.
And I’m usually not a fan of people other than Kevin Conroy stepping in to Batman’s shoes, but Bruce Greenwood did a really great job. I still want Conroy, but Greenwood would be an appropriate succesor.
And pay particularly close attention to the fight with Amazo and pretty much everything with The Black Mask. It was some of the most fun I’ve had in one of these movies in a long time.
Arse-bot: Unlike Swank, going into this movie I had next to no exposure to this story line in the Batman universe. I knew the overall plot, but nothing about the details. I have seen every DC Animated film released and have yet to be disappointed – the quality, stories, and for the most part the voice acting, are all always top notch. So, going into this I had some pretty high expectations.
Needless to say, they were met, and then some.
The story is compelling as hell, with the film starting off with the infamous death of Jason Todd – the second kid to don the Robin domino mask – at the hand of the Joker you know you are in for a great, emotional, action-packed ride. Right from the start the emotion is there, which says a lot since this is an animated film. Jason’s death has profoundly affected Bruce and this is portrayed in a great way with his interactions with Dick Grayson who is now NightWing. Batman wants to work alone, and despite NightWing’s kick-ass efforts to help him out even with a “simple” heist, Batman keeps his distance and goes it alone. Bruce and Dick’s interactions serve as what you may normally have conveyed to you via thought bubbles in the pages of a comic book. It was a very creative and effective way to give you insight to Bruce’s head.
As the story goes on and Red Hood comes on the scene, things obviously get complicated. Bruce slowly starts to put together who’s under that mask. While I was disappointed at NightWing’s departure just before the middle of the film, it was replaced by Bruce’s interactions with the resurrected Jason Todd. Obviously, this being an animated feature geared towards older teens and up, there is plenty of action to keep the pace moving, including a great showdown between Red Hood and Batman versus five assassins. The action sequences are brutal, and surprisingly bloody, but work with the overall tone of this DC Animated outing.
Everything really came to a head for me in Batman: Under the Red Hood in the finale. Jason Todd has finally gotten a crack at The Joker, and Batman is frantically coming after him to try to “save” his former protege. After a knock-down drag-out fight, Bruce and Jason have a few words. Standing in a seemingly empty room, Jason tells Bruce that he forgives him for not being able to save him, but then kicks open a closet and out falls the Joker tied to a chair. And in an emotionally charged and great piece of voice-acting it screams at Bruce demanding to know why after the Joker killed him why he was still alive. It’s a powerful scene that I rewound and watch a few times.
I’m with Swank in that Bruce Greenwood makes a great Batman, falling just short of effectiveness of that of the great Kevin Conroy. If Conroy were to ever retire as the voice of Batman, and Greenwood stepped up to start voicing him semi-regularly I would be very pleased. Jensen Ackles does a fantastic job as Red Hood as well and he and Greenwood play off each other very well in the emotionally climactic scenes. DiMaggio does a solid Joker – kind of seemed like it was DiMaggio doing an impression of Mark Hamill doing the voice of the Joker, and while I would have liked to see him do a completely original version of his Joker, this worked well in making the character very familiar with enough new takes to keep the personality fresh. And, again, Swank is right, NPH is just perfect as Dick Grayson.
This animated film is exciting, gripping, and full of action – all riding on the heels of a great story. If you aren’t new to these DC Animated films, then I don’t think you will need much convincing to check out Batman: Under the Red Hood. If you have never taken the time to check one out, this is just a great one to check out and I highly recommend it.
You can pick up a copy of Batman: Under the Red Hood next Tuesday, July 27, as always, from Amazon.com
